BUSH FRUITS 335 



cordon training. The plants can be trained against a wire trellis 

 by placing stout posts at intervals along the row. The posts 

 should be fixed firmly and be allowed to stand six feet above the 

 level of the soil. A wire should then be run from post to post 

 about one foot from the ground, and another along the top of the 

 posts. Bamboo canes can be fixed to these wires fifteen inches 

 apart and the framework is complete. The gooseberry plants are 

 next inserted in the soil at intervals of two and a half feet, and 

 tied to the canes. All that is necessary afterwards is to prune back 

 the lateral growths to four or five leaves, taking care not to stop 

 the leading shoot. In winter, however, the unripe tip of the 

 leader may be cut off, and the summer-pruned laterals be shortened 

 to one inch. It is claimed that plants grown in this manner are 

 less liable to be attacked by bud-destroying birds in spring, the 

 reason ascribed being that the branches do not form convenient 

 perches for them. 



Gooseberries are propagated by seeds, cuttings and layers. 

 Seedlings do not bear fruit until the third or fourth year. The 

 amateur who cannot wait so long for the product of his labour 

 may be recommended therefore to confine his activities to pro- 

 pagation by cuttings. The best time to *' take " them is October 

 or November. The shoots used for the purpose should be well 

 ripened and be from twelve to fifteen inches hi length. The 

 method of preparing them is to cut horizontally through the 

 bottom of the shoot just below a joint and then to cut off the 

 unripened top, and to remove all the buds with the exception of 

 five at the top. The cutting is then ready for planting, and this 

 is best done in a V-shaped trench about nine inches deep. Insert 

 the cutting so that the first of the five remaining buds is just 

 above the level of the ground; then fill in with soil and tread 

 it down firmly. The cuttings may be planted six inches apart in 

 rows eight inches asunder By the following autumn they will 

 have formed serviceable roots and can then be lifted and planted 

 in their permanent quarters. 



RASPBERRIES. Tlu: best time to form a raspberry plantation 

 is October or early November. Sound one-year-old roots can then 



