Staking raspberries is undoubtedly the best, simplest, and cheapest method of supporting the canes of most varieties and in most localities. I agree with the view taken by Mr. A. S. Fuller. "Chestnut stakes," he writes, "five feet long and two or three inches in diameter, made from large trees, cost me less than two cents each, and my location is within twenty miles of New York City, where timber of all kinds commands a large price. I can not afford to grow raspberries without staking, because every stake will save on an average ten cents' worth of fruit, and, in many instances, three times that amount." Of course, split chestnut stakes look the neatest and last the longest; but a raspberry bush is not fastidious, and I utilize old bean-poles, limbs of trees—anything that keeps the canes from sprawling in the dirt with their delicate fruit. Thus, in many instances, the stakes will cost little more than a boy's labor in preparing them, and they can be of various lengths, according to the height of our canes. As they become too much decayed for further use, they make a cheery blaze on the hearth during the early autumn evenings. There are stocky growing varieties, like the Cuthbert, Turner, Herstine and others, that by summer pruning or vigorous cutting back would be self-supporting, if not too much exposed to high winds. The question is a very practical one, and should be decided largely by experience and the grower's locality. There are fields and regions in which gales, and especially thunder-gusts, would prostrate into the dirt the stoutest bushes that could be formed by summer pruning, breaking down canes heavy with green and ripe fruit. In saving a penny stake, a bit of string, and the moment required for tying, one might be made to feel, after a July storm, that he had been too thrifty. As far as my experience and observation go, I would either stake all my bushes that stood separately and singly, or else would grow them in a loose, continuous, bushy row, and keep the fruit clean by some kind of mulch. Splashed, muddy berries are not fit either to eat or to sell.
[Illustration: a. Canes snugly tied. b. Canes improperly tied. RIGHT
AND WRONG WAYS OF TYING CANES]
In many localities, however, stakes are dispensed with. In the garden, wires, fastened to posts, are occasionally stretched along the rows, and the canes tied to these. The method in this section, however, is to insert stakes firmly in the hill, by means of a pointed crowbar, and the canes are tied to them as early in spring as possible. Unless watched, the boys who do the tying persist in leaving the upper cords of the canes loose. These unsupported ends, when weighted with fruit and foliage, break, of course. The canes should be snugly tied their whole length. If bushes made stocky by summer pruning are supported, let the stake be inserted on the side opposite that from which heavy winds are expected.
WINTER PROTECTION—TAKING UP PLANTS FOR SPRING USE—STORING THEM
Nearly all foreign varieties and their seedlings need winter protection, or are the better for it, north of the latitude of New York City. Many of the hardier kinds, like the Herstine and Clarke, will usually survive if bent over and kept close to the earth by the weight of poles or a shovelful or two of soil; but all of the Antwerp class need to be entirely covered.
To many, this winter covering is a great bugbear, even when only a small patch in the garden is involved. There is a constant demand for "perfectly hardy" varieties. It should be remembered that many of the best kinds are not hardy at all, and that perhaps none are "perfectly hardy." The Turner has never been injured on my place, and the Cuthbert is rarely hurt; but occasionally they are partially killed, more by alternations of freezing and thawing than by steady cold. What are termed "open winters" are often the most destructive. I find that it pays to cover all those kinds that are liable to injury, and, as the varieties are described, this need will be distinctly stated. The difficulties of covering are chiefly imaginary, and it can be done by the acre at comparatively slight cost The vast crops of the Hudson River Antwerp were raised from fields covered every fall. In the garden, I do not consider the labor worth naming in comparison with the advantages secured. Those who find time to carefully cover their cabbages and gather turnips should not talk of the trouble of protecting a row of delicious Herstine raspberries. Still, Nature is very indulgent to the lazy, and has given us as fine a raspberry as the Cuthbert, which thus far, with but few exceptions, has endured our Northern winters. In November, I have the labor of covering performed in the following simple way: B is a hill with canes untrimmed. C, the canes have been shortened one-third—my rule in pruning. After trimming, the canes are ready to be laid down, and they should all be bent one way. To turn them sharply over and cover them with earth would cause many of the stronger ones to break just above the root; so I have a shovelful of soil thrown on one side of the hill, as in Fig. C, and the canes bent over this little mound. They thus describe a curve, instead of lying at right angles on the surface, with a weight of earth upon them. A boy holds the cane down, while a man on either side of the row rapidly shovels the earth upon them. If the work is to be done on a large scale, one or two shovelfuls will pin the canes to the earth, and then, by throwing a furrow over them on both sides with a plow, the labor is soon accomplished. It will be necessary to follow the plow with a shovel, and increase the covering here and there. In spring, as soon as hard frosts are over—the first week in April, in our latitude, usually—begin at the end of the row toward which the canes were bent, and with a fork throw and push the earth aside and gently lift the canes out of the soil, taking pains to level the ground thoroughly, and not leave it heaped up against the hills. This should not be done when the earth is wet and sticky. Keep off the ground at such times, unless the season is growing so late that there is danger of the canes decaying if not exposed to the air. The sooner they are staked and tied up after uncovering, the better.
[Illustration: PRUNING AND LAYING DOWN CANES]
For market or other purposes, we may wish a number of young plants, in which case there is much room for good sense in taking them up. Many lay hold upon the canes and pull so hastily that little save sticks comes out. A gardener wants fibrous roots rather than top; therefore, send the spade down under the roots and pry them out. Suckers and root-cutting plants can be dug in October, after the wood has fairly ripened, but be careful to leave no foliage on the canes that are taken up before the leaves fall, for they rapidly drain the vitality of the plants. It is best to cut the canes down to within a foot of the surface before digging. I prefer taking up all plants for sale or use in the latter part of October and November, and those not set out or disposed of are stored closely in trenches, with the roots a foot or more below the surface. By thus burying them deeply and by leaving on them a heavy covering of leaves, they are kept in a dormant state quite late in spring, and so can be handled without breaking off the buds which make the future canes. But, as we have already said, the earlier they are planted after the frost is out, the better.