Gardening for Amateurs 



993 



which can be secured from bushes treated in 

 this manner, there is no reason to accept the 

 view taken by some writers, that Red Cur- 

 rants would possibly bear better if they were 

 treated more in the manner usually accorded 

 to Black Currants. One thing may be 

 granted in this connection ; there might 

 possibly be less frequent losses from whole 

 branches dying away. But even when a 

 branch is thus lost the grower can usually 

 replace it by allowing a young one to extend 

 from the base. Where the bushes are well 

 treated this is not a long process. 



VARIETIES. Of Red Currants the best are 

 Raby Castle, Comet, and Red Dutch, and 

 of White Currants, White Dutch and White 

 Versailles. 



Currant Bushes from Cuttings. Although 

 it is not desirable to propagate inferior 

 sorts of either Black. Red or White Currant 

 trees, those who possess some healthy trees 

 of good varieties should take a few cuttings 

 each 3 r ear, and these may be inserted in open 

 ground in October. When selecting Black 

 Currant growths for the purpose of cuttings 

 great care should be taken to avoid any 

 trees on which the buds are swollen or unduly 

 large, as these in all probability are infested 

 with the gall mite, commonly termed " big 

 bud." Growth made during the summer is 

 desirable, and should be as straight as pos- 

 sible and sufficiently long to allow the pre- 

 pared cuttings being from 10 to 12 inches 

 long in the case of Black Currants and from 

 12 to 15 inches long in the case of Red and 

 White Currants. The object of having the 

 Red and White cuttings longer than the 

 Black is that trees of the former do best 

 when trained with clean stems, whereas the 

 latter are more profitably grown as stemless 

 bushes. 



In preparing cuttings of Red and White 

 Currants, all the buds except three or four 

 at the top of each must be cut out, whilst in 

 the case of Black Currant cuttings all the 

 buds should be allowed to remain. The top 

 or unripe portion of each shoot should be 

 removed, whilst the base should be cut across 

 just below a joint. The cuttings are inserted 

 6 or 7 inches apart in rows with 12 inches 

 between the rows, the most usual method 

 being to get out a narrow trench some 4 or 

 5 inches deep and, after spreading a layer of 

 63 



road grit in the bottom, arrange the cuttings 

 in position and fill in the soil, making it 

 firm by treading particularly about the 

 base of the shoots. 



Should the soil become loosened after frost 

 it must be made firm again, and if all goes 

 well a good proportion of the cuttings should 

 take root and make progress during the 

 summer ; in order to provide the young 

 trees with ample space for development they 

 should be transplanted a yard or so apart 

 in the autumn, say during the month of 

 November. 



Fig. 1 shows different forms of Currant 

 trees : A a clean stemmed Red or White 

 Currant bush, B a standard Red or White 

 Currant, c a carefully trained Red or White 

 Currant tree, and D a stemless Black Currant 

 bush (see p. 995). 



Fig. 2 illustrates how to prepare a Red 

 or White Currant cutting, all the buds ex- 

 cept three or four at the top being cut out, 

 and how to prepare a Black Currant 

 cutting, none of the buds being removed. 

 The cross lines show where to cut the stem 

 across in each case. 



Fig. 3 shows how to insert the cuttings. 



Fig. 4 illustrates a Black Currant cutting 

 well rooted and making growth, including 

 growth from buds below ground (see p. 994). 



Fig. 5 illustrates a one-year-old Black 

 Currant tree and where to prune it. 



Fig. From time immemorial the Fig has 

 been a favourite fruit of the people. Although 

 in some parts of the southern counties it 

 succeeds when grown as a standard tree in 

 the open, notably at Tarring and Arundel 

 in Sussex, the Fig tree is rather tender, its 

 growth being soft and pithy, and incapable 

 of withstanding hard frost. However, it 

 may be planted against a wall with a southern 

 aspect in all gardens in the southern counties, 

 as well as in many gardens near the sea, 

 where frost is not severe, if provision is made 

 to protect the trees in winter. The best 

 plan is to use straw hurdles, and place them 

 against the trees when hard frost is antici- 

 pated, with a dressing of strawy litter over 

 the roots and about the base of the stem. 

 Should severe weather continue, this pro- 

 tection may be left undisturbed without 

 injury to the trees for a month at a time, 

 but in spring they should be removed during 



