60 BEGINNER'S BOOK OF GARDENING 



the fruit may be easily gathered, and that sun and air 

 may reach all parts. Hard pruning means large Goose- 

 berries. Gooseberry bushes should be dusted with lime 

 in the autumn, while wet, and should not be pruned till 

 early spring. Red and white Currants should be treated 

 by summer pruning, as advised above for apples and pears. 

 The aim is to prevent young wood from extending, and 

 to develop the formation of fruit spurs along the main 

 branches. 



Raspberry canes should be shortened to about six 

 inches immediately after planting. The future pruning 

 consists in cutting out the old canes, and cutting back 

 the remaining fruiting canes to about two feet. 



A good deal of summer pruning may be done by the 

 thumbnail, but, as a general rule, a sharp knife or 

 secateur is required. There is no necessity for the 

 pruning knife to have the curved handle usually associ- 

 ated with this instrument. Of the two tools, the knife 

 is, on the whole, to be preferred, as it makes a cleaner 

 wound, and the amputation can therefore be made 

 nearer to the bud. In shortening a branch, the pruning 

 knife is placed exactly opposite to a bud, and the cut 

 is made in an upward slanting direction so as to come 

 out a little above the bud. 



Every two or three years, bush trees of Apples, Plums, 

 Pears, and Cherries should be subjected to what is 

 known as root-pruning. The object of this process is, 

 by removing taproots, to check undue luxuriance of 

 growth in the tree, and so, for the reasons already 

 stated, to lead to the formation of fruit buds. The 

 ordinary method of root pruning is as follows : — At a 

 distance of two to three feet from the main stem dig 

 a trench about two feet deep, and then lift the tree 

 with its mass of fibrous roots spreading in all directions, 

 being careful to avoid injuring them. All strong roots 

 which are striking down into the subsoil should be 



