40 



the fruit is off, as is the case with the 

 raspberry and loganberry. The pruning 

 is, however, usually done during winter; 

 the object to aim at in pruning is to keep 

 the plant well supplied with plenty of 

 strong, young wood, as the fruit is largest 

 on young wood; the oldest wood is cut out 

 right from the base of the tree. Some 



Bl.\ck Currant Bush at Tenbury. 



young shoots should also be cut off right 

 from the bottom to make more shoots 

 come up for the following season; if the 

 young wood is too crowded or weak it 

 should be thinned. Many fruit farmers 

 grow their own gooseberry and currant 

 bushes from cuttings. 



Gooseberry, red currant and black cur- 

 rant cuttings usually take well if the 

 following summer is not too dry. For 

 cuttings, free working and rich land is 

 chosen. For black currant cuttings, 

 strong, well-ripened wood 9 to 11 inches 

 long is taken, the green top being removed, 

 and the base end cut close to a bud; all 

 the buds are allowed to remain in order 

 to get a bush with suckers springing from 

 the base below the ground. The cuttings 

 are taken when the sap has gone down 

 in November or December, they are 

 heeled in the ground until February or 

 planted direct in trench, leaving only the 

 point of the cutting above the ground. 

 Some large growers of cuttings use a large 



plough, following each second furrow by 

 a small plough to make a clean upright 

 cut and throw out the loose bottom soil; 

 the same plough returns up the same fur- 

 row after the cuttings have been placed 

 against the land side, and the loose 

 soil is put back again against the cut- 

 tings; the soil is then trodden to make the 

 cuttings firm and the big plough again 

 makes two more furrows. The cuttings 

 are planted 6 or 8 inches apart in the line, 

 the rows being about 18 inches apart, 

 which allows the use of a small light cul- 

 tivator, drawn by a pony, to work between 

 the rows. After being made firm, the tops 

 of the cuttings are cut off with secateurs, 

 onlj^ leaving two buds above ground. 



With the object of having plenty of 

 strong young shoots, twelve months after 

 planting, say, at the end of the following 

 February, all the young shoots which 

 have sprung from the cutting are pruned 

 down to the ground line, only about three 

 buds being left which should point out- 

 wards. By this means the number of 

 strong young shoots is increased. Sea- 

 brook, Boskoop Giant and Baldwin are 

 favourite varieties. The Baldwin for a 

 time took second place, but is now again 

 getting ahead, as it yields more per aci'e ; 

 Baldwin is, however, very susceptible to 

 the Big Bud mite, but good crops may be 

 obtained before it is attacked. Some 

 crops, such as Brussels sprouts, or 

 other green stuff, or one row of 

 potatoes, may be grown up the middle 

 between the young plants for the first 

 year, but this inter-cropping must not be 

 overdone the second year, or even the 

 first. 



Cost per Acre of Planting and First Year's 

 Cultivation of Black Currants— Pre-War. 



£ s. d. 

 (Autumn) Manuring with 40 tons dung 15 

 Ploughing, and subsoiling, four har- 



rowings 



Marking out for planting, at 5ft. apart 



at right angles by marking-machine 

 (November) 1,743 black currant bushes 



at 9s. 6d. per 100 



Digging 1,743 holes, 1ft. sq., woman 



carrying bushes, man digging holes 



and planting, at Is. 8d. per 100 ... 

 (April to Sept.) Horse-hoeing four 



times, at 3s 



Hand-hoeing four times, at 5s. .. 

 ■Rent, rates, taxes 



3 

 2 10 



3 

 8 5 



1 9 



