HOME HARDENS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 13, 18 July 1949, Page 8

HOME HARDENS

(By J. W. Goodwin, N.D.H. (N.Z.), F.R.H.S., Massey Agricultural College.) .

PRUNING OF SMALL FRUITS The first of the fruits to receive attention in the winter should be the small fruits. For those interested in producing their own bushes, it might be advisable to discuss the propogation as well as the training of these bushes, as the future of the plants depends upon efficient propogation. In the case of black currants, cuttings for replacements or new plantings must be taken from the new wood which grew last summer. The cuttings can be made from the wood of the prunings, cutting immediately under the bud at the base of the cutting, and over the bud at the top of the cutting. These should be about nine to 10 inches in length. Do not remove any buds, as the buds although buried in the ground, grow quite freely, and help to provide a continual supply of new wood. When the cuttings have been made, they are planted with half their length underground. Make certain that the earth is well firmed around the cutting. In the spring these bulbs will grow and should produce several good shoots. These growths, if left unshortened, would bear a few fruits the next summer, but this is not a sound practice unless the cutting is planted v/here it is to grow permanently. ' When cuttings are planted in rows, close together, for shifting to permanent positions later, they must receive fairly drastic treatment after replanting. In his eagerness to secure fruit the grower is often tempted to plant a tree or bush without any pruning, and it will suffer because of this in the subsequent growing season. When planting or transplanting, root damage takes place, and it is to compensate for this that the bush top must be pruned, often drastically. The roots and tops are dependent one on the other, so when roots are cut and tops left unpruned, the plant is unbalanced. By pruning the plants, the balance is restored and healthy uniform growth will develop from the pruned bush. If the bushes are left to fruit in the second summer from the cutting stage, subsequent growth is likely to be weak and the crop small. After the bushes have borne their first crop, pruning consists of cutting away, to a strong new growth near the base of the bush, those branches that have fruited. ’' I Red Currants and Gooseberries

Red currants vary slightly from black in the way cuttings are made, as they are grown with a definite stem or trunk. The cuttings are made about the same length as the black, but have all buds removed except for the top three or four. The pruning of red currant bushes, both in their early days and subsequently, in on very different lines from that of the black. These currants bear their bunches of berries on short spurs along the main branches; spurs are the clusters of fruit buds that develop on two-year or older wood. Thus, while the whole object of the pruner is to keep black currants well furnished with long young shoots, with red currants the aim is to produce short fruiting spurs along the whole length of sturdy branches by heading back all young side-shoots that are made.

The ideal buttercup-shaped, with evenly spaced branches radiating from the top of the short main stem. The leading or extension shoot on each branch should not be cut so drastically. These need to be shortened by half, no more. If the leaders are cut off too short, then the shapeliness and fruitfulness of the bush will be impaired. With gooseberries, reproduction is from cuttings taken from the new season’s growth. This is not quite

such an easy task as for the currants, a different type of growth being necessary. To produce a good bush, a cutting must be made not less than 12 inches long, 15 inches being the ideal length. The reason for this is to give the bush a stem to keep the growth off the ground. To make a cutting, it is essential to remove all 'buds but the top four; if this is not done, a growth will continually develop on the stem, much 1 to the detriment of the bush.

Pruning of the gooseberry is carried out as follows: Cut back to two bottom buds all shoots that crowd the centre of the bush, or cross one another, as well as the weakly ones. Whenever there is room, leave sturdy medium-sized shoots almost full length, taking off just the unripened tips of these. Train in a strong shoot here and there as needed to fill up a gap in the framework of branches, or to replace an old branch. Do not leave too many shoots unshortened, so that the bush is crowded and the centre choked. When the bush is finished, it should be possible to pass the hand in and out among the branches quite comfortably.