Gardening Notes.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 2667, 6 August 1887, Page 2

Gardening Notes.

The blaok currant requires a rather cool, moist soil, and for that reason it does not object to be grown in partial, shack Shade is not a necessity, but those who have to grow this fruit in a poor, sandy soil will find -it do all the better for a little shade. In gardens where the staple inclines to clay, where the roots are mostly in a cool medium, wonderfully fine, trait, both in size and quality, may be grown, .if, before planting the trees, the land is trenched l up two feet deep and well manured j but in any case a rich soil is indispensable, for the black currant is, among ! fruit trees, almost alone in its capacity to endure rich living. For bearing its fruit as it should do, when judiciously pruned on the previous year's'growth, it • requires to live sumptuously : to enable the trees to .mature a crop of frujl, and at the' same time provide strong wood for the production of fruit next year. / An experienced eye will tell at a glance, at the end of a season's growth, what .the character of. the next year's-crop will bo, by the condition of- : that growth, If the young wood is vigorous and the wood clear and bright, the succeeding crop will be large, v and abundant, if climatic conditions are favorable; but if the young shoots are weak and crowded, the fruit may bo plentiful in numbers, but it will be small in size, and most.of us know how much more large fruit is valued than small. The 'necessary conditions of growth can only be secured in a suitable soil, which means that it must be both, rich and deep, and we advise all those who are about forming new plantations of this fruit to act on this hint. When planting young trees amateurs are too much given to crowding them by thick planting which is a mistake- If the trees are to stand in a single line, they should be planted six-feet apart, and in double lines, eight feet apart, for one large tree which has plenty of room to extend its branches all round will produce' more fruit of a better quality than three small one 3 where they are crowded Black currants may be safely planted up to the end of August, Pruning. ; It is not too late now to deal with existing trees, if there should bo any requiring attention, and, generally, this is the most neglected of all fruit trees, • If there are any trees that have not yet been pruned, and the branches are crowded, let them be attended to without delay.. The {jnes|; fruit- Is borne by the young wood. This indicates the.-way,-then, that we

should prune. Old exhausted growth should be cut away to make room for the young; and this, in a few words, is the proper way to prune these trees. How much of the old wood should be outoutin individual cases, each must decide for himself j but I say, by all means, clear out the middle of the bush of all branches that are crowding each other, for- unless light and air can reach the rising young shpots, they "-will weak, and the "next crop will ?u ffef 147cQS.aequence. '"■"'"'.,' .."''