New Raspberry Canes

[acrylicspud]

Hello
I hope it's ok to start a new thread on raspberries I have read the KG article on raspberries but I wanted to double check a few things.
At the weekend I brought 5 canes of Autumn bliss and 5 canes of All Gold.
Is it best to soak these in water before I plant and if so for how long?
I'm also abit worried about cutting back the canes! Should I still cut them back to almost the ground this Feb, even though they are "new". I was reading the KG magazine last night and wasn't 100% clear on this.
Sorry, I'm sure it's obvious but I'm a complete beginnner !
Cheers.

[PAULW]

acrylicspud
You dont need to soak your rasp canes as they are dormant at the moment and they wont benefit from this, if it is going to be some time before you get around to planting them you might be as well to "heel them in" just dig a hole lay the canes in at an angle at cover the roots over and they will sit there quite happy for a few months. Autumn Bliss can be pruned back to ground level in Feb as they are a primo-cane variety not sure about the All Gold
Hope this helps

[acrylicspud]

Thanks for that. I have heeled them in by torchlight as I'll have to wait until next weekend to plant them properly. I left them in the bundles of 5 for now, but assume it's easy to split without damaging them.
Something I noticed with the All gold ones is that there were some white root like bits as well, I couldn't decide if they were roots or the beginning of a new cane, which might just be a stupid idea!
Any ideas? Else I'll bury it all I guess!
Thanks.

[PAULW]

Prepare the ground with lots of well rotted manure dug in before you plant your canes then in the spring as the shoots start to appear give them a feed of potash and then put plenty of mulch around the canes and you wont go far wrong.