1 8 Cultivation of the Currant. 



CULTIVATION OF THE CURRANT. 



By " Bismarck." 



Although the currant is one of our most common fruits, found in every 

 garden, it is one of the most valuable. It is only adapted to northern cli- 

 mates; and I doubt whether, among the small fruits of the warmer regions, 

 any fruit can be found to take the place of the currant with its refreshing 

 juice, any more than oranges can take the place of apples. Much more 

 care is now given to its cultivation than formerly, yet the bushes are not 

 seldom left, after being planted, to take their chance, which too often proves 

 to be neglect. But since the time saved in gathering fine large clusters of 

 fruit, as compared with that spent in picking the little bunches which we 

 frequently see, will compensate the grower for the trouble of properly cul- 

 tivating and pruning his bushes, the extra price obtained for fine speci- 

 mens will be so much gained ; and therefore it is clearly his interest to 

 produce a crop of the highest quality. 



The natural habit of the currant is to form a bush by sending up suckers 

 from the collar, as may be seen by examining seedling plants, which inva- 

 riably show this disposition. It may, however, be prevented in raising 

 plants from cuttings ; and, while plants so grown are preferable in some 

 respects, those allowed to take the natural form have the advantage in 

 others. Those grown with clean stems are much more easily pruned, 

 and the ground is more easily cultivated ; and only these are admissible in 

 small gardens, where neatness is an object : but for large market planta- 

 tions, the bushes are preferable, as producing a larger quantity of fruit, and 

 enduring longer, being continually renewed from suckers. But proper 

 pruning and neat cultivation is very difificult, or, indeed, impossible, in this 

 method; as the shoots cannot be cut out clean when they have their origin 

 below the ground, and, if not cut clean, there will probably be two to be cut 

 out the next season instead of one : so that before long, the bush becomes a 

 bunch of stems, with, very likely, grass growing up amongst them, forming 

 a safe retreat for insects ; and the fruit gradually diminishes in size. A 

 modification of this method is to train up from three to six of the best 

 shoots, cutting away all the others as clean as possible. Let each one of 



