348 BUSH-FBUITS 



The older plan of training to a tree form (Fig. 66), 

 by removing the lower buds from the cuttings when 

 planted, is now practically discarded. The plants are 

 less productive, and if attacked by the currant borer, 

 the whole plant is destroj-ed instead of a single stalk, 

 as when grown in the bush form. If the tree form is 

 desirable for novelty or ornament, six or eight shoots 

 are selected, as the bush develops, to form permanent 

 branches. These are cut back to four to six inches 

 every year till the bush is full grown, and afterward 

 to only two or three buds. All lateral shoots are cut 

 to within an inch of the old wood each year. 



For practical field culture, from four to eight main 

 stems are allowed, and these should be frequently 

 renewed. It is safe to say that wood over three years 

 old should not be allowed to remain. Some expert 

 growers of long experience say that none over two 

 years old should be left. Superfluous young shoots 

 should also be cut away, but the buds at the base of 

 these may well be left, as they develop into fruit -bear- 

 ing spurs. A difference of opinion exists in regard 

 to cutting back the young growth. The longer the old 

 wood is left the greater will be the demand for cut- 

 ting back. This method may give increased produc- 

 tiveness, but finer fruit will result from frequent renew- 

 ing. In anj^ event, the more vigorous shoots should be 

 shortened -in, to prevent the bush from becoming strag- 

 gling and to preserve its balance. Since the greater 

 part of the fruit is borne near the base of the shoots, 

 shortening these may tend toward a better develop- 

 ment of the fruit spurs, especially if the shoots are 



