422 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



is to be grown. The old prac- 

 tice of growing in tree form 

 is now discarded. Four or 

 five main stems are best, 

 and renew these from time 

 to time by judicious prun- 

 ing. If the young wood 

 has made such rank growth 

 as to make the bush strag- 

 gly the ones that are left 

 may be shortened back to 

 advantage. Bushes treated 

 in the way suggested will 

 last for a good many years, FIG64' 

 but it is well to replant when 

 over ten years old. Where it is desirable 

 to rejuvenate old bushes, they may be cut 

 oflF close to the ground, and, with well- 

 rotted manure forked in around them, a 

 vigorous top will soon be formed. The 

 cultivation of the currant should be constant 

 and shallow, as the roots run near the sur- 

 face. From five to six feet apart is as close 

 as the bushes should be planted. The in- 

 sects chiefly troublesome to the currant are 

 the familiar currant worm which is the larva 

 of a saw-fly ; the currant louse and the cur- 

 rant borer. The currant worm is controlled 

 with great ease if the work is done directly 

 the worms hatch. For these and the cur- 

 rant louse see F. Institute Report 'gG-'gy, 

 pages 175 and 192. The borer is the larva 

 of a wasp-like moth, the eggs are laid on 

 the stem from late in May till June. The 

 borer cuts the pith up and down in the stem, 

 and emerges as a moth again that May. 

 Cut out and burn all infected stems in the 

 early spring. 



Varieties. — Of the red varieties the Cher- 

 ry and Fay's Prolific are probably the two 

 best, in white the White Grape, and in black, 

 the old Black Naples. 



The Gooseberry. 



The gooseberry is essentially a northern 

 plant, and makes much the same demands 



on the soil as the currant does. It will be 

 found most successful in a rich and strong 

 clay loam, and will thrive, like the currant, 

 in partial shade, providing that it gets the 

 necessary manure. Well-rotted cow man- 

 ure is probably the best fertilizer for the 

 gooseberry, supplemented with a dressing 

 of hardwood ashes or muriate of potash 

 when fruitingf time arrives. Generous treat- 

 ment in this respect must be given to get 

 fine fruit, as, like its relative, the currant, 

 the gooseberry is a gross feeder. Propa- 

 gation by cuttings is less successful than 

 with the currant, but those who wish to 

 grow their own plants can easily do so by 

 the simple process of " layering." If a 

 large number of plants are required the old 

 bushes should be cut back almost to the 



FIG. 85 



''•"■-'LAYERING 



ground in the autumn. About July ist, 

 when the bush has thrown up a large top of 

 vigorous young shoots, earth is mounded 

 up round the bush, leaving only a few inches 

 of the tips exposed. In the fall the ma- 

 jority of the new shoots will have rooted 

 and may be removed and planted. If only 

 a few plants are required a few of the lower 

 shoots may be bent down about July ist 

 and covered with earth except the tips. Or 

 the suckers which spring up round the bush 

 may be transplanted. Thorough pruning 

 is emphatically essential to success in goose- 

 berry culture. Fruit is produced from all 

 parts of the bush except very old wood and 

 the new growths. But with a vigorous 

 growing bush from a third to one-half the 

 wood should be annually cut away. The 

 best fruit is borne on one year old wood, 



