564 



GROWING BUSH FRUITS 



Plant in the Fall in Most Sections. As already indicated, 

 gro\^i:h starts very early in the spring. Fall-set plants will be 

 established and ready to grow at the first coming of open 

 weather. If planting in the fall is impossible, then do the 

 work at the earliest possible date in the spring. It will often 

 be wise to plow the land in the fall so that no time may be 

 lost. In the northern states of the mid-western area, spring 

 planting may be preferable. 



How Plants Are Obtained, Strong one-year plants from a 

 reliable nursery give excellent results. They may be obtained 

 at nominal cost, and this is usually the best source from which 

 to obtain them. 



Currants root readily from cuttings. Take strong 8- to 

 12-inch shoots from the present season^s growth, after the 

 leaves drop freely in the fall. Set immediately, 4 to 6 inches 

 apart in the nursery row, tamping the soil firmly about them, 

 and leaving about two buds above ground. Even better results 

 may be secured by burying the shoots bottom end up in a 

 sand hill or storing in a cool cellar in moist sand until spring. 

 Roots start at the buds underground. Under good conditions 

 the plants may be transplanted to the field at the end of one 

 growing season, or they may be left one more year in the 

 nursery row. 



Some American varieties of gooseberries also propagate 

 readily from cuttings. With others and with the English 

 varieties, which are also grown in America to some extent, 

 mound layering gives much better results. Cut back the 

 mother plants very severely in the spring. In midsummer a 

 large number of succulent shoots will have formed about the 

 base. Cover these shoots half way to the top with clean moist 

 soil, working it down about the canes and stubs with a spade 

 until a mound has been formed. These shoots will send out 

 roots from the base. Remove the rooted shoots at the end of 

 the season and plant in nursery rows, or allow them to remain 

 in the mound another year, depending upon the vigor of 

 growth. Young gooseberry canes will also root if bent down 



