April, 1910 
HOUSE AN D GARDEN 
MS 
The after-culture for currants and gooseberries consists in 
cutting out the dead canes every spring. Some wood ashes 
worked in around the bushes with a hoe is beneficial. Keep the 
soil loose, hilled up a trifle and free from weeds. Prune the plants 
to three feet in height. It is well to watch for the currant worm. 
A white caterpillar, which often appears very suddenly after the 
fruit has set, greedily devours the foliage and ruins the fruit. 
Care must be taken to pick off and destroy these intruders. 
Most berry bushes will bear crops the second summer after 
planting. Strawberry beds should be renewed every two years. 
You can obtain new roots for this from your own bed by setting 
out the young layer plants called “suckers,” which are thrown 
out by the old plants. 
Raspberries, blackberries, currants and gooseberries, once 
planted and properly taken care of, should last for ten years or 
more. 
Besides a variety of berries, a few fruit trees will be needed 
in the garden to make the selection greater and the period of fruit 
gathering longer. The tall varieties or standard sorts require 
so much room that dwarf trees must take their place in the small 
garden. The merit of these is appreciated to the full where an 
orchard is not possible. Ap¬ 
ples, pears and cherries can be 
grown, to full perfection, by 
using the minimum of space 
required by dwarf trees. These 
trees should have been grafted 
on quince stock and, if prop¬ 
erly pruned, should not exceed 
six to seven feet in height, 
often less. They come into 
bearing sooner than the Stand¬ 
ard trees. What they lack 
in quantity they make up for 
in quality and in the size of 
their fruit. They can be planted 
at a distance of from six to 
eight feet apart, and, for the 
first two years of their growth 
vegetables or flowers can be 
grown between the rows. Trees 
from two to three years old 
are used for setting out. Be¬ 
fore planting them, clip the top 
branches off, so that only the 
largest, forming a fork in shape 
by the planterwhile 
his assistant holds 
the tree vertical. 
Then water freely, 
after which fill up 
the remaining 
space to the ground 
level, treading soil 
solidly around 
trunk of tree. Two 
or three trees of 
each variety will 
be all that is need¬ 
ed at the most for 
the family table. 
The after-cul¬ 
ture of dwarf fruit 
trees consists in 
fertilizing and 
pruning the trees. 
The first two years 
Caring for the half- grown fruit of the dwarf 
Pear, Duchess d’Angouleme 
trench 
inches, 
trunk, 
ble 
riate of 
to each 
very little pruning is needed 
on dwarf trees. Bear in mind 
that the formation wanted is 
a vase form of from five to six 
feet high, in proportionate 
width. Later, in pruning, cut 
off the straight shoots overlay¬ 
ing or growing inside branches; 
this should be done in winter 
when the tree is in a dormant 
state. 
Every spring the soil around 
the trees must be enriched. 
A proper way to fertilize dwarf 
fruit trees is to dig a circular 
around each tree to a depth of fifteen 
about three or four feet away from the 
Fill this in with a few shovels of good sta- 
manure and a mixture of one pound of mu- 
potash and two pounds of ground bone 
tree. 1 hen fill up to the ground level. 
Grow your own Currants for table 
and for jelly-making 
When winter finds your fruit trees like this paint 
trunks and larger branches with whale soap 
solution 
of a V, remains. 
The roots must re¬ 
main heavier than 
the tops. The 
planting process is 
a simple one. Dig 
a hole of sufficient 
size, in the bottom 
of which place 
some well rotted 
manure. 
The tree (the 
roots having been 
treated previously 
with liquid m a- 
nure) should next 
be set in the hole 
which has then to 
be half filled up 
with fine, good soil, 
firmly trampled 
down under foot 
Hoe frequently in order to keep the soil loose and 
mellow and free from weeds. 
Large nurseries where fruit trees of fine quality 
are grown generally have on hand an assortment 
of dwarf trees. As to varieties, the following are especially 
recommended by the writer as a good list to select from: 
Summer Apples: Red Astrakan, Early Strawberry, and 
Yellow Transparent. 
Autumn Apples: Duchess of Oldenburg, Golden Pippin, and 
Rolfe. 
Winter Apples: Ben Davis, Newton Pippin, and Wine Sap. 
Summer Pears: Clapp’s Favorite. 
Fall Pears: Duchess d’Angouleme. 
The writer has grown the Duchess d’Angouleme pear on dwarf 
trees to the size of a small cantaloupe; it combines exquisite flavor 
with long keeping qualities. 
Cherries: Yellow Spanish and Napoleon Bigarreau can be 
recommended if you like sweet yellow ones. For dark acid sorts 
Early Richmond and Baldwin ought to find a place in your garden. 
Plums: Some of the Japanese varieties grow compact enough 
and, if pruned back, will take very little room. Of the Standard 
sorts Abundance will be found the best. It is a very early and 
prolific bearer of fine flavored plums, and the growth of the tree 
commends it to a small garden. 
Peaches: These are not grown on dwarf trees, as the stand- 
