GOOSEBERRIES AND CT7RRAKTS. 



furnished with young wood when necessary, by cutting 

 down every alternate limb to within a few inches of the 

 ground, and before these grow tall, the others may be 

 cut down ; thus giving a succession of healthy, fruit- 

 bearing branches. 



Black currants are propagated in the same manner as 

 the red and the white, and subjected to the same early 

 training, but their habit, and the treatment they require, 

 are somewhat different. They do best in a rather adhe- 

 sive, rich moist soil, but not in a cold clay. They 

 delight in richness, and thrive on the borders of ditches 

 or drains. 



They should be pruned as soon as the leaves are 

 fallen, unless they are in a very rampant state of growth, 

 in which case it is best to delay, lest they may injure 

 themselves by putting out again. In the pruning no 

 shortening is required, unless it be necessary to reduce 

 troublesomely overgrown trees; but thin out liberally, 

 allowing no two shoots to touch or cross each other 

 throughout the tree. As they grow old or oldish, prune 

 away old shoots entirely, arid all that have merely a twig 

 or two of young wood. The trees need not be kept so 

 open in the centre as the red and white. 



The fruit of the black currant must be gathered as 

 soon as it is ripe, or it will drop, or shrivel and lose all 

 goodness. It is good for cooking, for jelly, for wine, and 

 for some other purposes, but it is a less general favourite, 

 and less generally useful than white or red currants, or 

 gooseberries. A small number of trees are, however, 

 deserving of a place in the garden, especially as they 

 will do with a north aspect, or on a shaded spot. 



Gooseberries may be trained to a single stem, by re- 

 moving all the lower buds until the trees are three feet 

 high, and then allowing them to form a head. They 

 make very attractive-looking trees, and ripen their fruit 

 with great beauty and cleanliness. Currants, too. may be 

 trained similarly : the branches of the head will droop 

 over and look very graceful and pretty. Sometimes red 

 currants are trained on a north wall, where they do pretty 

 well, and produce ; but the li-uitis so very sour, that such 



