Small and Bush Fruits: Currants 153 



branch is attacked it should be cut away as close as possible to the 

 part from which it springs. Burn the diseased part that is cut off. If 

 the whole bush shows signs of wilting it is doomed, and should be removed 

 and burned, as a cure is impossible; and it is not only waste time, but 

 endangering neighbouring bushes, to allow an infected bush to remain, 

 as the mycelium of the fungus is deeply embedded in the tissues of the 

 bush some time before it shows the first signs of wilting^ 



The fungus is a wound parasite, and probably the spores often gain 

 an entrance into the tissues through wounds made by aphides (green 

 fly) or scale insects. [G. M.] 



CURRANTS 



i. GENERAL 



The three principal kinds of cultivated Currants have been derived 

 from two distinct species, both natives of the British Islands, but also 

 found in a wild state in Europe, temperate Asia, and North America. 

 The Red and White Currants are descended from Ribes rubrum, while 

 the Black Currant comes from Ribes nigrum. They are not to be con- 

 fused with the currants of the grocers' shops, which are the dried fruits 

 of a small-fruited seedless variety of Grape Vine from the neighbourhood 

 of Corinth. 



Although belonging to the same genus, it is well known that they 

 are quite different in their vegetation. The Red and White Currants 

 produce their flowers and fruits in spurs or clusters on the wood from 

 two to seven years of age, and just at the base of the one-year-old 

 wood. The Black Currant, however, never produces its flowers or fruits 

 directly from the old wood, but from the young shoots of one season's 

 growth. These peculiarities are of some practical importance from the 

 pruner's point of view. 



It is impossible to give with any accuracy the total area under 

 Currants in the United Kingdom, as the Board of Agriculture and 

 Fisheries Returns unfortunately have lumped Gooseberries and Currants 

 all together. The Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction 

 for Ireland, however, have kept Gooseberries, Red and White Currants, 

 and Black Currants distinct from each other; and from the 1908 returns 

 we find that 183 ac. are under Red and White Currants, and 265 ac. 

 under Black Currants in Ireland almost a negligible quantity. 



The total acreage under Gooseberries and Currants in Great Britain 

 is given in the 1911 Returns as 27,557 ac., of which 1227 ac. are in 

 Scotland, and 129 ac. in Wales. Of the 26,150 ac. in England it may 

 be assumed that about one-third would be under Currants of all kinds, 

 or say about 9000 ac. altogether. It is probable that Kent, Worcester, 

 Cambridge, Middlesex, and Norfolk are the largest Currant-growing counties 

 in the British Islands. 



