120 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
August  6,  1903. 
Gooseberries  and  Currants  as  Standards. 
For  the  benefit  of  the  uninitiated,  it  may  be  stated  at  the 
outset  that  these  trees  are  on  clean  straight  stems  from 
two  to  four  feet  high,  Gooseberries  being  budded  or  grafted 
on  stems  of  some  member  of  the  same  genus,  usuahy  Ribes 
aureum — the  Gooseberry  being  Ribes  grossularia — while 
Currants  are  reared  on  their  own  stems.  It  is  surprising 
how  seldom  trees  of  this  sort  are  met  with,  as  some  of  the 
leading  nurserymen  list  them  in  their  catalogues.  They 
are  as  much  trouble  to  rear  as  trained  Apple  and  Pear 
trees,  and  thus,  though  the  price  is  usually  at  least  2s.  6d. 
for  a  tree  with  quite  a  small  head,  no  doubt  from  the 
nurseryman’s  point  of  view  they  are  quite  worth  it.  As, 
however,  most  people  will  hesitate  at  giving  so  much  for 
Currant  and  Gooseberry  trees,  it  may  be  both  useful  and 
interesting  to  describe  the  method  of  raising  them,  which 
though  a  somewhat  long  process,  is  nevertheless  interesting 
from  the  very  start  till  a  really  presentable  tree  is  obtained. 
Of  course  it  is  only  Red  and  White  Currants  which  are 
grown  in  this  way,  Black  doing  much  better  as  bushes,  with 
a  constant  supply  of  new  shoots  from  the  ground. 
The  start  is  made  by  taking  cuttings  of  the  sorts  desired, 
w’hether  of  Red  or  White  Currants,  or  of  Ribes  aureum,  for 
grafting  or  budding  with  the  Gooseberry.  They  should 
be  straight  and  strong  w'ell-i’ipened  pieces  of  young  wood 
from  one  to  two  feet  in  length,  preferably  fifteen  to  eighteen 
inches,  taken,  if  possible,  wuth  just  a  small  piece  of  the  old 
wood  attached,  termed  a  heel.  All  the  buds  on  the  lower 
six  or  eight  inches  of  the  stem  should  be  removed  to  pre¬ 
clude  the  possibility  of  all  suckers  ai'ising  from  the  roots  in 
after  years,  which  is  the  curse  of  badly  grown  trees.  The 
best  time  to  take  the  cuttings  is  the  end  of  October  or 
beginning  of  November,  or  as  soon  as  the  leaves  are  off. 
They  should  be  put  into  a  sandy  soil,  about  six  inches  deep 
and  about  six  inches  apart  in  the  rows,  the  soil  being  pressed 
down  firmly  round  them,  as  cuttings  of  all  sorts  root  more 
readily  in  a  firm  soil  than  in  a  loose  one.  Care  must  be 
taken  not  to  break  off  the  top  buds,  as  a  good  strong  leader 
is  wanted  from  the  terminal  one,  or,  if  there  are  several, 
from  the  central  one. 
In  the  spring  tall  sticks  should  be  put  to  each  cutting, 
and  the  leading  shoot  tied  up  to  it  as  it  extends,  the  side 
shoots  from  the  cuttings  being  pinched  back  to  two  leaves 
as  soon  as  they  are  fairly  well  developed,  and  the  resulting 
growths  to  one  leaf.  The  result  of  this  is  that  the  stems  of 
the  cuttings  are  clothed  with  leaves  from  near  the  ground  to 
the  top,  which  helps  the  stems  to  thicken,  and  stimulates 
root  action,  the  added  strength  being  sent  into  the  leader 
when  the  laterals  are  pinched.  In  the  autumn  the  leader 
should  be  shortened  to  about  two-thirds  of  its  length  to 
ensure  a  strong  continuation  in  the  following  spring,  the  cut 
being  made  just  above  a  strong  bud  ;  in  fact,  the  cut  should 
be  begun  just  below  the  bud,  and  on  the  opposite  side  to 
it,  and,  going  upwards,  finish  just  above  it.  The  continua¬ 
tion  shoot  in  the  spring  will  be  almost  exactly  in  a  straight 
line  with  the  stem,and  after  a  year’s,  or  two  years’,  growth 
the  starting  point  will  be  only  noticeable  when  looked  for. 
The  laterals  should  be  treated  in  the  same  w’ay  as  during 
the  first  year,  both  from  the  first  year’s  growth  and  from 
the  stopped  laterals  of  that  year. 
When  the  leader  has  attained  the  height  of  about  four 
feet,  if  Gooseberries  are  the  objective,  buds  may  be  inserted 
sorne  little  way  down  from  the  top  at  the  end  of  July  or 
beginning  of  August,  preferably  in  damp  weather,,  or  if 
grafting  is  decided  on,  the  leader  should  not  be  shortened 
till  the  following  March.  If  Currant  trees  are  to  be  reared, 
the  leader  may  be  shortened  six  inches  or  so  in  the  autumn, 
when  three  or  four  shoots  will  push  forth  in  the  spring  to 
foi^  the  head  of  the  tree.  Any  one  of  these  shoots  which 
IS  badly  placed  for  forming  a  future  branch,  or  threatens  to 
grow  in  an  aw’kward  direction,  should  be  removed  com¬ 
pletely  before  it  gets  woody,  while  the  remainder  may  in  I 
the  autumn  be  cut  back  to  half  their  length,  which  will 
mean  that  the  branches  will  be  doubled  in  number  the 
following  spring.  The  trees  wdll  be  by  this  time  three  or 
four  years  old,  and  all  the  lateral  growths  of  the  stem  may 
be  removed,  being  cut  off  close  to  the  stem  with  a  clean  cut. 
