146 THE HOME ACRE. 



written, for he will perceive that he must prune 

 each bush according to its own individuality. 



For practical purposes the bush form is the best 

 in which to grow currants ; but they can easily be 

 made to form pretty little trees with tops shaped 

 like an umbrella, or any other form we desire. 

 For instance, I found, one autumn, a shoot about 

 three feet long. I rubbed off all the buds except 

 the terminal one and three or four just beneath it, 

 then sunk the lower end of the shoot six inches 

 into the soil, and tied the part above the ground to 

 a short stake. The following spring the lower end 

 took root, and the few buds at the top developed 

 into a small bushy head. Clumps of miniature 

 currant-trees would make as pretty an ornament 

 for the 'garden border as one would wish to see. 

 It should be remembered that there is a currant as 

 well as an apple borer ; but the pests are not very 

 numerous or destructive, and such little trees may 

 easily be grown by the hundred. 



Clean culture has one disadvantage which must 

 be guarded against. If the ground under bushes is 

 loose, heavy rains will sometimes so splash up the 

 soil as to muddy the greater part of the fruit. I 

 once suffered serious loss in this way, and deserved 

 it; for a little grass mown from the lawn, or any 

 other litter spread under and around the bushes 

 just before the fruit ripened, would have prevented 



