Page 8 



BETTER FRUIT 



March, 1920 



The Currant and Gooseberry and How to Grow Them 



By George M. Darrow, Office of Horticultural and Pomological Investigations, United States Department of Agriculture 



(With acknowledgment to others) 



BOTH currants and gooseberries are 

 iinfives of cool, moist northern 

 cliniati's and in the I'nited States 

 succeed best in the northern half' of' the 

 country and east ol' the one hundredth 

 ineriilian. Tliey are injured by tlie long 

 hot sunuuers of the Southern States, ex- 

 cept in the higher altitudes of the Appa- 

 laciiian Mountains. Even in Missouri 

 and Kansas Ihey do not succeed very 

 well. They are not adajjted to the hot 

 interior valleys of California, but are 

 grown in the northern coast counties 

 of that state. 



Gooseberries are grown slightly far- 

 ther south than currants and seem to 

 endure the summer heat somewhat bet- 



danger of that disease being spread to 

 valuable forest areas. 



The fruit worms, especially the cur- 

 rant maggot, are very serious pests on 

 currants and gooseberries in the moun- 

 tain and Pacific Coast states and have 

 made the itroduclion of these fruits dif- 

 ficult in many sections there. The cur- 

 rant maggot, for which there is no 

 known means of control, occurs also in 

 some localities in the Eastern states. 



Soil and Site for a Plantation. 



The soil selected for the currant and 

 the gooseberry should be cool, well 

 drained, and fertile. The heavy types, 

 such as silt or clay loams, are usually 



Branch of the Golden Prolific variety of currant, "svliich is a native of Western 

 Kansas and Oklahoma and Eastern Colorado. The fruit of this currant is golden in 

 color, and like some of the black varieties, must be picked singly, as they do not 

 ripen at the same time. Varieties of this species are very productive under proper 

 soil and climatic conditions. 



ter. More spraying, however, is neces- 

 sary to keep the foliage of currants and 

 gooseberries in a healthy condition in 

 the southern part of their range than in 

 the northern part. 



Currants and gooseberries are very 

 hardy and withstand extremely low 

 temperatures; in fact, if windbreaks 

 are provided, most varieties are able 

 to withstand the severe conditions in 

 most parts of the upper Mississippi 

 Valley and the northern Great Plains 

 area. 



In the region west of the one hun- 

 dredth meridian limited rainfall re- 

 stricts their culture materially, except 

 in irrigated sections and in compara- 

 tively small areas in Northern Cali- 

 fornia, the Willamette Valley, and the 

 Puget Sound region. 



Four factors limit the growing of cur- 

 rants and gooseberries in the United 

 Stales: The white-pine blister rust, the 

 currant maggot, the lack of moisture, 

 and the heat of snmmer. 



The blister rust makes it necessary 

 to eradicate currant and gooseberry 

 plants already growing and to prevent 

 new plantings wherever the white pine 

 is an important forest tree and there is 



better in these respects than sandy 

 soils. Neither fruit will do well on 

 land where water stands during any 

 part of the year. 



In regions toward the southern limit 

 of their culture it is best to select a 

 northern or northeastern slope, in order 

 to give soine protection from the sun. 

 The north side of a building may be se- 

 lected when only a few plants are to he 

 grown for home use. 



A place with good air drainage is pre- 

 ferred for gooseberries. In low, damp 

 places mildew attacks both fruit and 

 foliage more severely than on higher 

 sites where the air circulation is better. 

 Currants, however, are seldom severely 

 attacked by mildew. Therefore, when 

 the site is a sloping one, currants may 

 be planted on the lower parts and 

 .gooseberries above. As both fruits 

 blossom very early in the spring, 

 neither should be planted in low pock- 

 ets where late spring frosts may kill 

 the flowers. 



Preparation of the Soil 



Before planting the soil should be 

 prepared as for garden crops. This in- 

 cludes deep plowing and thorough har- 



rowing. Recently plowed sod land 

 should not he used as a rule, because 

 the sod will interfere with the setting 

 of the plants and the management of 

 the plantation until it becomes com- 

 pletely rotted. Sod land plowed early 

 in the autumn and rcplowed and har- 

 rowed the following spring will usually 

 be in good condition for planting, as 

 will land in a good state of fertility fol- 

 lowing a crop of potatoes, tomatoes, or 

 some other hoed crop. 



Propagation of the Plants 



Plants of the varieties desired gen- 

 erally can be secured from reliable nur- 

 serymen at small cost, and this is a sat- 

 isfactory way to obtain them either for 

 the home fruit garden or for commer- 

 cial plantings. They may he propa- 

 gated in the home garden, however, by 

 means of layers or cuttings. 



Gooseberries ordinarily are propa- 

 gated by mound layers. The plant from 

 which layers are to be procured should 

 be cut back heavily before it begins 

 to grow in the spring. By July it will 

 have sent out numerous vigorous 

 .shoots. It should then be mounded 

 with earth half way to the tips of the 

 shoots. By autumn the shoots will have 

 rooted. Those with strong roots may 

 then be cut olT and set in the nursery, 

 to be grown for one or two years before 

 planting in the field. If the roots are 

 not well developed, it will be better to 

 leave the shoots attached to the parent 

 plant for a second year. They will 

 make strong root systems meanwhile, 

 and then, if grown for a year in the 

 nursery, after being cut from the par- 

 ent plant they will be satisfactory for 

 planting. The latter method is more 

 common in the case of European varie- 

 ties, which do not root so readily as 

 American sorts. 



A few varieties of gooseberries are 

 propagated more easily by cuttings than 

 by layers. Those varieties which are 

 of European parentage are generally 

 the most diflTicult to propagate by cut- 

 tings. American sorts vary greatly in 

 this respect, however. Thus, cuttings 

 of the Houghton variety root readily, 

 while those of the Downing do not. Two 

 new and as yet little known varieties, 

 the Poorman and the Van Fleet, are 

 easily propagated by cuttings. If cut- 

 tings are used, they .should be of the 

 current season's growth and about eight 

 inches long, and they should be handled 

 in accordance with the directions given 

 below for currant cuttings. 



Currants are propagated almost en- 

 tirely by means of cuttings made from 

 vigorous shoots of the current season's 

 growth. In the Eastern states cuttings 

 are made about eight inches long and 

 in the Pacific Coast regions from ten to 

 twelve inches long. They are usually 

 cut in the autumn after the leaves have 

 dropped and may be .set in the nursery 

 row immediately, or buried in sand 

 with the bottom end up, or stored until 

 spring in a cellar cool enough to keep 

 them dormant and moist enough to pre- 



