GROWING SMALL FRUITS ON THE FARM. 42 I 



pushed down a few inches into the soil. If planted in good soil and 

 kept clean, by the next season they will be well rooted and ready 

 for being planted where they are to remain. 



The distance for currants will vary with the variety, but it will 

 be at least approximately correct to say that six feet will suffice be- 

 iween the rows and five to six feet betw-een the bushes in the line of 

 the row'. 



The first season cultivation and hand hoeing will be necessary ; 

 subsecjuently the bushes may be most easily kept clean by applying 

 annually in the autumn a mulch of farmyard manure. If enough of 

 this material is applied, there will not be much trouble from weeds, 

 and no stirring of the soil will be necessary. The only additional 

 work in growing the bushes is the pruning. The weak shoots should 

 be cut out every year. In addition to this after, say, the second or third 

 year from setting out, some of the oldest wood should be removed 

 to make room for what is younger. The latter bears a much larger 

 and better fruit. 



This fact show^s the greatness of the mistake made by those who 

 try to train the currant so that it will grow in the miniature tree 

 form rather than in the shrub or bush form. With only one stem 

 supporting the limbs, the wood soon becomes old. With fresh canes 

 springing up from the root at the surface of the ground every year, 

 the bushes may be made to renew their strength. 



It would be curious to know how many years currant bushes 

 will live when grown on the shrub plan. The duration of possible 

 life would probably be not less than a half a century. Notwithstand- 

 ing, I doubt the W'isdom of leaving a currant plantation longer than, 

 say, six to eight years without renewal. The bushes become more 

 and more difficult to prune. Some grass is likely to become en- 

 trenched in them, and the fruit is not of so high quality, even under 

 good management, as that obtained from younger bushes. The time 

 soon comes when every bush goes past the zenith of highest power 

 to produce, just as the inevitable time soon comes when every prize 

 fighter comes to be classed as a "has been." Of course, the young 

 plantation should be ready for abundant fruitage before the old one 

 is discarded. 



The greatest difficulty in growing currants comes from the prev- 

 alence of the currant worm. This means that some insecticide, as 

 hellebore, must be dusted on the plants, or that some spray must be 

 used. To such work the farmer is usually much averse, and it comes 

 at a busy season. This, probably more than anything else, stands 

 in the way of growing currants. But it is usually part of the price 

 paid by those who are to have them from their own bushes. 



