Page 10 



BETTER FRUIT 



March, ip20 



than when grown where it is freely ex- 

 posed to the sun. The shade afTordcd 

 by the fruit trees will be especially 

 beneficial in southern sections, and the 

 currants and gooseberries should be 

 even more productive than if planted by 

 themselves. 



When currants and gooseberries are 

 not grown in orchards they may be in- 

 tercropped for the first two years; that 

 is, vegetables may be grown between 

 the plants in the rows and between the 

 rows. Lettuce, early potatoes, early 

 cabbage, and other early crops requir- 

 ing intensive cultivation are especially 

 desirable for this purpose. The thor- 

 ough tillage required by the vegetables 

 is also needed by the berry plants, and 

 the intercrop will often pay for all ex- 

 penses connected with the care of the 

 plantation. 



Maintenance of Fertility 



Both the currant and the gooseberry 

 respond well to the use of fertilizers, 

 even when planted on fertile soils. 



be applied safely to gooseberry planta- 

 tions than to currants. 



In many sections green manure or 

 cover crops may be used to keep up 

 the humus supply. The seed is sown or 

 drilled in between the rows early 

 enough to allow good growth before 

 winter, and the crop is plowed imder 

 early the following spring. If this prac- 

 tice is followed, less stable manure or 

 commercial fertilizer will be needed. 

 The green manure crops should be 

 those best adapted to local conditions. 

 Preferably, however, they should con- 

 sist of legumes or a combination of le- 

 gumes and non-leguminous plants. 



Pruning the Bushes 



Currants and gooseberries naturally 

 form bushes with many branches 

 which start out near the surface of the 

 ground. Too many branches are usu- 

 ally formed. Pruning in a new planta- 

 tion consists in removing the superflu- 

 ous ones. It is only rarely that the 

 branches are headed back. The prun- 



A 32-quart crate of Perfection currants ready for market as packed in the East. A 

 large, bright crimson, slightly subacid berry, with compact clusters, long stems 

 easy to pick. This variety is considered the best for many parts of the Northwest. 



Their use, however, is governed by the 

 same principles that apply to other 

 crops. The kinds and quantities of the 

 different plant foods that can profitably 

 be used depend on the physical condi- 

 tion of the soil and the plant foods al- 

 ready available in it. The needs in any 

 particular case can be determined only 

 by applying the different plant foods 

 separately and in different combina- 

 tions to different parts of the planta- 

 tion and noting the results. Thus, while 

 stable manure and wood ashes can be 

 used in liberal quantities and will gen- 

 erally prove profitable, each grower 

 must determine for himself the amounts 

 that will give the best results on his 

 soil. In like manner the kind and quan- 

 tities of commercial fertilizer to be used 

 must be determined. 



In places where a supply is avail- 

 able, 10 to 20 tons of stable manure 

 per acre each year may be found profit- 

 able, and some successful growers use 

 even larger quantities. Many use hen 

 manure. Larger quantities of this may 



ing should be done during the dormant 

 period. If not done following the drop- 

 ping of the leaves in autumn, it is fre- 

 quently delayed until spring, shortly 

 before growth starts. 



Red or white currant bushes which 

 are one year old should have the 

 weaker shoots removed, leaving six to 

 eight strong shoots, according to the 

 vigor of the bush. At the end of the 

 next year four or five two-year-old 

 shoots and three or four one-year-old 

 shoots should be left, and at the end of 

 the third year about three shoots each 

 of three-year-old, two-year-old and one- 

 year-old wood. 



The red and white currants bear 

 their fruit at the base of one-year-old 

 wood and on spurs on older wood. 

 They bear best on spurs on two-year- 

 old and three-year-old wood. Pruning 

 bearing bushes after they are more than 

 three years of age consequently con- 

 sists in removing all branches more 

 than three years old and which have 

 passed this heavy bearing period, leav- 



ing just enough one-year-old shoots to 

 take their places. Pruning, therefore, 

 in effect is a process of renewal. 



In pruning varieties of spreading 

 growth the outer and lower shoots gen- 

 erally should be removed, as these 

 branches are likely to droop to the 

 ground and the fruit borne on them be 

 covered with dirt. Varieties of very 

 erect growth, on the other hand, should 

 be thinned by the removal of the cen- 

 tral shoots. 



Black currants bear well on one-year- 

 old wood. In pruning them wood that 

 has borne two years should be removed 

 and new wood left to replace it. Most, 

 if not all, black varieties have an erect 

 habit of growth, and the bushes should 

 be thinned by removing some of the 

 central canes. From six to eight 

 branches are usually left on each plant. 

 Within certain limits the heavier the 

 pruning the larger and better the fruit, 

 yet care is necessary not to go to ex- 

 tremes. 



The general principles of currant 

 pruning apply also to gooseberries. 

 The fruit is produced on one-year-old 

 wood and one-year-old spurs of older 

 wood. Pruning consists in removing 

 branches after they have borne fruit 

 for two years and allowing new shoots 

 to replace them. On the Pacific Coast, 

 however, the practice is to allow a 

 branch to fruit for three years before 

 removing it. It is said in that region 

 that the canes are most productive the 

 third year, after which they should be 

 removed. If the side shoots become 

 too numerous, enough of them should 

 be cut out to form a fairly open head. 

 Branches which have borne heavily 

 tend to droop, and these, as well as all 

 other drooping branches, should be re- 

 moved. 



Plantations of gooseberries trained 

 to the tree form, where all the branches 

 start from a main stem at a height of 

 one or two feet above the ground, have 

 been comparatively unproductive in 

 the United States. As the bush form, 

 where all the branches start from the 

 root at or just below the surface of the 

 ground, is more productive, and as the 

 gooseberry naturally grows in that 

 form, it is the only one discussed here. 



Yields of Fruit 



The currant as a rule bears abund- 

 ant annual crops. Good plantations in 

 full bearing should yield not less than 

 too bushels per acre, annually. Yields 

 of 300 bushels per acre are exceptional, 

 but have been recorded. Good planta- 

 tions of gooseberries of European par- 

 entage should yield at least 100 bushels 

 per acre. Those of American or partly 

 American parentage are generally more 

 productive and yields of 300 bushels 

 per acre are not unknown. European 

 varieties, however, usually sell for 

 much higher prices than American va- 

 rieties. 



Bushes in gardens usually receive 

 more intensive cultivation than those 

 in large plantations and therefore 

 yield more as a rule. Currant bushes 

 under garden conditions often yield 

 from five to ten quarts each and goose- 

 berries even more. 



Continued on page 38. 



