466 FUNDAMENTALS OF FRUIT PRODUCTION 



of the peach the pruning treatment should be correspondingly severe; 

 if it is more like that of the sweet cherry it should be correspondingly light. 

 In kind, likewise, it should resemble that of the fruit whose bearing habit 

 it most closely resembles. Furthermore, with a change in the bearing 

 habit as the tree grows older or as its environment varies there should be a 

 corresponding change in the amount and kind of pruning. 



In general with these fruits it is usually desirable to employ those 

 cultural and pruning practices that encourage the spur-bearing, rather 

 than the shoot-bearing, habit. The production of fruits on spurs means 

 compactness of trees, less danger from the breaking of limbs and lighter 

 and less expensive pruning. There is not the necessity of constant prun- 

 ing for "renewal" purposes. It has been found in the sour cherry at 

 least that spur-borne fruit buds are hardier than those borne on shoots. ^^ 

 Pruning the Currant and Gooseberry. — The fruiting habits of the 

 currant and the gooseberry resemble that of the apricot more closely than 

 those. of any of the other tree fruits. Within certain limits their pruning 

 treatment should follow closely that found best suited to the apricot. 

 Since the currant and gooseberry are bush, rather than tree, fruits, they 

 have a marked tendency to throw out strong vigorous new shoots from 

 the crown or from the base of the old canes. The growth of this wood, 

 together with fruiting of the older wood, weakens the latter and a point 

 is soon reached where its retention is no longer profitable. Experience 

 has demonstrated that canes more than four years old should be removed 

 to make room for the younger and more vigorous growth. As a rule more 

 new shoots form each season than can be retained without undue crowd- 

 ing. Consequently they are thinned each spring to from 3 to 6 of the 

 strongest and best distributed; these are headed back to a height of 

 2 or 3 feet to keep the bush more compact. Thus, when the currant 

 or gooseberry plantation once becomes well established, its annual 

 pruning actually comprises a removal of the old canes that are becoming 

 weak and a thinning of the new shoots to make provision for the replacing 

 of the old wood that is discarded. Injured or diseased canes are of 

 course removed and some attention should be devoted to training. 



Certain varieties or types that have growing or fruiting habits 

 different from those described as typical should receive a correspondingly 

 different pruning treatment. The wood of the black currant loses its 

 vigor and becomes relatively unproductive at an earlier age than that of 

 the red currant or the gooseberry. Consequently the old canes are 

 removed after they have fruited 1 or 2 years and a correspondingly larger 

 number of new shoots are retained each season for replacement purposes. 



Both currants and gooseberries may be trained in either the bush or 

 the tree form. In America the bush form is preferable, both because 

 less labor is required in training and because it lends itself more readily 

 to an economical control of the currant borer. 



