[270] 



CUR 



puttings about eight inches apart in the 

 rows. In the succeeding autumn prune 

 the shoots they have made back to about 

 four or five eyes or buds on each ; and by 

 the succeeding autumn they will be fine 

 bushes, possessing some six or eight 

 shoots each, from which a selection must 

 be made, for on this depends the future 

 form of the tre. It is seldom that more 

 than five shoots can be retained ; indeed, 

 sometimes the shoots are produced so ir- 

 regularly, that not more than three can 

 be saved standing, of course, nearly in a 

 triangular form. However, only those 

 should be reserved which are really well 

 placed, not only with regard to form, but 

 their distance apart. In forming the bush, 

 let there be no central shoot left, but let 

 the whole, if possible, form either a tri- 

 angle, if three ; a square, if four ; or a bowl- 

 like character in fact, about the form of 

 a good tulip, if more than four. The 

 trees are now ready for their final desti- 

 nation, if necessary, or they will stand 

 another year before final removal. 



By Layers. This is seldom resorted to. 

 If, however, any one should possess a 

 choice seedling of which he is desirous 

 to make much profit, he might elevate 

 the soil to the branches, as in the act of 

 layering carnations, and lay the shoots 

 for propagation flat on the surface, cut- 

 ting a notch below each bud, pegging the 

 shoot down, and soiling it over about an 

 inch : every bud becomes a shoot with a 

 root. 



By Seed. This is resorted to for the 

 sake of raising new varieties. Sow the 

 seeds as soon as ripe, and in the spring 

 place them in a hotbed ; the plants will 

 grow above a foot high the same season. 

 Many of them fruit at two years old, and 

 nearly all at three. 



Suckers. They grow readily from 

 suckers. There is little doubt but that 

 plants thus reared are more liable to pro- 

 duce suckers than those from cuttings. 



8oil. The Eed and White currants 

 love a free, upland soil ; a clayey soil is 

 too cold, and a very sandy one is too 

 hungry. Water lodgments they are quite 

 averse to. 



Culture in the Growing Period. In the 

 first place, if the soil is liable to suffer from 

 drought, let a top-dressing of half-de- 

 cayed manure, or littery material, be 

 spread three inches thick over their roots, 

 at the end of May, after rain. The next 

 point is '* stop," or remove, what is termed 



the watery wood. All shoots growing into 

 the interior of the bush, to the exclusion 

 of light and air, may be cut back when 

 about nine inches in length, far enough 

 to render the centre of the bush com- 

 pletely open. This will be necessary 

 about the middle of June. In about 

 another fortnight, the watery or wild- 

 looking breast-spray all round the exte- 

 rior may be pruned back to within four 

 inches of their base. This leaves a re- 

 gular tuft of foliage all round, absolutely 

 necessary for a partial shade to the swell- 

 ing fruit. Some intervening spray be- 

 tween each two branches must be served 

 likewise; and if growing freely, the lead- 

 ing points of the shoots may be stopped 

 also. 



Culture in the Rest Season. Early prun- 

 ing is the first thing to be thought of, as 

 soon as possible after the leaves are 

 fallen. Every healthy branch in a bear- 

 ing state will, during the summer, pro- 

 duce abundance of side -shoots from 

 amongst the spurs : this is the wood we 

 have first named as being all the better 

 for stopping in June. All this must be 

 cut back, at the winter's pruning, to 

 within one inch or so of the main stem. 

 An exception must, however, be taken in 

 favour of gaps or blanks, and a shoot 

 here and there must be reserved to fill 

 such, taking care that they are well 

 placed, and that they are low enough 

 down ; the lower the better. Pruning 

 being thus far carried, it is best to 

 shorten every terminal point. This in- 

 duces a liberal production of side-shoots 

 in the ensuing summer; and the base of 

 each becomes a centre, around which a 

 host of fruit-spurs will be engendered. 

 Any decayed or decaying wood must be 

 cut away; but, if there is much of this, 

 it is best to destroy the bush and plant 

 anew ; for it seldom makes a good bush 

 again. Those who have not top-dressed 

 in the summer may now do so, and the 

 winter's work will be complete. 



Fruit: uses; how to keep. The fruit 

 commences ripening, under ordinary cir- 

 cumstances, in the end of June, and con- 

 tinues hanging for a length of time, if 

 unmolested by the birds or wasps. The 

 White will hang nearly two months, and 

 the Red we have gathered, uncovered 

 and unprotected, in the first week of No- 

 vember. The ordinary way of retarding 

 the currant is by enclosing the trees in 

 mats when the fruit is rather more th&n- 



