Small Fruits lor Colorado. 
i5 
produce a shallow root system and encourages excessive wood 
growth. When irrigating, give a thorough soaking, saturating the 
subsoil to the depth of at least two feet. Then by frequent surface 
cultivation to prevent surface evaporation, the soil will be in moist 
condition and slowly supply the roots with the needed moisture. 
During the later period of ripening the fruit, more water is needed 
and the plants should be well supplied. Always cultivate in the 
irrigation ditches as soon as the land is dry enough to work. Nev¬ 
er let the land become baked or crusted, as it injures the roots by 
raising the temperature of the soil and prevents a thorough aera¬ 
tion of the soil. 
Pruning and Training .—Generally in commercial plantations 
no pruning is practiced. A required number of canes or shoots are 
permitted to grow and branch. When grown to a single stem or 
to a standard, we have a miniature tree with definite trunk and 
crown. To accomplish this, the lower buds are rubbed off and the 
shoot cut off to the height at which we wish to start the crown or 
head. Six to ten inches is the usual height of the trunk and the head 
is formed in the same manner as in apples or pears. The currants 
when grown in bush form require considerable pruning to produce 
the highest quality of fruit. On strong soil from one-third to one- 
half of the young canes or shoots should be removed each year, also 
about one-fourth of the old fruiting shoots. In pruning the cur¬ 
rant, the age of the cane is a secondary consideration up to the age 
of five or six years. Vigor and productiveness should be the cri¬ 
terion in the removal of old canes, as well as the young ones. When 
the bushes reach the age of five or six years, fewer new canes are 
produced and only enough of these should be left as are needed to 
replace old ones cut out. If too many canes are permitted to grow, * 
the fruit will be small and inferior. A strong, healthy annual 
growth is essential to the production of fine fruit. 
\ 
Fertilisation .—The best fertilizer for currants is stable manure. 
This should be applied in the fall of the year and scattered around 
the base of the bushes. This will give the crowns a protection for 
the winter besides adding fertility to the soil. In the spring of the 
year the manure should be removed from around the crowns and 
then scattered between the rows. Care should be taken to remove 
all the manure and to leave the ground level; otherwise the accum¬ 
ulation will raise the bush above the general level of the land and 
the root system will develop on top of the ridges. With good care 
a currant plantation should last eight or more years. 
