FARMER'S ASSISTANf . 71 



Currants will do very well even on light sandy soils; bur, 

 perhaps, the best soil for them is a good mellow sandy 

 loam. With proper culture, however, they will grow pretty 

 well on almost any soil that is not too hard and poor. 



Mr. Forsyth gives some very minute directions for prun-< 

 ing currants, and applying his composition to the wounded 

 parts ; but in this instance, as in some others, he probably 

 carries his theories to extremes. Whatever may be the* 

 case in Greatbritain, where fruit is not so easily raised, it 

 is believed that the above general directions, if pursued, 

 will ensure good crops of currants in this Country, which 

 appears to be very natural to their growth. 



To make Cur rant -wine. Take currants fully ripe, at the 

 rate of one gallon for each gallon of water ; bruise them 

 fine in the water; strain the whole through a cloth, and 

 add two pounds and three-quarters of good brown sugar to 

 every gallon* of currants and water thus mixed together; 

 stir it well, and, when the sugar has dissolved, put the 

 whole into a clean cask, filling it full, and leaving a good 

 vent-hole open. When the fermentation is over, stop it up 

 tight, and in six months it will be fit for bottling or for use. 

 Like other wines, however, it improves much by age. 



Probably molasses, well clarified, might be made to an 

 swer instead of sugar ; and, probably, honey, or a due mix- 

 ture of it, would be better than either. 



An acre planted with currants, and well cultivated, would 

 probably yield, on an average, a quantity of fruit sufficient 

 to make a thousand gallons of wine yearly. The expense 

 of making this wine does not exceed fifty cents a gallon; 

 and the wine, after having a little age, is worth treble this 

 money. 



A currant-garden should be set with the bushes in rows, 

 about eight feet between each, and about three feet be- 

 tween each bush, with intervals of proper width and at re- 

 gular distances for passing across the rows. Planting cur- 

 rants on the south side of a wall will make them ripen 

 more early, and they will ripen later when planted on the 

 north side. 



CUTINGS. These are twigs of trees cut off and set 

 into the ground, where they will take root and grotyv 

 They should be taken from young thrifty trees. 



Cutings of currants, grapevines, willow, Lombardy pop* 

 lars, Sec. are made to grow without any difficulty ; those of" 

 quinces are not so easy, and those of the appletree are still 

 less so. Let those which are most difficult to grow be set 

 as deep as twelve inches; those less difficult six, eight, ori 

 ten, as the kinds may require. Let them be cut and set in* 

 fhe Spring, as soon as vegetation has commence^, and -per-. 



