234 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



on the lower pai-ts of the crest only, 

 produce seeds. The velvety texture of 

 the crest is caused by the ends of the 

 numerous bracts that appear at the 

 surface. Though these crests are mon- 

 strosities, the peculiarity is well tixed. 

 This is one of the oldest of garden plants, 

 having been cultivated in English gar- 

 dens for over three hundred years. The 

 variety known as Japanese, is peculiarly 

 rich in color. To raise the largest crests, 

 and of the most brilliant color, the soil 

 must be excessively rich. The finest 

 and largest specimens are produced by 

 growing the plants in pots, and shifting 

 them into larger pots as they need it. — 

 American Agricidtui'ist. 



SETTING OUT CURRANT BUSHES. 

 The most important point in setting 

 out currant bushes is to set them out. 

 Set them where you can cultivate on 

 each side of them, and not against the 

 fence or wall. As often treated, cur- 

 rants are a nuisance. The bushes soon 

 become stunted and covered with moss, 

 the caterpillars destroy the leaves, and 

 what few currants we get are small, 

 unripe and nearly worthless. Why 

 should they be otherwise 1 They are 

 never manured, never cultivated or 

 hoed, rarely pruned, and no eiforts are 

 made to destroy the caterpillars i;ntil 

 half the leaves are stripped from the 

 branches. If any of our readers have 

 such bushes, the first thing to do is to 

 set out new ones on new land. Let 

 the old ones remain until the new ones 

 come into bearing, and in the mean- 

 time give the old ones a dressing of 

 manure, cultivate or fork and hoe the 

 ground ai'ound them and keep down 

 the weeds, afterwards cut out all dead 

 branches, and all that are so far gone 

 as to be hopeless. As a field crop, 

 when you have access to a railroad 

 station or near market, and can secure 

 pickers, currants can be grown with 

 considerable profit. But you must 



plant on rich land, or make it rich 

 with manure, and keep the soil all 

 through the growing season well culti- 

 vated and free from weeds. Were we 

 about to set out several acres of cur- 

 rants, we should set them out in rows 

 not less than six feet apart, and three 

 feet apart in the rows. This would 

 give twenty-four hundred and twenty 

 bushes per acre. Seven or eight feet 

 ai)art would be better. The most popu- 

 lar led variety is the Cherry. This is 

 owing to its large size and handsome 

 appearance. But with us it is not as 

 productive as the common Red Dutch, 

 or Victoria. The Versailles is also a 

 productive and good currant of large 

 size. Size, however, is largely a ques- 

 tion of rich land, good cultivation, and 

 judicious pruning. ^.4m«/'ica7i Agricul- 

 turist. 



THE NEW GRAPES. 



Moore's Early. — This variety is a 

 pure native. It ripened September 8th, 

 about the same time as Massasoit, three 

 days after the Hartford, fourteen days 

 after the Champion, two or three days 

 before Lady and Brighton, about two 

 weeks before the Concord. The bunch 

 is of medium size, moderately compact, 

 berry large to very large, round ; color, 

 black, with a blue bloom ; flesh, pulpy 

 and of medium quality, better than 

 Champion, but hardly equal to the Con- 

 cord ; vine, vigorous and hardy, but so 

 far as we can see, only moderately pro- 

 ductive. It is a handsome grape, and 

 will sell well in market, although we 

 think the Champion or Hartford to be 

 more profitable. 



Rochester. — Ellwanger and Barry's 

 seedling is also a native, and ripened 

 September 10th. The bunch is large, 

 generally double shouldered, ^'ery com- 

 pact, berry of medium size, dark purple ; 

 flesh melting, vinous, sweet, highly 

 perfumed and rich. The vine is vigor- 

 ous, hardy, with remarkably healthy 



