1904.] Pruning Fruit Trees and Bushes. 



523 



The trimming of gooseberry bushes is best left till the spring, 

 just before the buds start, because the more dense their shoots 

 are during the winter, the less facility will birds find for picking 

 off the buds. At the time named, the shoots should be cut back 

 somewhat severely to buds pointing upwards, as nearly all the 

 best fruiting varieties are of a pendulous habit of growth. In- 

 side shoots, where too thick, require to be cut out cleanly, the 

 rule being to leave space enough in all parts of a bush to allow 

 of the hand being passed between the shoots. 



Red and white currants require treatment similar to that of 

 gooseberries, the middles being kept well open to sun and air ; 

 but only the new wood should be cut back, as the bushes fruit 

 on the old wood. Black currants fruit chiefly on new wood, but 

 must be cut back somewhat severely after planting or before 

 the buds swell in the spring. The bushes of this fruit should 

 not have stems, because the more suckers there are growing 

 straight from the roots the larger and stronger the bushes 

 become. If the bushes are small or weak, the shoots should be 

 cut back to about six inches from the ground, or the stems, 

 where there are any, to buds pointing outwards. But strong 

 bushes, three years old, may be treated in the first season as 

 they should be subsequently. Half the shoots, taking them in 

 alternation, should be cut back to within two or three buds of 

 their bases, the other half being left entire to bear fruit. The 

 result will be the growth of strong young shoots for fruiting in 

 the second season, when the shoots left entire in the first year 

 may be cut back in their turn. By pursuing this plan young 

 shoots growing straight from the roots or stems will be forth- 

 coming annually, and the great evil of young wood growing out 

 of the ends of old shoots, making lanky and weak bushes, will 

 be prevented. When raspberry canes are planted they need to 

 be shortened to nine inches or a foot, in order that they may 

 throw out strong shoots in the following summer. 



It is to be observed that the preceding directions, except in 

 the case of the black currant, refer only to cutting back after 

 planting, either immediately, or just when the sap begins to rise 

 in the spring. 



With respect to subsequent pruning, it should always be borne 

 in mind that the first object is to train a young tree or bush in 



