1 68 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



In my opinion, the genuine pure Black Naples will hold its own with 

 any yet variety out. Victoria or Raby Castle is the best cropper and has the 

 strongest foliage of any red variety, holding its fruit late in the season. With 

 good cultivation, pruning, manuring, and care, it can be made to attain a size 

 which will command a (air price in market, and thus it fills the bill for a medium 

 sized red currant. It is also a much stronger and finer shaped grower, than the 

 others. Of Cherry and Fay, I prefer the latter, as it produces fruit buds much 

 more abundantly and consequently it is more prolific. It is a little subject to 

 the same weakness as the Cherry, viz., that of producing blind eyes where there 

 ought to be fruit buds. I have been told by a good authority that pinching the 

 ends of the new growth of the Fay, about June 20th, will cause the fruit 

 buds to develop nicely and produce a full crop ; while the practice has failed to 

 make any difference in the case of the Cherry. I saw a very fine crop of Fay 

 on the ground of the person who thus informed me, while his Cherry currants 

 were a poor crop. I will test this for myself this year and would like to see 

 others try it and report. 



As to pruning, I find fruiting bushes of Raby Castle or Victoria may be 

 spurred to one bud on all side branches, and, if growth is long, the terminal shoot 

 may be cut back one third its length. Fay and Cherry are better if thinned out 

 and not cut back, as the cutting back seems to injure the remaining part of 

 shoot. 



For black currants a general thinning out and keeping out of suckers 

 seems to be all that is necessary, always of course cutting out wood weakened by 

 borers or lacking in thriftiness on account of age or other causes, leaving one 

 or two new suckers to take the place of any that require to be cut out. With 

 good strong growth of one or two feet of new wood, I would cut out one half 

 annually, either by thinning or spurring. I never prune during the first or second 

 year, except cutting off straggling, low or broken down branches ; especially in the 

 case of Fay and Cherry, which are subject to breaking down of the green wood 

 when growing. However if they are not pruned until bearing age, they will 

 grow slower and not break so easily. After they have grown to some size and 

 made a good shaped bush, I commence pruning, as the crop will keep the 

 growth somewhat in check. 



In regard to supply and demand, I have never seen prices so high as last 

 season, and I have no doubt they will remain high enough for a good profit for 

 some years to come, as there is still a profit at half the present prices, under 

 economical cultivation. With improved machinery for manufacture into com- 

 mercial products there is no telling where the demand will end. A large 

 quantity is being mixed with raspberries and canned or made into jams, jellies, 

 etc., and the flavor seems to suit most palates better than either fruit alone, 

 made up in the same way. 



A machine has been lately invented for extracting the seeds from tomatoes 



