148 FRUIT GARDEN. 



and in the manufacture of home-made wines, attach to 

 them considerable importance, and render desirable a sepa- 

 rate account of them, however brief. 



The Ribes rubrum, LIN., includes as its varieties the Red 

 and White CURRANTS. The principal sab varieties are : 



Common Red, Champagne, 



Red Dutch, Common White, 



Knight's Sweet Red. Dutch White. 



Red and white currants are readily propagated by cut- 

 tings. They succeed in any sort of common garden soil ; 

 but seem to thrive best in warm, moist situations, where 

 they enjoy an abundance of air. A few plants are some- 

 times placed against walls on which they are trained per- 

 pendicularly. Currants are sometimes planted in single 

 lines, in the borders which separate the plots in the kitchen 

 garden ; but it is generally better to confine them to com- 

 partments by themselves. In these- they should be ar- 

 ranged in quincunx order, at six feet between the lines, and 

 six feet apart in the line. They may be transplanted at 

 any time between the fall of the leaf and the first move- 

 ment of the sap. They are trained as bushes, from single 

 stems of about a foot in height, care being taken to prevent 

 the main branches from crossing each other. In winter, the 

 young bearing wood on the sides of the branches is shortened 

 down into spurs, from an inch to two inches in length. The 

 leading shoots are left about six inches long. Some care- 

 ful cultivators reduce the young shoots to about half their 

 length as soon as the fruit begins to color, an operation 

 which, in consequence of the more free admission of sun, is 

 found to increase the size and improve the flavor of the berries. 



Of Ribes nigrum, LIN., or black current, there are seve- 

 ral varieties, of which we need mention only the Common 



