THE SMALL FRUITS. ] 609 



the fruit is only useful in a cooked state, having a rather 

 unpleasant flavour if eaten raw as a dessert fruit. The 

 best sort is the Naples variety which has finer fruits than 

 any other, The black currant requires the same cultiva- 

 tion as the red currant. 



THE RED CURRANT. 



Rides rubrum, L. and R. rubrum var. album. 

 GROSSULARIACEAE. 



lt.=Ribes a grappoli. Yic.Grosseillier rouge. 



Both the red currant and the white varieties, thrive 

 very well in rather clayey soils, in shaded and cool situa- 

 tions. They are easily propagated by well, lipened 

 cuttings taken in winter, or by rooted suckers which are 

 thrown up around the stem of old plants. The cuttings 

 or the suckers may be planted in pans with sandy soil 

 well mixed with leaf mould or old manure, or in beds in 

 a shaded corner of the garden. The rooted cuttings 

 may be planted out when they are a year old, but it is 

 better to allow them to remain in the nursery bed for 

 another year to acquire strength. The currants are 

 planted out in winter, December- February, at a distance 

 of one metre apart In northern countries they are 

 usually planted two metres apart, but in this climate the 

 bush never attains full size, and a distance of one metre 

 from one plant to another is quite sufficient. 



The currant blooms in March and April and the 

 pretty bunches of fruit mature in May, June and July. 

 The plant is very sensible to drought, and should be 

 watered frequently throughout the summer. It is owing 

 chiefly to want of proper attention as regards watering 

 that so many currants imported by amateurs die off 

 in three or four years, when they had apparently become 



39 



