The pruning-manual - Tapa blanda

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1919 Excerpt: ... 235. Blackberry trellis. wire, and they are gathered in bunches in the hand and tied to the upper wire, where they will least interfere with the ripening fruit. These canes may remain on the wires all winter, or they may be laid down for protection. Early the following spring, they are tied securely to both wires. This makes, therefore, one summer tying for the young canes, and one spring tying for the bearing canes. Blackberries may also be tied to single stakes, although the practice is scarcely advisable because the fruit is too much massed in the foliage. Many forms of supports may be employed, but those described here will suggest the problems involved. Black raspberries, or blackcaps, are usually headed-in when 13 to 2 feet high. It is important that this heading-back be performed as soon as the canes reach the desired height, for the laterals then start low and the bush becomes stout and selfsupporting. The following spring the laterals are cut back to 12 to 18 inches. Black raspberries are sometimes supported by wires (Fig. 232), but best results are usually secured when the plants are made to stand alone. Red raspberries are seldom headed-in during the growing season but otherwise they are treated like blackcaps. Fig. 236 shows a cane (of Cuthbert) well pruned at the left, but the canes at the right are pruned too high and are top-heavy. Wellpruned blackcaps and blackberries have essentially the form of Fig. 237, which represents a blackcap and of which Chandler and Knapp write: "This plant has been pinched during the summer when about 2 feet high. The branches have been cut back in winter as they should be under average conditions. Growers in humid climates may find it wise to leave the branches much longer." 236. Well pruned (left)and ...