THE CURRANT. 311 



and pinching must be duly put in practice, under any 

 form, to keep up an equality of growth among the shoots, 

 and to check misplaced and superfluous ones. This will 

 obviate a great deal of cutting at the winter or spring 

 pruning. Mr. Rivers, in his " Miniature Fruit Garden," 

 says : "A near neighbor of mine, an ingenious gardener, 

 attaches much value, and with reason, to his pyramidal 

 currant trees ; for his table is supplied abundantly with 

 their fruit till late in autumn. The leading shoots of his 

 trees are fastened to iron rods ; they form nice pyramids 

 about five feet high ; and by the clever contrivance of 

 slipping a bag made of coarse muslin over them as soon 

 as the fruit is ripe, fastening it securely at the bottom, 

 wasps, birds, flies, and all the ills that beset ripe currants 

 are excluded." 



The Currant as an Espalier. It is sometimes desirable, 

 both to economize space and to retard the period of ripen- 

 ing, to train currants on a north wall or trellis ; and this 

 is very easily done with success. We have seen the north 

 side of a neighbor's garden fence completely covered with 

 currants without any system whatever being pursued in 

 laying in the branches. The plants were about five feet 

 apart, and the branches were fastened to the wall in a sort 

 of fan form. The proper way to treat the currant as an 

 espalier is, to produce two strong branches on a stem six 

 to twelve inches high. These branches are trained out in 

 a horizontal manner like two arms one on each side ; and 

 from the shoots which they will produce, as many as are 

 to be had at the distance of six inches from one another 

 are trained in an upright position, as in the grape vine 

 (fig. 137). 



These upright shoots are managed in the same way as 

 the branches of a bush ; they are annually shortened back 

 a little to insure a good supply of fruit buds. 



The Black Currant produces its best fruit on the wood 

 of the preceding year, therein differing from the others. 



