126 HOME FRUIT GROWER 



after the first or second years will serve both as a mulch and as a 

 source of part of the needed food. The best time to apply it is in early 

 Spring. This should be supplemented by annual dressings of some 

 form of phosphate and potash. Ground phosphate rock, acid phos- 

 phate and basic slag are all good forms of the former and muriate or 

 sulphate of potash, of the latter. Unleached wood ashes are also an 

 excellent source of potash. No fear of applying a dangerous amount ! A 

 well-spread, liberal handful of each, to each full grown bush will be ample. 



One-year or two-year plants are better to plant than older ones. 

 They may be set in well-prepared soil four by six feet apart, or five 

 feet apart each way so as to favor cultivation in both directions. The 

 sprawling and tall varieties had better be given larger space than the 

 dwarfs and erect ones. Except to keep the surface soil loose and free 

 from weeds, the plants will need no cultivation for the first year or 

 two, after which the mulch may replace tillage. Care must be exercised 

 to prevent perennial weeds such as quack grass from growing among 

 the bushes (Fig. 91), or the quantity and quality of fruit will be reduced. 



After the canes of red and white varieties have borne three or 

 four years they had better be cut out as soon as the fruit has ripened, 

 because they become weakened, subject to insect and disease attack 

 and the fruit they bear is smaller both in size and amount . A favorite 

 way to manage is to allow only the two or three best shoots that spring 

 from the bases of the bushes to remain, the inferior ones being destroyed 

 in early Spring. Thus the bush will consist of only six to twelve, pref- 

 erably not more than eight shoots, after pruning in the Spring. 



Black Currants bear best on still younger wood and fail more 

 conspicuously on wood older than two years, so the canes may be 

 out out after fruiting the second time. Indeed, a writer in the Garden 

 recommends cutting off the branches while full of ripe fruit, first as 

 -a convenient method of harvesting and second a satisfactory way 

 to secure well-ripened wood and superior fruit the following season. 



Half-grown Currants while still green make excellent tarts and 

 pies; for jelly they give best results when colored, not fully ripe, 

 but for dessert they are best if allowed to become "dead" ripe. If 

 the fruit must stand long after picking before being used it should 

 be picked while dry. In such cases the skins of the berries should never 

 be broken, because if broken the fruit spoils very quickly and injures 

 the perfect berries. Varieties with long stems are far easier to pick 

 than those with short ones. 



The Currant season may easily be extended until early Fall by 

 covering the bushes of the late varieties with tarleton or cheese cloth. 



Currants have special value not only for jelly and pies when 

 used alone, but for "shrub," a cooling drink made by crushing the 



