RATIONAL FRUIT CULTURE. 91 



CHAPTEE XIV. 



BUSH FRUITS. 



UNDER the heading of Bush Fruits may be placed Black 

 and Eed (or White) Currants, Gooseberries, Rasp- 

 berries, Blackberries, and Loganberries. Eor the sake 

 of convenience. Nuts are grouped with them. 



CURRANTS. 



Currants should be planted in November, about five feet 

 apart, with rather more space between the rows to facilitate 

 hoeing. At first, while the bushes are small. Lettuces, or other 

 light crops, may be grown among them, but as this means 

 taking more out of the ground, more should be put in. In 

 any case, if the plants are to make strong, healthy growth, 

 they should be dressed with manure in autumn. 



PRUNING RED CURRANTS. 



As Red (or White) Currants fruit on spurs, they should 

 be pruned in the same way as was recommended for bush trees, 

 each with six or seven strong stems, well apart from one 

 another, all side-shoots cut back to an inch or so from the 

 base, and the leaders shortened to four or five buds, the top 

 one pointing outwards so as to grow away from the centre 

 of the bush. All dead or exhausted wood should be removed; 

 and so should suckers or young shoots from the base, unless 

 any of them are wanted to replace old stems or to provide addi- 

 tional ones, in which case the strongest and best-placed should 

 be selected for the purpose and shortened a little. The best 



