PRUNING THE GOOSEBERRY 365 



it is done is of far less importance. Berries are pro- 

 duced from all parts of the bush except the present 

 year shoots and the very old wood, but the finest 

 fruits are borne on one-year-old branches. After two 

 or three years in bearing the wood begins to fail, 

 and the fruit borne from it likewise declines. The 

 principle, therefore, should be to carefully guard the 

 vigorous young wood, allowing it to replace that 

 which is older before the latter has a chance to fail. 

 The weak young shoots should be cut away, or per- 

 haps be cut back to two or three buds, if the bush 

 is still thin, the vigorous ones moderately cut back, 

 and as much old wood cut away as can be spared 

 without interfering with the productiveness of the 

 bush. Benj. G. Smith states* that he prunes as 

 carefully as he does grape vines, some on the spur 

 system and some with long shoots, with equal suc- 

 cess. This is significant, in showing that the method 

 is of minor importance. The essential thing is to so 

 renew that the bearing wood shall always be strong 

 and vigorous, and the amount of such wood not 

 greater than the bush is able to support and fill with 

 well -developed fruit. In northern localities an open 

 top is desirable, but where the summers are hot a 

 thicker growth, with more shade, may be better. 

 Shortening -back the lower branches severely will aid 

 in keeping the fruit up from the ground. 



In the tree form of pruning, from six to ten main 

 branches are allowed to grow, and all suckers are 

 cut away. These main branches may be allowed 



*Trans. Mass. Hort. Soc. 1883:123. 