We  have  now  a  standard  tree,  and  from  this  point  the 
training  of  the  head  is  pretty  much  the  same  as  that  of 
any  ordinary  Red  Currant  or  Gooseberry  bush.  Extension 
of  a  branch  in  any  desired  direction  can  be  obtained  by 
cutting  back  the  leading  shoot  of  that  branch  to  a  bud 
pointing  in  that  direction.  In  May,  any  lateral  growths 
for  which  there  will  not  be  room  should  be  pinched  back  to 
three  or  four  leaves,  and  the  secondary  growths  to  one  leaf, 
to  keep  the  middle  of  the  tree  from  getting  crowded,  and  in 
the  autumn  these  should  be  further  shortened  to  the 
clusters  of  buds  at  the  base,  and  thus  wdll  be  formed 
fruiting  spurs  for  years  to  come.  The  ideal  tree  has  every 
branch  clothed  with  these,  so  that  every  branch  is,  in  fact, 
a  well-feathered  cordon.  Until  the  branches  have  attained 
nearly  the  desired  length,  the  leading  shoots  may  be  left 
about  half  their  length,  or  less,  at  the  autumn  pruning, 
which  will  ensure  the  formation  of  spurs  along  their  whole 
length.  If  more  is  left  than  this  some  of  the  buds  will  not 
break  in  the  spring,  and  a  bare  or  spurless  stem  will  be  the 
consequence. 
When  the  trees  are  getting  nearly  as  large  as  desired, 
they  may  be  shortened  every  year  to  two  or  three  leaves. 
There  is  an  alternative  method,  or,  rather,  perhaps  a  varia¬ 
tion*  of  this  method,  for  Gooseben’y  standards  when  they 
have  attained  a  fair  size,  and  that  is  to  allow  half  the  lead¬ 
ing  shoots  to  remain  their  full  length  each  year,  as  the 
young  wood  of  Goosebenues  often  bears  the  finest  fruit. 
These  at  the  end  of  the  season  can  be  cut  back,  and  their 
place  taken  by  strong  leaders  from  the  young  wood  which 
was  cut  back  the  previous  season.  Birds  in  winter  will 
sometimes  nullify  the  good  of  the  most  skilled  training  by- 
picking  out  the  buds,  and  when  these  buds  are  the  embryo 
spurs  of  future  years  it  is  very  annoying  and  disappointing. 
A  look  out  must  be  kept  for  this,  and  at  fii’st  sign  the  trees 
should  be  dusted  over  with  soot  on  a  still,  damp  morning, 
and  the  operation  repeated  tw-o  or  three  times  during  the 
-winter,  especially  after  very  heavy  rains.  Another  matter 
to  be  looked  to  is  the  staking  of  the  trees.  This  is  gene¬ 
rally  necessary  for  some  years,  and  if  well  done  when  the 
stem  begins  to  carry  a  head,  when,  in  fact,  it  is  planted  in 
its  peiananent  quarters,  it  will  probably  last  as  long  as 
wanted.  But  the  grower  must  be  guided  by  circumstances,, 
as  so  much  depends  upon  the  height  of  the  stem,  and  the 
vigour  with  which  it  was  grown. 
As  regards  sorts,  the  Red  Dutch  is  one  of  the  best  for 
standard  Red  Currants,  being  a  compact  grower  and  a  great 
bearer,  large  and  deep  red,  and  of  good  flavour.  Raby 
Castle  has  also  much  to  recommend  it  for  this  purpose,  as 
its  stout  growth  makes  it  especially  suitable  for  forming  a 
good  strong  stem,  while  its  late  keeping  properties  give  it 
a  special  value,  the  fruit  hanging  on  the  trees  until  October 
without  any  difficulty  if  birds  are  kept  off,  and  is  then  very 
refreshing  for  dessert.  Of  White  Currants,  the  only  variety 
needed  is  the  White  Dutch  Cut-leaved,  a  moderate  grower 
and  abundant  bearer,  producing  large  bunches  of  fine 
berries,  being  an  improvement  upon  the  old  White  Dutch. 
As  regards  Gooseberries,  it  does  not  matter  much  which 
sorts  are  chosen  as  regards  habit  of  growth,  though  it 
should  be  borne  in  mincl  that  there  are  two  very  diverse 
classes  of  Gooseberry  in  this  respect — the  pendulous,  like 
Red  Warrington  and  Keepsake,  and  the  upright,  like  Red 
Champagne  and  Whinham’s  Industry — the  former  class  pro¬ 
ducing  a  weeping  sort  of  tree,  by  no  means  unornamental, 
and  the  latter  a  sturdy,  erect-branched  sort  of  tree,  espe¬ 
cially  the  tw-o  sorts  named.  In  ordering  trees  from  the 
nurserymen  it  wdll  avoid  disappointment  to  know  that  they 
do  not  stock  standards  of  very  many  varieties,  and  it  would 
be  w-ell,  therefore,  to  give  them  considerable  latitude. 
Though  the  idea  of  standard  Gooseberries  and  Currants 
may  seem  fanciful  to  many,  they  have  at  least  one  very  dis¬ 
tinct  and  definite  use  to  which  bushes  cannot  be  put,  and 
that  is,  that,  by  planting  them  alternately  with  bushes, 
more  fruit  can  be  grown  on  a  given  space.  Everyone  knows 
that  Red  Currants  in  garden  ground  tend  to  make  a  deal  too 
much  wood,  but  by  having  standard  trees  between  them 
there  is  so  much  more  demand  upon  the  nitrogen  of  the  soil 
— the  sole  cause  of  rankness  of  growth — that  this  luxuriance 
is  checked,  while  their  bearing  will  not  be  lessened,  but 
rather  increased,  what  little  they  suffer  from  the  slight 
