CURCUMA 



261 



CURRANTS 



During the winter months, succulent plants, such as 

 Sedums, &c., become sickly, and die, apparently without 

 a cause. They are thus destroyed by a small, footless 

 grub feeding upon them just below the surface of the 

 earth. This grub is about half an inch long, colour 

 dirty white, fleshy, slightly curved, bristly, and without 

 legs, but furnished at the sides with tubercles, which aid 

 it in moving. At the latter part of May, these grubs 

 enter the chrysalis state, becoming white, and having 

 the appearance of the body of a beetle stripped of its 

 wings, and in a mummy state. From this state the 

 perfect insect comes forth, at the end of June, in the form 

 of a small beetle, five lines to half an inch long. It 

 is black, slightly glossy, numerously granulated, so as 

 to resemble shagreen, and a few pale-grey hairs scattered 

 over it. The best mode of saving succulents from this 

 pest is to have it very assiduously sought for among 

 them during the month of June. If the beetles are 

 allowed to deposit their eggs the mischief is done, and will 

 soon show itself. 



C. tfnebricosus (proper name Otiorhynchus tene- 

 bricosus) infests the apricot. Mr. Curtis says, that 

 " every crevice in old garden-walls often swarms with 

 these weevils ; and nothing would prove a greater check 

 to their increase than stopping all crevices or holes in 

 walls with mortar, plaster of Paris, or Roman cement 

 and the interior of hothouses should be annually washed 

 with lime ; the old bark of the vines under which they 

 lurk should be stripped off early hi the spring, and the 

 roots examined in October, when they exhibit any un- 

 healthy symptoms from the attacks of the maggots of 

 0. sulcatus. When the larvae are ascertained to reside 

 at the base of the wall, salt might be freely sprinkled, 

 which will kill them as readily as it will the maggots 

 in nuts. Strong infusions of tobacco- water, aloes, and 

 quassia are also recommended." 



CU RCUMA. Turmeric. (From kurkum, its Arabic 

 name. Nat. ord. Gingerworts [Scitaminaceae]. Linn. 

 i-Monandria, i-Monogynia.) 



Most of the species possess the same aromatic stimu- 

 lating properties in the roots or rhizomes, and seeds, as 

 the common ginger, and are objects of some beauty 

 from their coloured bracts. Stove herbaceous perennials ; 

 rich, sandy loam ; root division. 

 C. cerugino'sa (bronzed). 5. Red, yellow. May. E. 



Ind. 1807. 

 albiflo'ra (white-flowered). White, yellow. July 



Ceylon. 1852. 

 Ama'da (Amada-gtngcr). 2. Red : yellow. April. 



Bengal. 1819. 

 ,, amari'ssima (most bitter). Red. yellow. April. E. 



Ind. 1822. 

 angustifo'lia (narrow-leaved). 3. Yellow. July. 



E. Ind. 1822. 

 aroma'tica (aromatic). 2. Yellow. June. E. Ind. 



1804. 

 ., ausirala'sica (Australasian). Yellow. N.E. Australia. 



1867. 



bakeria'na (Bakerian). Orange. New Guinea. 1892. 

 cafsia (grey), i. Yellow. May. Bengal. 1819. 

 como'sa (iviiicd.- flowered). 2. Red, yellow. May. 



E. Ind. 1819. 



., corda'ta (heart-shaped). See C. PETIOLATA. 

 ela'ta (tall). 3. Crimson. May. E. Ind. 1819. 

 ferrugi'nea (rusty), i. Yellow. May. E. Ind. 1819. 

 latifo'lia (broad-leaved). 12. Yellow. May. E. Ind. 



1820. 

 Leopo'ldii (Leopold's). Leaves striped with cream. 



1883. 

 ., leucorhi'za (white-rooted), i. Red, yellow. May. 



E. Ind. 1819. 



lo'nga (long-rooted^. 2. August. E. Ind. 1759. 

 lu teo-vi' ridis (yellow-green). Obliquely variegated 



with yellow-green. 1882. 

 monia'na (mountain). 2. Red, white. May. E. Ind. 



1824. 



neilgkerrSntu (Neilgherrian). Nilghiris. 

 ,, parviflo'ra (small-flowered). }. White, violet. 



January. Burma. 1828. 

 petiola'ta (/ong-flower-stalked). 2. Blue. August. 



Burma. 1822. 



reclina'ta (leaning). $. Pink. April. E. Ind. 1829. 

 roscoea'na (Mr. Roscoe's). i. Scarlet. September. 

