CURRANTS, 225 



CURRANTS. 



The different species of currants will thrive oa 

 almost any soil, but they require the benefit of ma- 

 nure and culture, annually, to make the fruit large 

 and the juice rich. The goodness of the fruit de- 

 pends very much upon their having the full benefit 

 of the sun and air, to mature and give the berries a 

 proper balsamic quality. By planting some on the 

 south, and some on the north side of a wall, they will 

 yield fruit from June to October. The red currant 

 is preferable to the white as j'ielding richer juice y 

 and in greater abundance. Currants are easily prop- 

 agated in the following manner. Take the most luxu- 

 riant slips or shoots of a year's growth, set them in 

 the ground about eight inches deep, and not less than 

 twenty-four inches distant from each other ; they soon 

 take root, and begin to bear in two years : the roots 

 should be kept from suckers and grass. When the 

 bush has stood two years in the nursery, plant it 

 where it is to stand, and take care that it has only one 

 stem. Let no limbs grow nearer than six inches of 

 the ground. Prune the shrub every year and keep 

 it thin of wood, leaving the middle open ; the limbs 

 extended ; and when these get about three feet in 

 length cut off every spring all the last year's shoots. 

 To cultivate on an extensive scale for the purpose 

 of making wine, set the bushes in rows, six or 

 eight feet between each bush, with intervals of prop- 

 er width and at regular distances for passing across 

 the rows. It is estimated that an acre well cultivated 

 will probably yield on an average, a quantity of 

 fruit sufficient to make one thousand gallons of wine 

 annually. The expense of making this wine is about 

 fifty cents a gallon. 



The common black currants are larger than the 

 red or white, but they have a peculiar flavour, whkh 

 20 



