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THE PRUNING OF BUSH FRUIT TREES -THE GOOSEBERRY.

[v our monthly ealendai of operations wo have in\ nuoly advocated Lite piuning of the gooseberr> and cuwaut bu-hes, in conhU'i.umoi ot then liability to surter fiom the iav ages of small birds, which, especially in li.it d winteis, make havoc of the buds. Where sparrows and cho-thnches abound in li»ige numbers, their depi editions on bush hints aio often ruinous t» the ciop as well as the health of tho bushes, denuding them as they do of the buds that pioduco dowers ,md leave, alike, so that the bushes for veiy Lick of foliage become debilitated and unhealthy. The leaving of the bushes un pruned till a late penod has this advantage, th it the birds thereby ha\ ing a Luge) numbei of buds to deal with, may not work such extreme havoc as they most cetUinly do when the bus-las have been pruned. A good preventive is to scattei soot and lime mi\ed together over the bushes while they aie moist in the uiornmi? or immediately after ram. Tln» .should be dono frequently, us the co iting ot matter is liable to be wa->liud ofl by evpo&ure to tin* weatlier. Pinning, though tor the above reason to be delayed l.ithoi than done as etilyas might be, othoiwiio should not be delei led too long. Jt should bo done at latent in Febiuaiy. i'here aio vauoiis methods of priming the gooseberry, borne advocate cutting all the young wood back to three or four buds trom thu base, while others adopt the opposite extreme of leaving only young bi.uiches. The lesult of the former method is that the bushes by and by become one in i>s of weak fiuit-pioducing spurs, which ye irly becoming more and moie crowded bxoouw yearly also mn-e weak, and cease to produce line fruit, and by and by cease to produce at all. The only recommendation the method has is its extreme simplicity. It requires no brains or discrimination, and miy be accomplished by means of a hedge shears, knife and pruning gloves, and skill to use them being alike unnecessary. The other method requires souie skill and conbidera-tion to do it well, and beginning with a young three or foui yccti old plant, such as is usually obtained nMm the nurseues, we shall describe its ti>. itment fiom the commencement. We prefer each bush to h.ne a stem of at lo.i>t ton to twelve inches above ground .HUT it is planted, and should havo fiom tour to six mam or puncipal branches 1 1' luting fiom the top of the stem upwards and outwards. These shoots require to be shortened back after being planted, or it in iy bo done while the bush is in the hand niiiiicdiitily before planting. About onethud or ono-foui^i of the length of each shoot should bo cut away. Theie should be no upnglit oi lo idmg shoot fiom the centre oi the lm-,1), tho object being to foun a ii "nouoik vay uiulli like that of an unibielLi in \ cited. Tlie position of the 1) id to which the shoots aio to be cut back is a point of importance, especially when tin; puticular vaiicty being piuued has any pic.uli.uty of Inbit. If the habit of giowtu is "pendant, uhuh is the case with ni'iiy of the best \aiieties, the shoots sli mid b> out luck al>\ t>s to a bud glowing on the uppei side, and never to one springing fiom tiiu under Mile.. Tins will tend to Loiinteiact tliu downward tendency of the shoots. Flioso vaneties which, on the other hand, luvo ;. close, upright li tbit or mouth, should be cut back to Inula winch spnng fiom the under or outer sklo of the shoots— a piactico which will tuid to correct the too clo-,e habit of sorts of the kind descubed. In order the bettei to foun the fiame work of the future bush, it ij a, good plan to fix n hoop on threo or tour stakes placed eqni-distant around it, .it such a height a-, to admit of the branches In ing tied out to it by moans of string. At tin- second year's pruning after planting, the loading shoots should again be cut back about one-third or one-fouith of then length, stiong shoots being cut to the former length and weaker ones to the latter 1. n/tli. At this second year's priming, .ii- >, the whole of the shoots which may have sprung up in the centre of the bush --iiould bo cleared out with the knife — not cut, bu v . heeled out, that is, in such a way .i , tbat the very baso of the shoot is clo ucd nwav, with eveiy one of the numermi, mipci ceptible buds which aro formed . t the base ofeveiy shoot. If this is not attended to the foundation will be laid for Jamie tioublu <md confusion. It should li v kept in view always in pruning bush f.uits, th it the centre of the bush mint be opt n and finely e\po»ed to the action of b = 'ht ; theiefore it i-> nece-isary to prevent the giowth of young shoots in that position as far as possible. In dealing with the Literal shoot-, higher up on the mjin stems, t'l^y will liuri ly le.innu to lie thinned out, .so as to li uo enough for fii.it-beannff .md th>3 pioduction of ample loliage. Some d> .iiuimation l, liiqaiied m the selection o, tl c- , Hit-., mi tn.it they may be equally distu'jiitcd ovi i thebush. The supeiHuous shoot* -hoiild Le cut deuii over at the base. The thud an J fouith ycais' pi uning will be ci liducted in the same way, and with the same object-j m view, so far a.s the centie md the- uewly-foruied upper puts of the In sh is concerned ; but the lower put of tin main sliootc, on the laterals of which lin ciop has been borne last reason, n",uire< A ditfpient treatment. Fiom tht base of the supeilluous shoots that weie tut aw.iy last year will hivespriintf more or less of young shoots .^.im. These must bo thinned out, leaving only the strongest and best placed, and iho'itemng them back about a third of then length. The shoots which carried the crop of List year, along with those young shoots which are suuurfluous, muHt be cut clean •iw yby the base, asdnected for the superili'otis .hoots of List year. Tiio future tn itment of the bushes should be conducted on the same piinciplev, yearly encoiiiaymg the pioduction of young branches by the annual cutting away of the superliuous young shoots, and the two-yeai-old t-hoots which have home fruit. There .should Iw no encouragement given to the foimation of short fruiting spins, which will certainly quo large crops while the trce^ uio young, but aie apt to lead to a. wi ak debilitated condition of health in a f_v years. The finest liuit is always obt mied fiom young clean «hnnts of one year's Kiowth, ai.d'thfl principal object in pruning i^ tos'eme a suthcieney of those for the puipo u of e.uiying an simple ci op, and no moie.— X.TJ \'/nculturist.

