PLANTS THAT MAKE FOR SUCCESS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23807, 13 May 1939, Page 23

PLANTS THAT MAKE FOR SUCCESS

SOME CULTURAL HINTS Although most amateurs imagine that exactly the reverse is true, it is small fruit gardens that call for most skill in the planning. The wise gardener will never plant fruit in a haphazard manner ; but it is where the largest possible amount of produce has to be taken from limited space that no pains must be spared to ensure that every available inch is occupied to the best advantage. It is no uncommon thing to see quite tiny gardens stocked with overcrowded tree fruits, which, on account of lack of essential air and light cannot do more than eke out a miserable existence. If, instead, the limitations of space had been realised at the outset, many such plots would much more profitably have been utilised for bush and bramble fruits. It is true that many of them can be grown between tree fruits, but not unless these are so widely spaced as to ensure that the dwarf bushes will not have to struggle only under an overhanging canopy of branches, and it is in few suburban gardens that there is sufficient space to permit of successful under-planting. It must be borne in mind, too, bush and bramble fruits will never crop satisfactorily if planted so closely that they tend at a later date to overcrowd. •

However, such things as gooseberries, red and white currants can be grown as cordons, thus occupying far less space than they would in bush form. and. what is more, they will crop over a longer season, and the fruit should be of very much finer quality. Black currants and brambles of any kind can never be grown as trained specimens, for one and all fruit on one-year-old wood That is, the shoots made one summer are those retained for fruiting in the following year. Pruning is carried out 'mmediately after fruiting, and consists of cutting out to the ground growths which have already borne fruit.

• DISTANCE APART TO PLANT In average soil it can be taken that gooseberries as bushes will require four to four and a-half feet of space each way. Currants four and a-half feet; rasnberries should be 18 inches apart in the row, with at least five feet between the rows; while blackberries, with their very much more vigorous growth, should be placed a good eight to ten feet apart, and the term blackberry, in this case, includes many of the hybrid berries, such as the loganberry, lowberry. Veitchberry and others listed in catalogues. The ground for bush fruits must be just as thoroughly prepared as it is for choice apples' and pears. Plantations in their case also are of a more or less permanent nature, and, unless the soil in the first place is thoroughly cultivated and well enriched, the time will come when available supplies of nutriment being well-nigh exhausted, there will be a rapid deterioration in the health of the stock and the quantity and quality of the produce it yields Digging to a depth of two full spits should always be looked upon as an essentia] in bush fruit cultivation A good dressing of humus-forming material should be worked in, either animal manure, or some of the recognised substitutes, such as hop manure, composted refuse, or speci-ally-prepared peat. LIMING. ETC.

Lime should be added, if it is at all necessary and bonemeal or crushed bones, at the fairly liberal rate of about four ounces ner square yard. This will provide a steady supply of phosphates over a period of years. It is hardly necessary to enlarge on the value of such feeding with fruits of any kind. Endeavour should, of course, be made to get all preparatory work

completed some little time in advance of planting, in order that the soil may settle firmly, but this is a process which can be accelerated by treading, making sure that it is done when the soil is reasonably dry. There is no better month for planting than May, for at this season growth is dormant, and the soil has not yet become thoroughly chilled with winter ranis and frost. It is not, however advisable to delay beyond the end of the month, what cannot be got in by the end of May being left over until the first opportunity in early spring. PLANTING AND SUPPORTING Just as soon as the bushes arrive from the nursery they should be carefully examined. Roots are liable to be injured during transit, and all such members should be carefully pruned away with a sharp knife. If this is done, the plants themselves will suffer no harm. Instead, they will rapidly re-establish a fibrous feeding system. The rules to observe when planting are those that are so often quoted. Take out a hole large enough to accommodate all the roots without curling, spread them out well, and tread in very firmly. As to depth of planting, there is no better guide than the nursery soil mark on the stem of the plants. The top soil should, of course, be hoed over immediately afterwards to save loss of moisture through capillary action. Raspberries in particular should be planted shallowly, for their root system is always near the surface of the soil, so also the buds for next year's growth. Any support which is required by the plants must be provided at the outset. On no account must growths be allowed to blow or lie about unsupported for even a few days By far the best plan with the bramble fruits is to train them on wires Three strands, held on stout fourfoot posts, will suit them perfectly No fruit can be expected from brambles, raspberries or black currants in their first season, for they must be pruned hard back to good sound buds near the base, this to encourage strong and vigorous growth for fruiting the following year Thereafter, treatment, as already indicated, will simply consist of pruning out each season all wood that has borne fruit. D. T. M.