HORTICULTURE. 



2-23 



Iroh 



S.r.i.0. 



Small Fruits. 



\Ve now proceed to notice what are called 

 Small Frutit, Currants and Gooseberries, Raspberries 

 and .Strawberries. 



. Currants and Gooteberriet belong to the pen us 

 of Linne ; Pentandria MotiOfr**ia ; Cacti of Jus- 

 The genus is divided into Ribftia or Currants, 

 pines ; and Gretsutariie or Gooseberries, with 

 spine*. Currants and gooseberries are northern fruits ; 

 they seem to hare been unknown to the ancient Greeks 

 or Romans. Eren ret they are not very generally cul- 

 tivated in Italy or France ; one obvious reason bein?, 

 that these countries posseii a climate suited to much 

 ' fruits. Currants were comparatively but lately in- 



1 into Holland ; yet from the industrious Dutch 

 rt have we derived improved and large-fruited 



varieties, both red and white, which have deservedly 



banished all others from our garden*. 



Red and H'hile Currants. 



!U! -.r ! 



154. 



Our common red currant is Ribft raiWm of 

 and our n/iiit currant is merely a variety of 

 this. R. rubrum grows naturally in different places in 

 England and Scotland, and is figured in English Bo- 

 tany, t. 1289. Having been long cultivated, several 

 iaanroved varieties have been obtained. The kinds 

 chiefly planted at present are, the large red; the 

 igne ; the pale red, sometimes called griuly ; 



red ; the Urge 

 the earl. T 



white Dutch ; the 



bunches, both of the while and the red currant, are mad 

 im the dissert, particularly late in the season : more 

 commonly, however, the red is made into a jelly, with 

 an nqnal weight of white sugar ; and the white is much 



Currant bushes are propagated chiefly by o 

 Tht-M are commonly prepared early in the 

 They should consist of last year's shoots, pra 

 from bearing branches, and may be from nine inches to 

 a foot in length. They are planted in a border of light 

 earth, about lour or five inches deep. In the spring, 

 if the weather prove dry, they are occasionally watered 

 ill the leaves be expanded. In the course of thesunv 

 mer. all the shoots are displaced excepting thre. 

 deed, some gardeners prevent the growth of more 

 by extracting, at the time of prepa 

 all the eye* or buds bat 

 boihes are 



fpatot eulowca UMn t* grow for two YCATV, uuviBff 



which tiaae, if neat butne* be wanted, they are re- 



* __ -. ;. ..I vk- - k -j _- i 



or trained. I ne eurrain tnnves Deal 



nd in a free situation. The utoal sea. 



1 \^^BBOB Or snrwl'ClawOB* 1 IHjr 



by the sides of walks or alleys, and 

 to remain many yean ; but it u better to plant 



or agbth year, young bushes yielding 

 entifully. and of oner quality. When 



8B9tOtftBi9 plaWttSM*M Ol CUflMlt 



Mfc mmnd m occupied by OKI 



PVnHD IDC FOWS HOC D*HB MM VDflR iW 



IDC FOWS HOC D*HB M 



Bt in 



U may 



October, to be used in the early part of 

 the currant-tree* route into leaf. If the ground be not 



Unce be- 



iWWI OT pfTfltUM HIIIC 



be planted fan 

 spring, before 



.11 thfa .u. it -Jiixild lie rmifh nil On- ii.trr. 

 156. Mr >( Donald. gardener at I Ulk.it!,- House. 

 raises nanaiUi, both ml and white, of the finnt qua- 

 nt y. A good deal depends on the way in which he 



manages the bushes, especially during the ripening of fruit 

 the fruit. He prunes the bushes at the usual season of Garden, 

 mid-winter, shorteniiisi the last year's shoots clown to an 

 inch or an inch and a half. Next summer the plants shew 

 plenty of fruit, and nt the same time throw out strong 

 shoots. As soon as the berries begin to colour, he cuts 

 off the summer shoots to within five or six inches be- 

 fore the fruit. This is commonly done with the gar- 

 den shears, with which a man may go over half an 

 acre of bushes in a day. Sun and air thus get free ac- 

 cess, and more of the vigour of the plant is directed to 

 the fruit: the berries are found not only to be of higher 

 flavour, but larger than usual. 



1 .">>. Currant-trees are sometimes trained against a 

 wall. Two branches are led in a horizontal direction 

 along the bottom of the wall, perhaps half a foot from 

 the surface of the earth, and the growth from these of 

 all upright shoots, which will admit of being arranged 

 at the distance of five or six inches from each other, is 

 encouraged. The fruit is produced plentifully on |iur-. 

 or snags some years old, either on wall or standard 

 bushes ; but the largest berries are afforded by yonng 

 wood, and this is therefore to be occasionally supplied. 

 On a south or south-west wall, the fruit i< nbout three 

 weeks earlier than on standards ; and on a north or east 

 wall, if the fruit be defended from birds by means of 

 netting, it will remain good till October : if matted 

 over when ripe, it will endure even till November. 

 Sometimes a few standard bushes are likewise matted 

 up, and on these the I'm it will sometimes hang, in pret- 

 ty good condition, till the approach of frost. On espa- 

 lier raili the fruit comes early, and of fine sise and fla- 

 vour. Currants, it may be remarked, should be ga- 

 thered only when in a dry state ; if collected in rainy 

 weather, they loot their flavour. 



Black Currant. 



157. The Black Currant (Ribc* nigrwm, Linn.) is also 

 considered as a native of Britain, and is described and raoc. 

 figured as such in English Botany, t. 1291. It is very 

 generally cultivated, though not in great quantity, in 

 private gardens. The berries have a very peculiar taste, 

 which however to many people is not disagreeable. In 

 England, they are used in puddings and tarts. A well 

 known jelly is made from them ; and if a small propor- 

 tion only of sugar be used, an agreeable rob is formed. 

 The flavour of the young leaves in spring is strong ; a 

 small leaf, laid for a few minutes into an infusion of 

 bobea tea, communicates its flavour, which has been 

 compared to that of green tea. 



The black currant bush agrees with a damp soil bet- 

 ter than the red. The managum-nt of both is much 

 the same ; only the shoots of the black are not cut to 

 pur* as in the red, the fruit being produced in a dif- 

 ferent way. The plants are regularly pruned every 

 winter, from a third to a fourth part of the old or ex- 

 hausted wood being cut oat annually, and the straight. 

 est and best placed shoots being preserved. In summer, 

 all superfluous growth is displaced, especially from the 

 centre of the bushes. The black currant-tree produces 

 more fruit as a standard than when trained against a 

 wall ; but in the latter way, the berries arc considera- 

 bly larger. 



Goottberry. 



158. The Goostbrrry-Luih (Ribtt gronulnria, Linn. GosMbcrrr. 

 rough-fruited gooseberry, Kng. Bot. t. J2f)2, and H. 



u i a criipi, L. common or smooth fruited, Kng. Rot. 



