58 



IRISH GARDENMNG 



APRIL 



the laterals sliouKl be laiti in to lonii ;i iV.'sh 

 branch, cuttinj;- to a biul riL^lit oi U'ft, as tlic 

 direction the shoot is desired may ret-iuire. 



The question as to the exact point to shorten 

 the leaders to is a matter in whicli the primer's 

 experience must i,''uide him. 



The aim is to cause all the buds, if possible, 

 to break into truit or mediimvstrens4"lh wood, 

 and not into \ ery stronj^- j;ross wootl, since spurs 

 produced on cuttini,-- these take several years to 

 settle down into t'ruit. j^ross shoots l-ieiiii; i^rou ii 

 year iUter year. 



If the latter result follows the pruning", then 

 more lenj^th nuist be allowed on the leaders ; 

 but if the buds do not break sufficiently, the 

 leaders must be shortened a little more severely. 



I'\->r red currant pruning-, a knife with a fairlv 

 small but keen blade is needed, and the pruner 

 should have a quick, accurate eye and hand, 

 that the spurring-in should be properl) and ex- 

 peditiously performed, since there is only about 

 a quarter of an inch margin between a too short 

 or too long spur on a properly pruned tree, and 

 an error in the first named way may mean the 

 loss of a lot of fruit if it is very frequent. 



The best method is to take hold of the leader 

 firmly with the left hand, in order to steadv the 

 branch, and start cutting from the middle of the 

 tree, working outwards, spurring- in everything 

 on that branch on the way, and shortening the 

 leader last. 



Just at the base of the leader each year will 

 be found a little snag, caused by the bud grow- 

 ing away a trifle below the point to which the 

 leader was shortened the previous year. 



For many years I have made it my practice to 

 cut this off on shortening the leader, since there 

 is frequently to be found there a dirty white 

 maggot, the larva of the clear wing moth, which 

 does such a lot of damage in red currants. 



I have cut through hundreds of these maggots, 

 and thus saved the trees from the danger oi' 

 infestation by following this simple practice. 



White currants are pruned in precisely the 

 same manner as red, the only difference being 

 that they are much less vigorous in growth. 



Black currants, on the other hand, rnust be 

 pruned in an entirely different manner. The 

 fruit in this case is borne almost entirely on the 

 young wood up to about three years old, to a 

 very little extent on much older wood, while 

 with regard to size of fruit that on the younger 

 wood is pre-eminently the best. 



It we examine a tree wi- shall notice that less 

 and less i.|uaiitit\ o\ youwi:, wood is produced 

 the oldei- the biaiich Ivcomes, and that the 

 \ii;orous young shoots are to be found springing 

 either Irom the base of the tree or fairly close toit. 



Tlu' system adopted is to grow the trees in 

 the foini 111" stoi>ls ami lo cut branches rig'lit 

 out (.low 11 to the grouiul as they become old and 

 uniruilful. 



The young trees, which should be two or 

 tluee years old when received from the nursery, 

 u ill consist of three or four shoots, eighteen to 

 twenty-four inches long, on a very short stem. 

 They should be planted deeply, so that the base 

 oi' the shoots is covered by the soil. 



Tlie ]-»runing- the first year will con.sist in cut- 

 ting the whole of the shoots right down lo the 

 ground, leaving just an inch or so above the 

 surface. The next winter there will probabh 

 be found fi\e shoots oi eejual strength or 

 strong;er tlian the first, and these should be 

 reduced to tw o or three by again cutting the 

 others to the ground, selecting the best in point 

 oi' size and situation for survivors, but on no 

 account must these be shortened at all. 



After another year there will probably be 

 another four or five shoots from the bottom in 

 addition to those left to fruit, which will have 

 extended. 



Again, a couple of these must be cut away at 

 the bottom in order to force the tree to con- 

 tinually throw up these strong shoots, again 

 selecting for the purpose those least required. 



So the process goes on until some of the 

 original branches become old and black, when 

 they should be cut down right to the bottom or 

 lo some vigorous growing shoot, preferably the 

 former, for the reason just enunciated, to cause 

 the growth of young shoots from the bottom. 



Young wood should never be cut or shortened 

 except under the circumstances described above, 

 the old wood always being removed in favour 

 of the young, particularly the outside straggling 

 branches, which b}' reason of the fruit they 

 have borne have been pulled outwards, and 

 which should be removed to keep the tree in 

 fair shape and within bounds. The practice 

 with established trees therefore resolves itself 

 into the cutting out of the older blacker wood, 

 shortening to young growths, and in a few- 

 cases cutting right out to the bottom, to 

 induce the tree to throw up young vigorous 

 shoots to form new branches. 



