EXAMINATION IN COTTAGE AND ALLOTMENT GARDENING. 207 



Ques. 7. — Bush Fruits proper include Black, White, Sc Red Currants 

 A: Gooseberries, but of late years Bush pears A apples have been largely 

 grown, & may now be frequently found in cottagers gardens. Bush 

 trees are those which have no main stem (in case of Black currants) or 

 only a short stem, k then the tree branch out thus : 



Form of Gooseberry. Apple. Pear-bush. Form of Black Currant. 



Gooseberries & currants may be easily raised from Cuttings which 

 should be of well ripened wood of last year's growth, slipped from the 

 tree or else cut £ from 10 to 12 inches long. Having selected the 

 cutting cut off the top, leaving about 4 shoots, trim of the others 

 except in the case of black currants, which should have these left on. 



Plant the cuttings in a nursery bed a few inches apart. When the cut- 

 tings have made root transplant to a bed which has richer & deeper 

 soil. The cuttings may be taken in the autumn when the bushes pre 

 pruned. The first year the young bush should be pruned back to 

 4 or 5 eyes, and next year the bush should be pruned so as to take 



its permanent form. In the autumn of the second year the bushes may 

 be transplanted to their final quarters. In planting care shuld be taken 

 to make big enugh a hole, so that the roots may be properly spread out 

 in their proper layers & not cramped up. The hole might be dug deep 

 & good rich soil incorporated. The bush shuld be firmly planted, & 

 a mulching of manure might be spread around the bush. Gooseberries 

 & currants bear their fruit in the new wood, and also in wood of 1, 

 2, 3 or more years old therefore the pruning must be undertaken 

 with a view to thin out the bush (hardly anything wanted to be done in 



Gooseberry Cutting. 



Il 



