58 GOOSEBERRIES— CURRANTS— STRAWBERRIES 
The furrow can be lilled in by plowing back in the opposite direction. 
Experienced growers find vigorous, one-year plants satisfactory and 
cheaper than the two-year-old. 
Cut back the top of the gooseberry about half. Cut back the roots 
about half their length. Training the gooseberry is simple. The best 
fruit is borne on canes two to three years old, and the pruning should be 
to encourage the new shoots, and cut out the old wood when it gets to be 
about five years old. On thin land the old wood loses its productiveness 
after the fourth year and should be cut out then. On stronger land, 
should be allowed to remain six years, depending on soil and varieties. 
Plan+inrr "nJc+onz-o TOWS 4 to 6 feet wide, with the plants 3 to 4 
j-idnimg uibiance ^^^^ g^pg^^.^ ^j^^ rpj^g gooseberry does not 
put up suckers, and for that reason the plants can be set in checks so as 
to cultivate in both directions. For spraying, see page 76. 
Currant 
The habits and requirements of the currant are very similar to the 
gooseberry. The principle of pruning is the same, but no wood should 
be allowed to remain after the third year. Usually there should be from 
four to eight stems and these should be renewed by annual pruning, 
taking out all wood over three years old. The currant sprouts freely and 
each year it is necessary to remove some of the young sprouts that are 
not wanted. The shoots often grow quite tall and, to keep them from 
being thin and spindling, they should be cut off about 2 or 3 feet above 
the ground. 
Cultivation Cultivation should be very shallow, as the roots g:row 
near the surface. A harrow is good for this purpose. 
Strawberries 
Wtion +n Plant Strawberry plants may be set either in the spring 
wueu lo jriAiii j^jj Northern planters generally set them in the 
early spring. In the South they often set the plants in the fall. Spring 
planting is the best for most localities. In early spring the plants are 
dormant and can be set at this time with little danger of drying out in 
handling, and they can be transplanted before they form the new roots 
for the season. In the autumn the plants store up a large supply of food 
in the crowns and become plump and stocky, and are able to live for a 
long time on this stored-up food. For this reason it is advisable to plant 
early in the spring, when the plants are stored full of food, and before 
they have started growth. 
Plants should be ordered early and the nurseryman should have in- 
structions either to ship as soon as possible or ship at a specified date. 
The sooner you get the plants in the ground the better growth they will 
make and the more fruit you will get from them. Plants should be 
shipped in the spring, any time after the first of March until the first of 
May, although it is sometimes possible to ship to Southern growers as 
early as the middle of February. Strawberry plants can be sent with 
trees if the order is shipped by express or parcel post. Plants should 
never be sent by freight. 
Fall shipments can be made about the last of September or the first 
of October. It is possible to ship earlier than this; however, a large num- 
ber of plants have not reached their full size before the first of October, 
and digging before that time means a heavy loss and wastage, so the 
nurseryman has to charge about twice the usual price for plants dug 
previous to October 1st. 
J nroiinn Location, providing there is good drainage, is not as im- 
lyocauon pQ^t^nt for strawberries as it is for some other fruits. A 
south slope will give berries a little earlier in the season, and sometimes 
they are better colored and better flavored. The northern slopes do not 
