THE CURRANT. 



There are no more desirable accessories to the garden than our 

 small fruits, whether cultivated for profit or family use. We have 

 before had something to say on the subject, and recur to it again, 

 not alone for the benefit of our numerous new subscribers, but be- 

 cause Horticultural knowledge, like other kinds of knowledge, is 

 necessarily conveyed by " line upon line, precept upon precept." 

 We shall confine the present article to the Currant. Some may 

 think it needless to give directions for cultivating the currant, since 

 almost everybody who has a garden grows it. But we think not. 

 To grow a plant involves the idea of cultivation and care ; at least, 

 it includes something more than sticking a plant in a hole, and gath- 

 ering the fruit in the course of time. If this be true, then probably 

 not more than one in a hundred grows the currant ; it grows itself, 

 and no thanks to any body. We know of no plant more neglected 

 than this, and we know of none that yields a more generous return 

 for proper care. No fact in Horticultural science is better estab- 

 lished, than that high culure is a wise economy. This remark will 

 apply to the currant with peculiar force. It is true, so generous is 

 its nature, it will from year to year produce a moderate crop under 

 Tcry bad treatment ; but when judiciously cultivated, the product is 

 wonderfully augmented in quantity, quality and size. In addition 

 to this latter fact, a healthy, well-grown, symmetrical plant, glad- 

 some with its peculiar treasure, always produces an emotion of pleas- 

 ure in the beholder ; a matter of no small moment to those who 

 would extract pleasure even from the sweat of our brow. If, then, 

 additional profit, as well as no small degree of pleasure, will result 

 from the application of skill and care to the treatment of the cur- 

 rant, let it by all means be done. Let it no' longer be thrust into a 

 corner, or some other out-of-the-way place, but bring it out into the 

 open air and genial sunshine, and minister properly to its wants. It 

 is almost useless to attempt to bring into shape, vigor and product- 

 iveness, old, unsightly, and half-decayed plants. It is better to be- 

 gin anew. We do not like plants grown from suckers. Procure 

 those grown from cuttings, and remove all the eyes and shoots so as 

 to produce a clean stalk a foot or more high, above which the head 

 should be formed. This stalk must always be kept free from shoots. 

 Let the ground be trenched a couple effect deep, and incorporate 



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