HORTICULTURE 89 



pose of a brush hook on a small scale and in the other, when the 

 chisel blade is used, it serves as a spud. 



Lateral Branches. A third step in the pruning of the raspberry 

 is shortening the lateral branches which have developed from the 

 headed-in shoot. This work is usually done in the spring before or at 

 blooming time, and is for the purpose of regulating the crop as well 

 as reducing the wood so as to enable the cane more easily to support 

 the fruit and to make the work of harvesting more easy. 



New Growth from Roots. From what has been stated it will 

 have been inferred that the raspberry bears its fruit most abundantly 

 upon wood 1 year of age, and that older wood is of little or no use 

 and should be cut out for the good of the plant. There are excep- 

 tions to the rule, for raspberries frequently bear a few fruits upon the 

 new shoots which annually come up from the root of the plant when 

 those shoots are allowed to grow unchecked ; but as this forms a late 

 or second crop, and as it does not occur as a fixed habit of the plant 

 but rather as a result of peculiar weather conditions, it is never taken 

 into account in commercial raspberry culture. 



Results of Pruning. The shortening of the shoots to 2 feet or 

 less in height, together with the thickening which follows, renders 

 them able to support a crop of fruit without the aid of a trellis. 



Pruning the Blackberry. In general, the pruning of the black- 

 berry is the same as that of the raspberry and, except to stop the 

 annual growth higher than the raspberry, no modification of the 

 directions given under that head need be made. 



Pruning Currants and Gooseberries. If ease of cultivation were 

 the only consideration in pruning currants and gooseberries, the 

 tree form would certainly be most convenient and economical. Un- 

 fortunately the grower has no choice in this matter, for in order to 

 insure his plants against the ravages of borers of the root and stalk 

 it is necessary to train both these plants in a bush form. When 

 managed in this way new wood can annually be induced to spring 

 up from the root to replace any canes which may be destroyed by 

 borers or which may for any other cause become useless to the plant. 

 The new growth should be stopped when it reaches a convenient 

 height, in order to induce the formation of side branches and thus 

 increase the area of bearing wood. This is much more important 

 than would at first appear, because the fruit of these plants is borne 

 upon fruiting spurs which develop from wood two or more years of 

 age. On the other hand, the renewal of the bush is not only neces- 

 sary in order to maintain it against insect pests, but to insure a supply 

 of fruit bearing wood to take the place of the old wood which it has 

 become unprofitable to maintain. 



In general a currant bush should be composed of from five to 

 eight stalks, stopped about 18 to 20 inches in height. If the plants 

 are vigorous, shoots stopped at this height will produce several lateral 

 branches, thus forming a compact, broad-headed bush with a maxi- 

 mum expanse of bearing wood. 



Gooseberries. The gooseberry should be treated in like fashion, 

 but will be found to require less heading-back, because its normal 



