GARDENING 



CURRANTS 



It is much the wisest plan to buy young bushes, 

 as propagating from cuttings takes longer before 

 any fruit can be realised from them. 



Black currants suit a heavy clay land, but they 

 will flourish and bear good crops anywhere, whether 

 the soil be light or heavy, moist or dry, and in any 

 aspect, in the open, or against a wall or fence. 



Red and white currants require a much lighter 

 soil. 



Black currants require very little pruning. If the 

 bushes are old it is only necessary to cut away 

 old and weak wood, replacing it with young shoots 

 from the bottom of the bushes. The suckers from 

 the ground want encouragement, and if very 

 crowded, they must be thinned out. 



Directly the leaves are off is the time to prune 

 them. Leave in as much young wood as possible, 

 and take a few of the old branches out occasion- 

 ally, if they crowd the younger ones. The points 

 of the young shoots should not be cut off, and 

 rotted manure must be forked well in and about the 

 roots after pruning. 



Black currants should be gathered as soon as 

 they are ripe, or they will drop or shrivel and lose 

 all goodness. 



Birds very rarely attack this fruit. 



Red and White Currants. — Both these are 

 cultivated in the same way. The best soil for 

 them is highly cultivated sandy soil, and should be 

 pruned back severely near to the old wood. Three 

 or four inches of the new wood only should be left 



