New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 295 



happens that it is convenient to delay setting for some time after 

 spring opens. In this case the pit should be covered with coarse 

 manure or mulch of some kind while the ground is still frozen so 

 that the soil covering the pit may he kept frozen and the cuttings 

 kept dormant till the time when they are to be set. 



The cuttings usually are about eight inches long and are made 

 from the new wood ; that is to say, from the new growth of the past 

 season. If they are to be buried in pits to keep them for setting in 

 spring the bundles should be tied with wire or willows, for twine is 

 liable to rot and break. 



Soil and Cultivation. — The soil for growing the cuttings should 

 be well drained and fertile, plowed from ten to twelve inches deep 

 and thoroughly pulverized. A trench about eight inches deep is 

 made with the spade, against the perpendicular side of which the 

 cuttings are placed one and a half to two inches apart, and with the 

 top buds just above the surface of the ground. A little earth is 

 filled in and tramped very firmly around the base of the cuttings. 

 This is one of the most important points in growing currant cut- 

 tings, that the soil be made firm around the base of the cuttings, and 

 it can not be done satisfactorily if the trench is filled before the earth 

 is tramped. After this has been done the trench should be filled 

 and the earth tramped again. If the cuttings are set in the fall they 

 should be completely covered when the ground begins to freeze, 

 using either earth, coarse manure or some other mulch to prevent 

 heaving by the frost. The objection to covering with earth is tliat 

 the cuttings are more liable* to be injured by the tools when they are 

 uncovered in the spring than they are if covered with manure or 

 straw. Should the cuttings be heaved or loosened by frost the 

 ground should be tramped around them again after the frost has left 

 the ground in the spring. 



During the growing season the ground should be kept well cul- 

 tivated and free from weeds. When the branches begin to appear 

 these should be pruned away to a height of three or four inches 

 from the ground. The plants are commonly grown two seasons in 

 the nursery row before being set in the permanent location for 

 fruiting. Strong one-year plants are very desirable for setting and 

 scrub stock three or four years old is not desirable- even though it 

 be of larger size than the one-year plants. 



