BUSH FRUIT PRODUCTION 



season's growth. It probably is best to wait 

 until the leaves fall, insuring the maturity of 

 the wood, but the work is sometimes hastened 

 by removing the last leaves a week or ten 

 days before taking the cuttings. The cuttings 

 should be six inches to a foot in length. 



Currant cuttings root readily and sometimes 

 they are planted immediately. Under these 

 conditions, however, mortality is likely to run 

 high and many which live get a slow start. 



It usually is better to tie the cuttings in bun- 

 dles with the butts even and bury them in a 

 well-drained spot, upside down, with an inch 

 or two of soil over the butts. A callus then 

 forms on the cut ends from which roots strike 

 readily. As soon as the ground can be v/orked 

 in spring the cuttings should be planted in a 

 nursery row, five or six inches apart, with the 

 soil packed tightly about them and with but 

 one or two buds exposed. 



There are many other successful methods of 

 handling cuttings. They may be made during 

 the winter and stored in a cool place in moist 

 sand, or they may be rooted, as spring ap- 

 proaches, in a greenhouse, with bottom heat. 

 In any case they are ready to grow earlier in 

 spring than most fruit-bearing plants and 

 should be set in the ground as soon as possible. 



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