THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUKIST. 



25' 



lings from this, and also hybrids 

 between this and Eussellianum, are 

 numex-ous, some of them of the most 

 delicate colors. Among them are bi- 

 color, white edged with rose, fine ; 

 Ruckerlanum, dark red, violet center ; 

 and violaceum, pure white, purple edges. 

 This class of plants deserves better 

 treatment than is genei-ally given to it ; 

 although, for all the neglect and inat- 

 tention the plants receive during sum- 

 mer, they will often bloom during 

 winter. They repay good treatment as 

 well as any plants, and it is during the 

 period when they are least attractive 

 that they prepare for flowering, and 

 should have the most attention. — 

 American Garden 



THE BENEFITS OF FRUIT. 

 Among the most admirable of the 

 characteristics of an advancing civi- 

 lization seems to be a tendency to de- 

 mand fruit in ever-increasing quantities. 

 This is shewn by the speed with which 

 the enormous supplies now poured into 

 the market are disposed of. In the 

 U nited States ingenious physicians have 

 adopted a plan of curing inebriety, 

 which depends largely upon the adop- 

 tion of a fruit diet. The " grape-cure " 

 has, of course, long been known in Eu- 

 rope as a pleasant and efficacious way 

 of treating certain ailments ; and the 

 salts and other chemical ingredients 

 contained in fruit are found to act as a 

 substitute for alchoholic liquor, and 

 also, it is said, as a remedy for the 

 drink-craving. However that may be, 

 it is an undoubted fixct that an increas- 

 ing number of individuals, not being 

 drunkards, do in this country, as every 

 summer comes round, adopt of their 

 own free choice the fi-uitcure for thirst. 

 In every age and in every country the 

 natural love for fruits which has been 

 implantei] in the human breast has been 

 strikingly exemplified in the imageiy of 

 the celestial regions. As a refresher 



and a blood-purifier fruit stands un- 

 rivalled, and the only precaution which 

 need be inculcated is to beware of that 

 which is unsound. Barring misadven- 

 ture, howevei', a fruit harvest is gener- 

 ally sui'e to be a profitable speculation ; 

 andj as it enriches the growers so, or in 

 even greater measure, it is certain to 

 benefit the consumers. — London Tele- 

 graph. 



PRUNING THE CURRANT. 



The late much lamented Charles Dow- 

 ning advocated cutting out the superflu- 

 ous buds when the slip is first set, and 

 starting from the ground with a single 

 stock, which is allowed to branch out a 

 foot from the earth, and grow to the 

 height of three or four feet. Currants 

 trained in this style of dwarf trees are 

 not only ornamental, but bear fine fruit 

 and have the advantage of being easily 

 kept free from grass and weeds, and are 

 convenient to prune after several years 

 of growth, by cutting out a portion 

 yeai'ly of the oldest branches and allow- 

 ing new shoots to take their place. 



On the other hand many of the most 

 successful cultivators prefer the bush 

 form ; but to have success for a term of 

 years, the ground mvist be stirred often 

 so that the bushes may be kept free from 

 all other growth. 



After ti-ying botlj methods of training 

 I prefer the bush form for the following 

 reasons : — the currant is a great bearer 

 of fx'uit and this tendency to overbear, 

 after several crops, so exhausts the older 

 branches, that a portion of them — de- 

 pending upon how much enfeebled they 

 are — need to be removed yearly, and 

 only the most vigorous new shoots al- 

 lowed to take their place, the weak ones 

 being cut back to the roots, that the top 

 may not become too thick. By this 

 mode, as there is no main trunk to be 

 kept, the whole bush is renewed in few 

 years, three or tour at most, which is 



