210 The Fruit-Growers Guide-Book 



The common distance for setting currants is five feet 

 apart in the rows with the rows eight feet apart. 



Pruning 



The best fruit is produced on canes which are not over 

 four or five years old. For this reason they will not need 

 as much pruning as other kinds of bush fruit but will need 

 to be gone over and have the oldest wood cut out, leaving 

 the hills full of strong fruitful wood. By cutting out a few 

 of the old canes each year a balance may be kept between 

 the new and old canes, and the plant kept in a vigorous 

 and fruitful condition. 



On vigorous plants the shoots are inclined to make 

 very strong growths, often reaching a height of six feet 

 *in a single season. When such is the case it is best to 

 keep them pinched back to about three feet as in the case 

 of the raspberry. It is also an advantage to cut out all 

 but five or six of the strongest r. nes in each hill. Winter 

 protection is not necessary with ihe currants and goose- 

 berries. But on account of the long slender branches 

 which they produce, in regions where there is a heavy 

 snowfall, these branches may be bent over to the ground 

 with the weight of the snow. On this account it is best to 

 gather the canes into a bundle and tie them with a cord to 

 prevent their being bent over. 



Dewberry 



This is a trailing form of the blackberry that has but 

 recently come into cdltivation. It grows in all parts of 

 the country and its fruit cannot be distinguished by the 

 general public from the ordinary varieties of blackberries. 

 Its chief advantage is that it comes in some two or three 

 weeks ahead of the ordinary kinds of blackberries, coming 

 in after the raspberries have passed, and fills the gap when 

 good prices can be had for the fruit. As a rule they are 

 not sure croppers in most places, due perhaps to imperfect 

 pollinization, and when such is the case it can be overcome 

 by planting several varieties together. 



