452 



SUCCESSFUL FARMING 



account of its hardiness, and early and persistent fruit production, it would 

 be an easy matter to carry the commercial production beyond profitable 

 limits. Then, too, the currant is a fruit that is relatively expensive to pick, 

 as the work must all be done by hand. 



Soil Requirements. — The currant thrives best on a deep, moist, yet 

 well-drained loam or sandy loam, but will thrive and produce on a great 

 variety of soils, provided they are arable and neither too wet nor too dry. 



The soil should be well pre- 

 pared by deep plowing and 

 thorough fining for the re- 

 ception of the young plants. 

 In addition, it is well to give 

 the land a year of preparatory 

 treatment with crops which 

 will tend to put it in good 

 physical condition, and at the 

 same time eliminate weeds, 

 either through clean culture 

 or by the use of a crop which 

 is dense enough to smother the 

 weed growth. Currants are 

 usually set in rows 6 feet 

 apart and the distance between 

 the plants in the rows varies 

 from 3 to 5 feet. If it is de- 

 sirable to maintain cultivation 

 in both directions throughout 

 the greater portion of the life 

 of the plantation, the plants 

 should be allowed either 4 or 

 5 feet in the row. Strong one 

 or two-year-old plants should 

 be chosen and the planting can 

 be done either in the autumn 

 or spring, according to the pre- 

 vailing practice of the locality. 

 The usual care exercised in 

 pruning the roots and tops of fruit trees at transplanting time should be car- 

 ried out with the currant. The fruit-bearing habit of the plant should be 

 carefully observed and the later pruning carried on in such a way as to pro- 

 vide as much bearing wood as the plant will carry and yet not overburden it 

 or allow wood of too great age to accumulate in the bush to the detriment of 

 high production or quality of the fruit. Wood more than three years of age 

 should be removed. A little fruit is borne on the base of shoots of last sea- 

 son's growth, but the main crop is borne on wood two or three years of age. 



White Curraxts. 



