BUSH FRUIT 



GOOSEBERRIES, CURRANTS AND RASPBERRIES 



No garden where fruit is grown would seem complete without the 

 familiar gooseberry and currant bushes and the stalwart canes of 

 the raspberry. It may be that their familiarity has bred some con- 

 tempt for their welfare, for certainly one often finds that, in an other- 

 wise weU-ordered garden, these useful producers of good fruit are 

 left to their own devices, unkept and uncared for. A little judicious 

 pruning, a small amount of attention at the proper season, wiU do 

 much to promote the life of the bush and to ensure a reasonable crop 

 of fruit. 



PROPAGATION BY CUTTINGS 



As the propagation of gooseberry and currant bushes by cuttings 

 is a simple process, easUy performed by the amateur, a few directions 

 as to the method of making these cuttings may be desirable. 



The early autumn is the best time to make them, and they should 



be slipped from the well-ripened wood of the previous 

 Season for year's growth. A convenient length is from lo to 12 

 faup-making jnches, and aU the buds on them should be cut off 

 Disbudding except one at the base and (say) four up the stem. 

 of Slips The importance of leaving only one bud at the base 



of the cutting should, perhaps, be emphasized by 

 explaining that it is a method of guarding against the growth of 

 suckers in the future. The cuttings should then be planted 

 in good soil a foot or so apart, and in the following spring, when 

 well rooted, they may be moved into the positions intended for 

 them. Even thus early pruning may begin by cutting back, to a 



length of 5 or 6 inches, the shoots which have grown 

 Trainina;*" ^°™ ^^ original four buds, so as to produce lateral 

 Cuttings shoots from each. The aim of the pruner should be to 



gradually bring the new wood into a cup-like form, 

 and this may often be assisted by the use of forked twigs and the 

 judicious tying with raffia. 



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