280 Bush-Fruits 



PROFITS 



Profits vary greatly, not only with methods of culture, 

 but also with conditions of the market. At times they 

 have proved unprofitable; and again they have yielded 

 large returns, but this fluctuation is no greater than with 

 other fruit. Indeed there is reason to think that produc- 

 tion varies less than with many other fruits. Under some 

 conditions they have proved more profitable than straw- 

 berries or raspberries. To the skillful grower who is 

 near a market or has good facilities for shipping, the 

 currant will prove profitable. To the ordinary farmer, 

 unaccustomed to their care, and remote from market, 

 they will prove unprofitable. At six cents a pound or 

 eight cents a quart, they should prove a satisfactory crop. 

 Canning factories use them in large quantities at about 

 four cents a pound. They weigh about forty pounds to 

 a bushel, making this equivalent to $1.60 a bushel. This, 

 with a convenient location and good culture, to insure a 

 yield of not less than one hundred bushels an acre, will 

 yield a fair return, if pickers can be had in sufficient num- 

 bers, so that enough can be grown to make it an object. 



BLACK CURRANTS 



The treatment of the black currant does not differ ma- 

 terially from that of the red. The bushes grow a little 

 taller, and may require a little more room. This can be 

 easily given, for in most localities one bush will supply 

 the demand of the entire community. A convenient 

 method of pruning the black currant is quoted from the 

 Garden by the Canadian Horticulturist, 1896, page 198. 



