208 WISCONSIN STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
should not be stirred deeper than is necessary to destroy the 
grass and weeds, to avoid injury to the fibrous roots that are 
supplying the forming berry with food. The fruit is produced 
on a small spur from four to eight inches long, of the same 
year’s growth, thrown out from the last year’s cane. In work¬ 
ing among the bushes about the time of blossoming, be care¬ 
ful of these spurs, as they are tender and easily broken off and 
the fruit lost. After July never cut or break any of the grow¬ 
ing branches, lest you induce the growth of laterals, which not 
ripening sufficiently, will be likely to winter kill and cause a 
blight to spread over the entire hill. 
Trimming .—This is important, as much depends upon its 
being properly done. Fig 2 represents a plant at about the 
the middle of August. 
The upright was pinched 
off when from 16 to 20 
inches high, and the 
growth thrown into the 
side branches. This 
pinching off is usually 
done about the last of 
July. No other trimmming is needed the first season. 
Mulching .—When but few plants are grown in a garden, 
they may be mulched or watered. Either will assist in devel¬ 
oping the fruit; but in large plantations the most profitable 
mulch is loose earth, often stirred with hoe or cultivator. 
Second Season. —Early in April, or before the leaves start, 
with a sharp knife cut back all the branches (w T ith a quick 
downward stroke) to within eighteen or twenty inches of the 
center or main, upright cane, at about the point indicated by 
the dotted circle in Fig. 2. Cultivate and hoe the ground un¬ 
til the fruit is half grown. There will then spring up at the 
base of the hill, from three to five large upright canes. When 
they are from two to two and one-half feet high (which will 
be about the last of June) clip off the tips. It will be neces- 
