THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
59 
October 30. 
rude approach to it; and amateurs, and those with 
small gardens, would do well, in all cases of circular 
training, to place a strong hoop of the desired diameter 
and at the desired height to establish the first formation 
of the hush or tree. This will insure symmetry, as w r ell 
i as facilitate the ordinary training processes. 
A strong hoop, of a yard in diameter, will be found 
exceedingly appropriate; it need not, however, he more 
1 than a yard, as it is by far the best to have no interior 
l shoots; but to leave the middle of the hush entirely 
open. Indeed, if this plan he strictly adhered to, thirty 
inches diameter will, doubtless,be amply sufficient, as it 
| is needless to waste space which is otherwise so valuable. 
Three strong stakes may be driven deeply in the ground, 
at three equidistant points in the circumference of the 
circle, the top of each being about fifteen inches from the 
I ground, and to the points of these the hoop must be 
firmly attached by means of copper wire. Those who 
I wish to be very particular may choose stakes a foot (or 
more) longer still, so as to carry another hoop about a 
foot above the first hoop; and, indeed, this principle 
may be carried to any necessary extent if requisite. 
I The stakes driven in the ground should, if possible, be 
good oak ; and as for the hoops, we should choose them 
of thick wire rods; for although rust is prejudicial in 
degree to most fruit-trees, it could scarcely occur to any 
serious extent with such slender material. Much care 
should be exercised in putting down the hoops; the 
ground must not be trod into a puddled state, and the 
operation should be performed when the soil is tolerably 
dry. The bush, of course, will be in the centre, either 
previously or introduced subsequently; and now some 
j intermediate sticks must be used in a temporary way, to 
! lead the young shoots to the hoop. These things will 
readily suggest themselves, and we need say little more 
j about the hoop affair, but proceed to talk of distance 
! apart, &c., &c. 
We train them nearly a foot apart, and get very 
abundant crops; and they certainly ought not to be 
i nearer than nine inches on any account. The learner 
I must here understand that these leading shoots are not 
ephemeral or immaterial matters: they are to form the 
fabric of the tree as long as it remains, and are a very 
, different affair from the mere spray produced from their 
j sides. As a maxim, we say the leading shoots should 
be so far apart as that the summer spray, when pinched 
or pruned back in June, does not meet. This spray we 
! cut back to about four or five inches early in June ; and 
this five inches on each side of two adjoining leaders 
gives ten inches as the distance from leader to leader, 
i As for the spray-shoots crossing each other previous to 
J the “ Growth pruning,” that does not signify : it will do 
little harm. 
Now the young tree before described, after becoming 
; established in the nursery, and having undergone a se- 
j cond “ Rest-pruning ” in that position, will, in the second 
| year, have produced several shoots of some eight to ten 
inches long, and in the month of October will be a fair 
subject for removal to a permanent situation. Of course, 
whether this take place before the hoops are placed, or 
' after, or where there be hoops or no, is a thing dependent 
on circumstances. We have suggested hoop-training to 
those who can find time. Of course the soil will have 
been studied; this, however, by the way; our present 
business is with the pruning. Now, if these young 
bushes are moved with care in the third week of Octo¬ 
ber, they will scarcely miss their moving; they will 
have nice clods of earth adhering to them; and any 
roots that are wounded will instantly commence what our 
physiologists term the granular process ; that is to say, 
if they do not root directly they will be in a position to 
root betimes in the spring. And this brings us to a 
i point to which attention is requisite; viz., not to prune 
j too severely at this time. Practice—grey-haired practice, 
or, rather, prescription—may oppose us, but we fear it 
not in such a position. The fact is, shoots of some 
length are necessary in this stage; and, moreover, the 
root-pruning involved in removal induces a sturdy habit, 
and the production of spurs rather than elongation 
during the next year. This we have proved in hundreds 
of cases within the last twenty years, during which 
period we have constantly, in one place or another, ad¬ 
verted to root-pruning, and the ever-baffling and prodigal 
application of stimulants to fruit-trees, ending only in 
the production of shoots, and causing too much of man’s 
meddling to be either natural or profitable. And here 
we hope to be pardoned a simile on our own behalf. 
We think we have seen in some Joe Miller-sort-o'f-book 
an anecdote about one Dennis (we think that is the 
name). Poor Dennis, it would seem, had taken out a 
patent for the manufacture of thunder for the play-house, 
and being in some contraband theatre one evening, he 
heard all of a sudden an imitation of his superior 
article—so good a one, that he roared out, “ By Bad, 
that's my thunder." And we, although it may appear 
egotistic, have been sometimes amused, sometimes 
annoyed, to read articles from gentlemen about root- 
pruning, shallow and unmanured soils, station, planting, 
summer dressings, &c., who evidently did not care whose 
thunder they had, provided they could make a “ dread¬ 
ful pother o’er our heads.” But now to return to our 
deserted track. Little pruning, then, say we, at the period 
alluded to; moreover, if they are to be hoop-trained the 
very bending will cause them to develope spurs. 
A selection being made of the proper shoots in proper 
positions, they must be carried along conducting sticks 
to the hoop, and having been tethered tolerably well at 
the bottom, may be pruned just as much as will leave a 
point sticking above the hoops. During the next sum¬ 
mer it will be found that the growing shoots will rise 
perpendicularly with little assistance. 
And now for the pruning of Red Currants in general 
(whether by hoop-training or otherwise) when they are 
well established. As before recommended, the leaders 
should have a portion of their points cut away at every 
rest-pruning, in order to cause them to develope side- 
spurs. If this is not done, and the trees are growing 
freely, one-half the length of the young leading shoots 
will be bare of spurs, and thus in such bushes may be 
seen patches of currants, and bare portions alternately, 
up the main stems. The object in shortening them is 
to cause the spurs to be developed in a continuous way; 
and thus more fruit is obtained in a given space, and 
room is economised. Nevertheless, if the leaders have 
been summer-pruned, there may be no occasion for rest 
shortening. Be that as it may, we would never leave 
above nine inches in length on any account; about 
seven, indeed, is our average. 
And now to the side-pruning, technically called 
“ spurring-in .” It is well known to our readers that 
healthy currant bushes, especially of the red class, ] 
develope a host of watery side-shoots, proceeding, indeed, 
in many instances, from the very spur-knots. This is 
as it ought to be, notwithstanding their rude appear¬ 
ance, and their coarse and smothering character in early 
summer. 
The business assigned to these is, doubtless, to elabo¬ 
rate matter of an accretive character for the due encou¬ 
ragement of the group of spurs which otherwise would 
consume more of the accretive material than they create, 
and thereby draw too heavily on the system of the tree. 
They are thus, as it were, rendered self-supporting ; and j 
although we cannot speak from experience, yet we have 
little doubt that if any one would persist in disbudding 
all these shoots the moment they appear, the spurs at 
their base would soon be troirbled with a sort ol vege¬ 
table atrophy, and dwindle away in a very short period. 
Good rest-pruners, therefore, cut all these back to 
