CURRANTS. 



Currant ; ;i vigorous growor and an abiindant bearer. It is extensively cultivated in 

 some localities in England. 



9. Pidnaslou Sweet Jicd. — lUinolies short, \\ itli berries below mtdium size. TLis 

 is the sweetest of all the Red Currants. Kaiscd liy Mr. AVii.i.iams, of rituiaston. 



10. Victoria, Rahy or IfoiKjhlon Casllc. — 'i he bunches are longer than any other 

 variety. A free grower and an abundant bearer. I'erhaps on the whole the finest 

 Red Currant known. 



11. Red Stripcd-leavcd. — A poorly variegated variety of a bad Red Curr.int. Un- 

 worthy of culture, cither for its foliage or fruit. 



12. Black Bang-uj). — A good variety of Black. Bunch and berry nearly if not 

 quite as large as Black Naples. 



1.3. Black Naj)les. — Considered the best of the Black Currants, and I think deserv- 

 edly so. Bunches of fair length. Berries large. 



14. New Dwarf Black. — This variety promises well. It is of more dwarf habit 

 than the other Blacks, and in bunch and berry equal to Black Naples. 



15. Green-Fruited Black. — Wood, foliage, and growth, is that of the Black ; while 

 the fruit when ripe is green. In flavor it will not approach the other Blacks. It is a 

 most singular variety, but is worthless as a fruit-bearer. 



IC. Variegated-Leaved Black. — Here again we have a badly variegated foliage, and 

 a poor fruit. Not worth cultivating. 



17. Old White. — This variety now is but seldom to be met with, the larger varie- 

 ties having taken its place. The bunches are short ; berries small, amber-colored or 

 nearly so, and of higher flavor than any of the other Whites. This should be borne in 

 mind by the raisers of new varieties. 



18. Wliitc Dutch. — Bunches of fair length ; berries large, deep in color, and of high 

 flavor. This is a very fine variety ; every point considered, perhaps the finest of the 

 White Currants. 



19. White Grape. — Bunches long; berries large, pale, not quite as high flavored 

 as the White Dutch. As a general rule, the closer a White Currant approaches in 

 color to amber, the sweeter and richer in flavor it is, like a finely ripened Muscat 

 Grape. 



Some of the finest Currants I hare ever seen grown were in the Isle of Wight. In 

 Guernsey and Jersey they grow equally fine, more particularly the Reds and Whites. 

 The soil was a strong, adhesive loam, resting on clay, but a well drained bottom. 

 The climate is very genial, and the fruit is not only large and well colored, but finely 

 ripened. In the market gardens about London they are excellently grown and man- 

 aged somewhat in this way. They are planted in lines at giv'en distances apart — say 

 twenty or thirty feet row from row, and three or four feet apart in the rows. The 

 ground, which is naturally good, is highly manured, and cropped between with vege- 

 tables. The plants, after the first year or two — when they commence bearing — are 

 pruned very hard. Perhaps it will be better understood what I mean by hard, when 

 the greater part of the young wood is thinned out, and what is allowed 

 n is shortened back to two or three inches. By this means the trees are al 



