Pruning 



273 



left. Yet this older wood soon becomes weak, and pro- 

 duces small and inferior fruit. 



The older plan of training to a tree form (Fig. 39), by 

 removing the lower buds from the cuttings when planted, 

 is now practically 

 discarded. The 

 plants are less pro- 

 ductive, and if at- 

 tacked by the cur- 

 rant borer, the 

 whole plant is de- 

 stroyed instead of 

 a single stalk, as 

 when grown in the 

 bush form. If the 

 tree form is desired 

 for novelty or orna- 

 ment, six or eight 

 shoots are selected, 

 as the bush devel- 

 ops, to form perma- 

 nent 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 



Fig. 39. Tree-form currant. 