A i>\kin<. inhliciy has hi'tjn committed on the N>iit!i<tn Kill way. The value of the nroptity btolcn amounts to 1 1 0,000. Kirn. Hrui.i ur Ins sent a donation of 2J,000 hm to the sufJUeis from the .iv.iliitioliesi in the I'ioviuoes of Turin ami Cnncb. Tin Coin to deGrainmont d'Astor, who w.n ltnutly out shooting near Paris uilha p.irty of friends, was struck in the iv l>y a small sliot which had rebounded honi d stone. The Cointe at first laughed ;tt Ins niiiliap, but on tho following day found it nccisfcary to call in medical aid. j luce IUCI-.IOIIJ wcic made, after which tli,' shot ay.is extracted. Erysipelas, lrjwowi, ensued, and the patient has faiiu c diul. l)i hack of Prowim..— At Manchester a widow, .Itycdjs ot age, namul Halli vt.ll, lining "in I'lescot stiect, Jiolton, Miul'a man 10 >tais h"i senior foi breach oi pionusf ot m.uii.i^ .—Tlio defendant, wlio also lives at Bolton. is named Rigby, ;iikl follows the occupation of pitman and iii.ii ktt g-iidciur. It was stated that dr e< tly ileft ndant was introduced to the |,] Mt.il he lif gm to pay Ik r marked atti ntions, and propo*ed He, however, Mil sirpi'iitly went to the Isle of Man, .md tin ie imt a younger woman, who he in.triit.tl.— The j)laintitl, in her evidence, d. posed, that when Rigby was brought +„ her house by her daughter he said, " I am wanting a wife, and I believe you would suit mo as well m anybjdy, and Us. n ht fiud a day for thn wedding. She vi ltd him HJ\eial times at Ins house, and ho made her presents of il.nvus, cicumbers, and other vegetables. On one occasion when she was at his house, lifter he hid sat smoking some tin.c and had (hunk a bottle of perry between them, lio opened a drawer and hhovwd lur a quantity of gold and silver. -In ei os -examination, plnintill said her cinlclM it were ngtel, 26, 23, and 21 re.pHtiuly -Counsel: D-d you suffer in your health w hen you lost the the defendant?— UVII, I lather a little bit 'suk' (lau"litei) — You are better now, I think "'-I don't know that. It just depcil( ._Are 3 l theie no other widowers about there?- 1 don't know; there is none th.it would suit me -(laughter)— in iact, to tell you the truth, I have been Co deiuved by thia one that I don t think Iwhould evei tiy another (laughter) —A veidict was given for plaintiff, with £o0 danmgea.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT18850418.2.23

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1994, 18 April 1885, Page 4

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,621

THE PRUNING OF BUSH FRUIT TREES -THE GOOSEBERRY. Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1994, 18 April 1885, Page 4

THE PRUNING OF BUSH FRUIT TREES -THE GOOSEBERRY. Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1994, 18 April 1885, Page 4

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