New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 299 



"I do not use stable manure on my fruit, as I consider fertilizer 

 much better. The first three years after setting I use nothing but 

 fine ground bone with a small amount of muriate of potash ; on 

 older bushes I add nitrogen in some available form. I think that 

 one thousand pounds of fertilizer to an acre can be used to advan- 

 tage on full bearing bushes, namely : 



600 pounds of bone. 

 250 pounds muriate of potash. 



150 pounds nitrate of soda or that amount of ammonia in some 

 other form." 



An application of a thousand pounds per acre of this mixture 

 would give from 120 to 150 pounds of phosphoric acid, from 40 to 

 50 pounds of nitrogen and from 120 to 130 pounds of potash per 

 acre. It is not to be supposed that the exact formula for com- 

 mercial fertilizers that Mr. Clarke has found best adapted for his 

 soil will also be the best formula for other kinds of soil in which 

 currants are successfully grown, but it contains helpful sugges- 

 tions for those who wish to use commercial fertilizers for currants. 

 For a general discussion of the use of commercial fertilizers the 

 reader is referred to Bulletin 94 of this Station. 



Cultivation. — As soon as the ground is fit to plow in spring it is 

 our practice to work the manure, which was placed around the 

 bushes the fall previous, into the soil by shallow cultivation near the 

 bushes and somewhat deeper, perhaps three or four inches deep, mid- 

 way between the rows. We believe that it is not well to disturb the 

 roots by deep cultivation, especially near the bushes. 



After this first cultivation the ground is given frequent shallow 

 cultivation till about the middle of August when cultivation ceases 

 80 that the growth may be checked and the wood well ripened be- 

 fore freezing weather comes. 



Pruning. — In large plantations it has been found most satisfac- 

 tory to permit currants to grow in bush form rather than in the tree 

 form, as the old canes may then be removed when they become un- 

 productive as they do after a few years, and their places may be 

 taken by new canes that have been jDermitted to grow for this pur- 

 pose. Then, too, if the trunk of a currant in tree form is broken off 

 or injured in uny way a new plant must be set in its place, but when 

 several canes are permitted to grow as is the case when the plants 

 are grown in bush fonn, the accidental breaking of a trunk does not 