 Burma. 1837. 



C. rube'scens (blushing). 3. Red. July. E. Ind. 1805. 

 rubricau'lis (red-stemmed). See C. RUBESCENS. 

 ., sumatra'na (Sumatran). Yellow ; bracts orange-red. 



Sumatra. 1882. 

 viridiflo'ra (green-flowered). 2. Yellow, green. July. 



Sumatra. 1822. 

 ,, xanthorhi'ta (yellow-rooted). 4. Red. May. Am- 



boyna. 1819. 



Zedoa'ria (zedoary). 3. Red. July. E. Ind. 1797. 

 Zeru'mbet (Zerumbet). See C. ZEDOA'RIA. 



CURME'RIA WALLI SO. See HOMALOMENA WALLISII. 



CURRANTS. THE RED, Ri'bes ru'brum ; THE WHITE, 

 R. ru'brum, var. a'lbum ; and THE BLACK, or R. ni'grum, 

 are all deciduous shrubs. The culture of the RED and 

 WHITE differs in some degree from that of the BLACK. 



Red Varieties. The following are the best. 



The old types are still recognised, yet there are many 

 varieties of more recent introduction. Taking the Red, 

 La versaillaise is a favourite. Cherry is a large variety. 



In whites, the White Dutch remains the best type, 

 but there may be some improved selections. 



Of black varieties, Carter's Champion should be added, 

 as being one of the largest, and of fine flavour. 



White Dutch. Very large and juicy berries. 



Red Dutch. A good kind ; bunches short, but berries 

 large and sweet. 



White Varieties. White Dutch, the last being the 

 largest and best. 



Propagation : by Cuttings. This is the ordinary way. 

 Young shoots of the most vigorous and straight wood 

 are to be preferred. Shoots of this description should 

 be preserved at the early autumn pruning, and all the 

 immature portion at the point being pruned away, the 

 best of the remainder must form the cutting, and it 

 should be at least one foot in length if fourteen inches, 

 all the better. Blind all the eyes or buds below the 

 surface of the ground, to prevent suckers springing up, 

 for these cuttings will emit roots from the intemodes or 

 points between the joints. Cuttings placed in a some- 

 what shaded situation, and fastened tolerably firm in 

 the soil, will make two or three shoots the first summer. 

 They may be put in rows eighteen inches apart ; the 

 cuttings about eight inches apart in the rows. In the 

 succeeding autumn prune the shoots they have made back 

 to about four or five eyes or buds on each ; and by the 

 succeeding autumn they will be fine bushes, possessing 

 some six or eight shoots each, from which a selection 

 must be made, for on this depends the future form of 

 the tree. It is seldom that more than five shoots can 

 be retained ; indeed, sometimes the shoots are produced 

 so irregularly, that not more than three can be saved 

 standing, of course, nearly in a triangular form. How- 

 ever, only those should be reserved which are really well 

 placed, not only with regard to form, but their distance 

 apart. In forming the bush, let there be no central 

 shoot left, but let the whole, if possible, form either a 

 triangle, if three ; a square, if four ; or a bowl-like char- 

 acter in fact, about the form of a good tulip, if more 

 than four. The trees are now ready for their final 

 destination, if necessary, or they will stand another year 

 before final removal. 



By Layers. This is seldom resorted to. If. however, 

 any one should possess a choice seedling of which he is 

 desirous to make much profit, he might elevate the soil 

 to the branches, as in the act of layering carnations, 

 and lay the shoots for propagation flat on the surface, 

 cutting a notch below each bud, pegging the shoot down, 

 and soiling it over about an inch : every bud becomes a 

 shoot with a root. 



By Seed. This is resorted to for the sake of raising 

 new varieties. Sow the seeds as soon as ripe, and in the 

 spring place them in a hotbed ; the plants will grow 

 above a foot high the same season. Many of them fruit 

 at two years old. and nearly all at three. 



Suckers. They grow readily from suckers. There is 

 little doubt but that plants thus reared are more liable 

 to produce suckers than those from cuttings. 



Soil. The Red and White currants love a free, upland 

 soil ; a clayey soil is too cold, and a very sandy one is 

 too hungry. Water lodgments they are quite averse to. 



Culture in the Growing Period. In the first place, if 

 the soil is liable to suffer from drought, let a top-dressing 

 of half-decayed manure, or littery material, be spread 



