BUSH FRUIT. 



BUSH FRUIT. 



hood of every large town. Ij too fre- 

 quently happens that bush fruit, from the 

 readiness with which it yields a crop, is 

 left to take care of itself ; but the quantity 

 and quality of the fruit produced will be 

 found to depend very materially upon the 

 good management of the bushes. Direc- 

 tions for the culture of the different sorts 

 will be found under the different heads re- 

 spectively. 



In forming plantations amateurs must 

 Keep in mind that it is a mistake to plant 

 bush fruits, such as gooseberries and cur- 

 rants, too closely together. The rows 

 should be at least six feet apart, and the 

 bushes should be the same distance apart 

 in the rows. Of course there will be a 

 lingering idea in the amateur's mind, when 

 he sees small and young bushes planted out 

 in this way, that the ground is unduly 

 wasted. But the bushes grow quickly; 

 and if he is overdistressed on account of 

 '.he imaginary waste, he may set temporary 

 crops along the centre lines between rows 

 and bushes until such time as the latter 

 lave attained about half their size, when 

 .he intermediate cropping should be aban- 

 doned. 



Bush Fruit, Management of 

 Cuttings of. 



To grow currants, and gooseberries too, 

 hi perfection a deep and tolerably rich soil 

 's required ; and, preparatory to planting, 

 this should be deeply trenched and manured 

 with thoroughly rotted dung. Both are 

 propagated by cuttings, which should be 

 well -ripened wood of last year's growth, 

 ilipped from the tree, and from ten to 

 twelve inches long. Having selected the 

 slip and separated it from the parent stem, 

 cut off the top, leaving four shoots ; trim 

 off all others. Make two or three incisions, 

 pen.-trating half through the stem, to ex- 

 pedite the process of rooting, and plant 

 the cuttings in a nursery-bed in rows a 



few inches apart each way. When the 

 cuttings have made roots, transplant tlie:a 

 into a bed of deeper and richer soil, prun.- 

 ing back the four shoots to five or six 

 inches, and leaving two side shoots to 

 each. Here they may remain a second 

 year, the four shoots now multiplied to 

 eight, and the head beginning to assume 

 its permanent shape. This is produced by 

 means of hooked sticks, by which strag- 

 gling shoots are brought into cup-like fcrsa, 

 and forked twigs, by means of which sheets 

 inclining inwardly are pressed out to their 

 proper position, which should be as nearly 

 the horizontal as possible. 



Treatment in Second Year of Growth. 

 In the autumn of the second year the 

 bushes may be planted out in their per- 

 manent stations, which may be from three 

 feet and a half up to sev.n or eight feet 

 apart, according to circumstances ; that is, 

 if it is a plantation entirely devoted to well- 

 selected bush-fruit, in which no other crop 

 is to be cultivated, three feet and a half, or 

 four feet, will do, but six feet is better. If 

 they are planted with the intention of 

 growing other crops between them, six 

 feet to eight feet will not be too much. 

 Where they are planted in rows to divide 

 the quarters of the kitchen-garden, six feet 

 will probably be a convenient distance. In 

 planting, dig out the soil eighteen inches 

 deep, and of sufficient diameter to admit of 

 the growth of the roofs ; smooth and level 

 the station with the back of the spade, and 

 drive a stake firmly into the ground in 

 the centre, leaving it six or seven inches 

 above the surface of the soil. Having 

 trimmed the roots of the bush, place' it in 

 the centre of the station with the roots 

 radiating in all directions, regularly spread 

 out, none of them spreading over others, 

 and sprinkle two inches of the soil over 

 them, pressing it gently all round into the 

 roots ; over this spread a thin layer of well- 

 rotted dung, and fill up the whole to the 



