152 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



CURRANT AND GOOSEBERRY CULTURE. 



The propagation of the currant and gooseberry by cuttings is so familiar ta 

 almost everyone that 1 shall not lengthen this paper by a description of the vari- 

 ous methods pursued. My object is to give some simple hints for the more success- 

 ful cultivation of these delicious fruits, for with their better culture will follow a 

 greater appreciation of their noble qualities. 



In giving us the currant, nature was more lavish than we are wont to con- 

 sider ; for, in addition to the life-giving blood of the fruit, the pendant racemes of 

 shining berries make a picture that artists might well wish to fix upon the canvas. 

 Wresting the currant from the cold woods farther north, we cannot but expect to 

 meet, to some extent, with failure in fruiting it successfully, unless we supply con- 

 ditions similar to those of its native haunts. A cool, moist soil and partial shade 

 is essential. In this latitude where the soil is naturally heavy and very moist,, 

 fair success may follow open field culture ; but most of our gardens are naturally 

 too dry, and the sun is too hot to give even fair results under such cultivation. 



To know how much shade we can profitably give our currants is important. 

 As a suggestion in this line I give the following compartive results of planting- 

 in difl[erent situations in the same garden: In one place was a trellis six feet in 

 height, running north and south, densely covered by grape-vines east of the grape 

 row, with scarcely space between for a foot-path, was a row of Ked Dutch cur- 

 rants. With the afternoon shade furnished by the grape-vines, those bushes bore 

 good crops annually ; while neighboring bushes, wholly exposed to the sun's heat^ 

 bore scantily at the best. 



■ One spring, at the time of the annual pruning, several cuttings of the Red 

 Dutch currants were planted on the north side of an out-building, and so close to it 

 that the rain, as it dripped from the eaves, fell just outside of the cuttings, which 

 thus received only the early morning and the late evening sun. In two years a. 

 light crop was borne. The third year produced a heavy crop, and each year there- 

 after. The fruit clusters were the most magnificent 1 ever knew of this variety. 

 Compared with the truit by the grape row, those by the building bore longer 

 clusters, which were more evenly ripened, the berries were one-half larger, and 

 more even in size, the color more rich and deep, while the quality was equal, if 

 not superior. These points of favor were not owing to the comparative age of the 

 bushes, as the old ones were so pruned as to leave only young, thrifty canes for 

 bearing. Judging from this instance, could such results follow as a rule, many a 

 home could easily be blest with the choicest of currants by planting a few bushes^ 

 in favored spots, wlxere now weeds encumber the ground. 



To economically shade the currant, in growing for market, I know of nothing 

 we can better use than the grape-vine. I prefer running the rows east and west, 

 with a row of currants north of each row of grapes, leaving space between the 

 rows for horse cultivation. 



To have a moist soil, we should plow eighteen inches deep, apply wood ashes 

 liberally, cultivate frequently or heavily mulch the ground. We must prune the 

 bushes severely, for their tendency is to produce too much wood, which soon 

 becomes almost barren. Each spring the long canes should be cut well back, and, 

 as young wood bears the largest berries, it should always be kept coming on, and 

 the old, enfefebled wood cut out. 



What I have noticed as requirements of the current— such as shade, and cool, 

 moist soil—is of equal value to the gooseberry, as its habits and haunts are similar 



