CUPHEA. 



137 



CURRANTS. 



1 8 inches or 2 feet in diameter, and about 

 1 8 inches below the surface of the soil. 

 The earth taken out should be disposed in 

 a hillock over the manure, the top of the 

 hillock being about 9 inches above the 

 ground level, and therefore above the 

 manure also. The ground should be pre- 

 pared four or five days before the plants 

 are put out. 



Cucumbers in Pits. Cucumbers and 

 melons, it is known, are sometimes grown 

 in pits heated with hot water ; the superiority 

 of this plan is so fully established, that none 

 would be troubled with ordinary hotbeds 

 formed of manure after having tried it. 

 The diminution of labour, the cleanliness 

 and comfort, and last, but not least, the 

 ornamental appearance of the suspended 

 fruit, are decidedly preferable to the many 

 inconveniences attached to the manage- 

 ment of hotbeds. 



Cu'phea (nat. ord. Lythra'cea). 



Profuse-blooming plants, equally valuable 

 for the ornamentation of the conservatory, 

 drawing-room, and flower-garden, propa- 

 gated by seeds, and by cuttings taken in 



CUPHEA IGNEA. 



the spring and placed in rich soil and in 

 bottom heat. Ctipkea ignea is of a grace- 

 ful branching habit, covered with splendid 

 scarlet, black and white tubular flowers ; 

 C. Zinampinii is covered with red-violet, 



and C. ocimoidfs or ccquipetala, with rich 

 purple - violet flowers. The perennial 

 species, if sown early, can be used for 

 bedding-plants the first year ; the annual 

 kinds may be treated like ordinary half- 

 hardy annuals. 



Currants, Culture of. 



Currants, red and white, require, on the 

 whole, a very similar treatment to that 

 necessary for the gooseberry (see Goo*e- 

 )erry y Culture of the). In managing the 

 cuttings, proceed as directed for goose- 

 ' berries. Plant out the second year, when 

 :he cuttings have about eight inches of stem 

 and about five leading shoots. 



Pruning and Training. In pruning 

 both red and white currants, work on 

 exactly the same lines as those prescribed 

 for gooseberries. When the requisite 

 number of branches has been produced, 

 so as to form a uniform bush, the 

 greater part of the young shoots should 

 be taken off annually, leaving only those 

 that may be required for new branches, 

 and shortening these to four or six inches 

 with a clean cut just close to a bud. In 

 pruning off the superfluous lateral shoots, 

 take hold of each branch at its extremity 

 with the left hand, and, with the knife 

 in the right hand, remove every fresh 

 lateral up the stem, leaving to each a 

 short spur of a quarter or half an inch in 

 length ; from these spurs the bunches of 

 fruit are produced. As the bush increases 

 in age, it will be necessary to remove all 

 old mossy wood, and also to thin out the 

 spurs when they have become too crowded. 

 Of late years, great improvement has been 

 made in both red and white currants. 

 Visitors to Covent Garden market fre- 

 quently express surprise as to the size of 

 the bunches and the berries. These cur- 

 rants are not only peculiar sorts, but very 

 great pains are taken in the cultivation of 

 them. To grow fine currants, make the 



