78 



while it will keep the ground cool and moist, a condition per- 

 fectly suited to the wants of the currant. A thorough cultiva- 

 tion should be given in autumn, when the plants have become 

 dormant, working in at the time a liberal quantity of manure. 



Pruning the currant consists in thinning out all immature and 

 superfluous wood, shortening the leading shoots, and removing 

 all decaying and mossy branches as the plant grows old. The 

 object to be aimed at is to admit light and air, and at the same 

 time reduce the bearing wood somewhat, thereby increasing the 

 .size and quality of the fruit. 



As the currant flourishes in partial shade, it may be planted 

 in line with rows of pear or plum trees, and yield very profitable 

 returns. As has been before stated, it must have a generous 

 application of manure spread broadcast annually. Ground bone 

 and wood ashes make a good fertilizer, and even coal ashes are 

 supposed to be of some value as a mulch, if in no other way. 



The borer sometimes injures the plant, but among its insect 

 enemies the currant-worm, known in England as the larva of the 

 magpie moth (Abraxas agrossulariata), is most destructive. It 

 is equally injurious to the currant and gooseberry, and such has 

 been its ravages that the growing of these fruits has, in many 

 localities, been abandoned. It is an imported pest, and, accord- 

 ing to Mr. Roe, made its appearance at Rochester, N. Y., in 

 1857. This is the insect figured by Mr. Fuller and Mr. Roe, 

 but Mrs. Treat, in her valuable work on "Injurious Insects," 

 speaks of the imported currant-worm (^Ematus ventricosus) as 

 " the larva of the saw-fly, of the order Hymenoptera, called false 

 caterpillars, as they never have less than six, sometimes as 

 many as eight, pairs of pro-legs, while the true caterpillars never 

 have more than five pairs. " 



The insects appear almost as soon as the currant and goose- 

 berry are in leaf, and lay their eggs upon the under side of the 

 leaves in regular rows. The books say that the worm appears 

 in June rather indefinite ; but I am assured by an intelligent 

 observer that they appear in the vicinity of Boston from the 

 12th to the 16th of May, the second brood about the 25th of 

 May, and a third from the 15th to the 20th of June. I found 

 them full grown this year (1885) on gooseberry bushes in my 

 grounds, June 1. 



