Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1873-07-25
Raspberry Culture.

Pruning the canes of the raspber-
ry is an important item in their cul.
ture. Without pruning they will
do but little good, The first sum-
mer after plants are set out, they
should be cut off when they are a
foot to eighteen inches high. This
will cause side shoots to start at
each leaf. When these side shoots
reach foot in length, they too must
be nipped off. Keep this up till
August when, instead of long sick
le-shaped cane, there will be stiff
bushy cane possessing more strength
than the single cane, and capable
of bearing three times the amount
of fruit. This kind of pruning is
for the first years growth. After
the first year let the canes be pinch
ed of when they have attained the
length of eighteen inches. Keep
this up till about the middle of Aug
ust, when the pruning should stop.
If the pruning is kept up till the
wood stops growing the young wood
will not be sufficiently hardened for
winter.
Besides this Summer pruning,
there will be needed Spring prun.
ing. The points of the cane will al
ways winter-kill unless they 90 in
the ground. Whether, however,
they winterki!l or not they must be
cut back. Cut back so far as the
canes are dead; sometimes it is nee
essary to cut back further. A long
timber cane, yard or two long is
not desirable, nor will it bear as
much fruit as if it were cut to de-
sirable length. But what is de-
sirablc. length? Where your rasp-
berries are planted in rows, as
recommended last week, let the
canes be cut in the Spring till you
have thich hedge-row from two
and half to three feet high and
about three feet broad.
The best way to dispose OF old
canes is to cut them down as soon
as they are done bearing. This
will throw all the strength Of the
roots into the new canes. In this
way canes somewhat larger can be
raised than where the old canes are
not cut out. l do not generally
in this particular, practice what l
preach. Cutting out the old at this
time of year, is such a scratching
job, that 1 generally leave them till
the Spring, when they become some
what rotten at the ground and all
very brittle. BY taking hold of
them with my hand protected with
a good buck glove, l can pull them
with a very little trouble. III were
cultivating few in {. small garden,
l think would practice the first
method, but where field culture is
adopted, l believe the latter is pref
cradle.
Do raspberries need any support
such as racks? l am fully convinc-
that they do. l have tried raising
them without any protection in this
way, but have found that the strong
winds common to our prairie, break
down SO many of the young canes
that it pays best to give them some
support.
When raspberries are raised in
hills in the garden, very good sup
port is made by driving two stakes,
one on each side of the hill and
mailing hoop to them. This looks
well in the garden.
When raspberries are raised in
rows, a kind Of trellis is preferable.
My plan is this: / drive stakes in
to the ground on each side Of the
row SO they will be two feet apart.
The stakes are two feet high after
they are driven, and as l drive them
into the ground about foot, they
need to be three feet long. Now on
the top of these stakos l nail pieces
of board two inches wide. These l
have ripped out at the mill out of
common barn siding. Remember
these strips are nailed on to the
stakes, not on the sides. Then l
take lath and cut them in two i'll
the middle, and nail them on as
cross strips. Such trellis will
cost about one dollar for every hun
dred feet. I have tried raising
raspberries with and without trellis
and have found that the additional
yield of fruit with the trellis will
make the cost in one year.
Would you mulch raspberries!
would not. The best mulch is a
good hoe we'll used. The Fall bear
ing sorts may be mulched after the
middle of July. But the soil must
be loosened up in the Spring foil.
owing or they will not do well.
Have a care how you adopt any me-
thod which proposes to get rid OF
hard work. Lazy men have many
expedients, but they are generally
Improbable.