During the remainder of the spring and summer the soil
between the plants chiefly requires to be kept open, mellow, and
free from weeds. In using the hoe, be careful not to cut off the
young raspberry sprouts, on which the future crop depends. Do not
be disappointed if the growth seems feeble the first year, for
these foreign kinds are often slow in starting. In November,
before there is any danger of the ground freezing, I should cut
back the young canes at least one-third of their length, bend them
gently down, and cover them with earth to the depth of four or
five inches. It must be distinctly remembered that very few of the
foreign kinds would endure our winter unprotected. Every autumn
they must be covered as I have directed. Is any one aghast at this
labor? Nonsense! Antwerps are covered by the acre along the
Hudson. A man and a boy would cover in an hour all that are needed
for a garden.
After the first year the foreign varieties, like all others, will
send up too many sprouts, or suckers. Unless new plants are
wanted, these should be treated as weeds, and only from three to
five young canes be left to grow in each hill. This is a very
important point, for too often the raspberry-patch is neglected
until it is a mass of tangled bushes. Keep this simple principle
in mind: there is a given amount of root-power; if this cannot be
expended in making young sprouts all over the ground, it goes to
produce a few strong fruit-bearing canes in the hill.
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