CURRANT. 261 



tivation too constant for the best crops of fruit. Plants may be 

 set out in the fall or spring with good results. If set in the fall 

 each plant should be banked up with about two spadesful of soil. 

 They should be put five or six feet apart each way, and for the 

 strong varieties most generally grown six is better than five 

 feet. One plant is enough for a hill, and those that are young 

 and thrifty are better than older ones. Where practicable, they 

 should be planted so as to allow for cultivation both ways. They 

 should not ordinarily be set along a fence or border, as they are 

 difficult to cultivate in such places and are often neglected. The 

 land should be plowed lightly with a one-horse plow early in the 

 spring, and the cultivator started soon afterward. While the 

 plants are in fruit, cultivation will have to be suspended, as the 

 weight of the berries will bend the branches so that they will be 

 in the way and liable to injury. As soon as the crop is gathered 

 the working of the land should be again commenced and continue 

 until the middle of August, after which there is no need of it. 



Mulching. Good crops of currants may be grown without 

 cultivation provided the land is heavily mulched, and in some- 

 what dry locations they are more surely grown on this plan than 

 on any other. The mulch may consist of straw litter, coal ashes, 

 hard-wood sawdust, or similar material. If ashes or sawdust is 

 used it should not be mixed with the soil but kept on the surface. 

 It is often a good plan to mulch near the plants and cultivate 

 in the center of the rows. Ashes or sawdust used for this pur- 

 pose will keep down the weeds near the plants and do away with 

 the necessity of hand cultivating. Pine sawdust is not as good 

 for this purpose as that from the hard woods, but may be safely 

 used if kept on the surface of the land and not mixed with it. 

 Partially rotted sawdust is much to be preferred to that which 

 is fresh. 



Pruning. The currant is improved by some pruning each 

 year. This may be done at almost any season, but preferably 

 in August. To do this work properly it should be understood 

 that very little fruit is borne on the wood of the preceding sea- 

 son's growth, and that the buds which produce the greatest 

 amount of fruit are on wood in its third season of growth or 

 older. The fruit buds are formed late in summer and open early 



