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PRUNING AND PRUNING REQUIREMENTS 
RASPBERRY: The pruning of the Rasp¬ 
berry is a very simple operation. The plants send 
out new shoots each year from the base of the 
plant. These shoots bear fruit the following 
season. The fruit is borne on the end of short 
laterals, which grow from buds on the one-year- 
old canes. These canes die after one season’s 
fruiting, and should be removed immediately 
after harvest. The old canes that are removed 
after fruiting in the summer should be burned. 
The canes should be cut back to healthy wood 
in the spring, and all weak or diseased canes 
removed. 
BLACKBERRY: The summer pruning of the 
blackberry induces fruit bearing. The blackberry 
and logan blackberry produce their fruit in the 
same way as does the raspberry; that is, on one- 
year-old canes that die after producing one 
crop, and should receive the same general treat¬ 
ment. 
CURRANT: The currant produces the best 
fruit from buds on one and two-year-old wood. 
The bush should be encouraged to send up a 
few new shoots from the root each year to take 
the place of those that have fruited three or 
four years. 
GOOSEBERRY: The gooseberry produces 
the best fruit on the one-year-old wood. Care 
should be taken to keep the bushes well pruned 
so that new wood may have enough room in 
which to develop without interfering with the 
fruit. All weak and trailing canes should be 
removed. The best time to prune the bush fruits 
is during the dormant season, though some of 
the oldest canes may be removed after the fruit 
is picked, if the bushes are too dense. 
VINES: The pruning of vines will depend on 
the purpose for which the vine is planted. If the 
vine is to be used for shade or to cover some 
unsightly place, the only pruning required would 
be the removal of dead portions and a heading 
in of shoots that were growing beyond bounds. 
Vines planted for their bloom or fruit should re¬ 
ceive more careful treatment. It should be noted 
that the heaviest set of bloom is on those por¬ 
tions of the vine that are horizontal or are hang¬ 
ing down. Horizontally trained shoots have a ten¬ 
dency to bloom and bear fruit or seed, while 
vertically trained shoots tend to rapid growth 
at the expense of bloom. Such vines as wisteria 
should not be heavily pruned during the dor¬ 
mant season, since much of the blooming wood 
will be removed at that time. Only remove dead 
wood and defer the main pruning until the 
vine has bloomed. 
SHRUBS: Shrubs will produce more bloom 
and a better appearance if permitted to retain 
their natural form. If a formal effect is desired, 
a hedge plant such as privet or box should be 
used. Forsythia bloom from buds formed the 
previous season, and much of the bloom would 
be lost if the pruning was done in the dormant 
season. Such shrubs may have the broken or 
diseased parts removed while dormant, but the 
general pruning should be deferred until after 
the blooming period. First all dead or weak 
shoots should be removed, then the canes that 
have been growing for a number of years should 
be taken out to make room for the younger 
growth. The best bloom is borne on wood that is 
from one to three years old. Some spring-bloom¬ 
ing shrubs send out short shoots terminating in 
a cluster of bloom. These shoots spring from the 
lateral buds of the previous year’s growth. Like 
the Forsythia, these should be pruned immedi¬ 
ately after blooming so as to encourage the for¬ 
mation of new wood. A careful shaping of the 
bush after blooming will produce better results 
than the shearing that is sometimes given in the 
spring in an effort to give a good form to the 
bush. The location should be considered when 
determining the form of the bush. 
ROSES: The pruning of the rose is influ¬ 
enced by the variety and location as well as the 
purpose for which the plant is grown. If individ¬ 
ual blooms of high quality are wanted, the 
bushes should be severely pruned. Where a mass 
of bloom is desired, remove the old and dead 
wood, cutting back the plants one-half. The teas 
and hybrid teas should be more severely pruned 
than any other variety. Many hybrid tea roses 
are budded on strong growing stocks. These 
stocks often send up suckers, which, if per¬ 
mitted to grow, would rob the more desirable 
top of proper nourishment, causing it to die. 
These suckers have leaves with seven leaflets, 
and the tea and hybrid teas have leaves with 
only five leaflets. The pruning of the hybrid per- 
petuals for cut flowers is the same as given the 
hybrid teas. All of the old wood should be re¬ 
moved and the new canes thinned out in the 
spring. These canes should be cut back to about 
six inches. The ramblers and climbing teas 
should be pruned after blooming and all wood 
that has bloomed removed. The best bloom is 
produced on the one-year-old canes. 
PRUNING REQUIREMENTS: Long handled 
pruning shears, hand pruning shears, hedge 
shears, pruning saws, grafting wax. 
PRIVET HEDGE: The pruning of a privet 
hedge is a very simple operation. The first prun¬ 
ing should be given at planting time. The plants 
should be set in a trench and the soil firmly 
packed about the roots to within about two 
inches of the top of the trench. This will make 
watering easy, and the trench may be entirely 
filled the next year. After setting, the plants 
should be pruned to a point even with the top 
of the trench and then permitted to grow the 
entire season without further pruning. The sec¬ 
ond spring the hedge should be cut to a uniform 
height of about four inches. When most of the 
shoots have reached a length of ten inches, the 
hedge should be trimmed to a height of about 
eight inches and the side branches pruned to 
give a uniform width throughout the length of 
the hedge. The top of the hedge should never be 
permitted to become greater in width than the 
bottom or the lower branches will become weak 
and possibly die. The succeeding pruning should 
not permit the hedge to increase more than two 
or three inches in height or width until the 
desired size is reached, after which the hedge 
should be pruned often enough to keep it in 
good form. 
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