The Canadian Horticulturi^ 



Vol. XXXVI 



DECEMBER, 1913 



No. 12 



Currant and Gooseberry Culture* 



THE production of currants and 

 g^ooseberries in Ontario is increas- 

 ing in importance year by year, 

 and now there is a large acreage in cul- 

 tivation. It was not many years ago 

 when growers were pulling out whole 

 patches of red and black currants be- 

 cause the demand for the fruit was so 

 poor as to cause prices to be unprofitable. 

 Black currants sold as low as sixty cents 

 for a twenty-pound basket, while red 

 currants could not be sold at any price. 



Conditions have changed considerably 

 during the past thirteen years. Prices 

 have gradually advanced until now we 

 can obtain as high as ten and one-half 

 cents a pound wholesale for black cur- 

 rants and around six and one-half cents 

 for the red varieties. 



On the other hand the price of labor 

 has increased. TvC'enty cents used to be 

 paid for picking a twenty-pound basket 

 of black currants, while now thirty-five 

 and forty cents is the prevailing price for 

 an eleven-quart basket. 



The increase in the prices of these 

 fruits is due to the large number of jam 

 factories which have been erected 

 throughout the province. Black currants 

 cannot be sold readily on a fruit mar- 

 ket at such high prices to individual 

 householders, but these same people will 

 buy the jammed article and in the end 

 pay more for it, as they pay also for the 

 cost of manufacturing. 



The western provinces are demanding 

 more every year and quite a quantity of 

 the fresh fruits are shipped out there. 

 The care of the black and red varieties is 

 very similar, the only essential difference 

 being in methods of pruning. 



SOIL AND LOCATION 



Patches planted' in the northern parts 

 of Ontario would be better on a north 

 slope. The sun's rays would not be so 

 strong in the early spring, arud conse- 

 quently there would not be the same 

 damage from forcing the buds early and 

 having them injured by a late spring 

 frost. 



Black currants will grow on almost 

 any soil, but for the best growth should 

 be planted on a rich, clayey loam which 

 is well drained and retentive. The soil 

 must be well drained to allow early cul- 

 tivation in the spring and must be re- 

 tentive to conserve sufficient moisture to 

 swell out the fruit. Usually about the 



•Extract from a paper read at the recent an- 

 nual convention in Toronto of the Ontario Fruit 

 Growers' AsBoclation. 



L. B. Henry, B.S.A., Winona, Ont 



period when the berries are growing most 

 rapidly, there is a dry spell, and we must 

 have a soil which will tide the crops over 

 this trying period. 



Red currants require a soil of a lighter 

 nature for best success. A rich, sandy 

 loam, which is also well drained and re- 

 tentive, has been' found to be the best. 



PROPAGATION 



Both classes are almost entirely pro- 

 pagated from cuttings which are made 

 from the present year's growth. These 

 are made about eight inches long and 

 trimmed off at the base of a bud, at 

 which point the callousing process is the 

 most rapid. 



Cuttings may be made early in the fall 

 as soon as the wood is ripe and planted 

 immediately in nursery rows. If the fall 

 is favorable they will root and be ready 

 for growth the following spring. They 

 should be covered with straw or strawy 

 manure to prevent heaving by frost and 



also to hold back growth a little in the 

 spring. If this is not done the leaves 

 will come out rapidly and use up all the 

 stored food in the cutting before the 

 roots have become active. Cuttings may 

 also be made in the winter and stored in 

 old sawdust or a mixture of sawdust and 

 sand. Making them in the spring and 

 planting them out directly is sometimes 

 tried with indifferent success. From my 

 experience cuttings made in the winter 

 and stored in sawdust until planting out 

 time have made much better growth than 

 those made by any other method. 



SELECTION OF PIjAJITS 



Select plants which have a large fibr- 

 ous root system and a thrifty looking 

 top. A good two-year-old is superior to 

 a one-yearold, because they have a 

 larger root system. However, one-year- 

 old culls are usually planted again and 

 sold as two-year-old number one, and I 

 prefer the one-year-olds for that rea- 



A Novel Exhibit Made by Peel County at tha Recent Ontario Horticultural Exhibition 



Note how in this eiliibitt of aPo'eH. made in the form of a map of the oounty of Peel, the town- 

 ships, power lines, railroads and other features of the county are shown. 



286 



