1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



339 



be a profitable crop at seventy-five cents to one 

 dollar a bushel, curried to market, costing; fifty 

 cents a bushel to jjick them. Still, they should 

 be grown extensively for home use, as no fruit is 

 more paliituble or UK)re healtiiy, perhaps, during 

 the warm weather than currants, cooked or raw. 



There are many varieties in cultivation some of 

 which are of very largo size. 



The largest of them is the Cherry currant. 

 Many of the berries are triHy as large as Mazzard 

 cherries. Bunches medium lengtli, very large 

 seeds, acid and watery, poor bearer, and I think 

 on the whole, not worthy of extensive cultivation. 



La Yersaillaise is a large, dark, red fruit, but 

 little inferior in size to the last named sort. 

 Bunrhes longer, better bearer, fruit some better in 

 quality, though rather coarse and acid. I think it 

 may do to grow this variety for market. 



May's Victoria was claimed as a splendid sort 

 when uitroduced, but lias failed to come up to the 

 mark. Bunches long, color light red. Berries 

 medium size to small, at lower end of bunch, 

 great bearer, quality good, no great account. 



La Caucase resem'oles the Yersaillaise if not 

 identical with it ; may do for market. 



Dana'p Transparent is a new, white currant, 

 originated by FiiAXCIs 1>ana, of Roxbuiy ; very 

 large size, the largest white I ever saw, great 

 bearer, more acid than White Dutch. I regard it 

 as a valuable variety. 



The White Dutch is the very best white currant 

 so far as quality goes that I know. Good size, 

 good bearer, bush rather slow grower, fruit less 

 acid than most currants. This is one of the vari- 

 eties that I would always recommend for home 

 use, and fur mai'ket where a white variety is de- 

 sired. 



White Grai)e is a good wliite variety — consid- 

 ered by some cultivators superior to White Dutch ; 

 it don't seem to me so. 



Wliite Gondouin is very much like the \'Miite 

 grape, and a good currant. 



The Red Dutch is the variety so extensively 

 cultivated about Boston. Good size, great bearer, 

 fruit of excellent equality, more acid than the 

 White, but not nearly so much so as some of the 

 larger sorts. 



13urton's Seedling is a fine looking variety ; new, 

 I have not tested it, but promises to be valuable 

 where size is desirable. 



Black Naples is the best black, and is a profita- 

 ble sort to grow for wine or jelly. 



The red curraiits are the most saleable of all. 

 There are many other vajieties more or less valu- 

 able, such as Fertile de Angers, a large red varie- 

 ty', fair quality, not a great bearer. Fertile de 

 Pallau, red, small, great bearer. Imperial Jaune 

 a French sort of good quality. Gliore de Saljlons, 

 a pretty, striped sort, of no great value. Cham- 

 pagne, a pink fruit of fair quality. None of these 

 can be considered veiT valualjle as compared with 

 the sort previously described. 



Gooseberries come along with currants, or soon 

 after. This fruit is not grown extensively in this 

 part of the country, and when raised, are usually 

 picked and sold green for cooking. Our English 

 cousins across ihe pond, place a much higher value 

 on the gooseberry than we do, and have in culti- 

 vation many sores. The varieties grown by them 

 mostly fail here, owing principally to mildew. It 

 seems to me that we ought to raise more goose- 



berries than we do. The leading .\merican varie- 

 ties are Iloughton's Seedling, a fruit of good qual- 

 ity, red when ripe, skin smooth and thin, great 

 bearer, seldom mildews, bush low, spreading. 

 1 he Mountain Seedling is another and a valuable 

 kind. It was introduced by the Shakers at Xew 

 Lebanon, N. Y. I'ruit large, red, smooth, skin 

 moderately tliin, fruit hangs in bunches, one to 

 two inches below the branches, never mihrews, 

 strong, nearly upright growers. I regard it as a 

 valuable variety. 



The American Seedling is a new variety, intro- 

 duced by Mr. Ciiaui.ks Downing. Fruit medi- 

 um size, quality good, upright grower, free from 

 mildew ; have fruited it but one year, and can only 

 say that it promises well. 



Foster's Seedling is a large, fine looking fruit, 

 of good quality, evidently a seedling from some 

 English variety, and like those, sometimes mil- 

 dews. These comprise most of the American va- 

 rieties. Some cultivators are successful witii the 

 best English sorts, but generally they fail from 

 mildew. Gooseberries need to be pruned every 

 year, cutting out the coarse, strong suckers that 

 would otherwise take the strength of the plant. 



Newion Centre, Sej^t., LSG3. J. F. c. H. 



Illinois Cheese, — The Illinois Farme^- copies 

 the following from the price current of a Chicago 

 daily : 



CHEESE— Dull. II;imbnrgU®ll)Sc; Western Reserve 10 

 -glOiic; Illinois 8 g 9c. , . ... 



And pronounces it not only afraud on the cheese- 

 makers, but a slander on the State. "Hamburg," 

 he says, is simply No. 1, "^Vestern Reserve" No. 

 2, and "Illinois" No. Z;:<pf jilinois-made cheese. 

 The editor knows of whola- daii-ies in that^State, 

 that are sold for IfambUlqg, aaid he censures both 

 dealer and manufacturer for a "trick in" trade," 

 which "advertises to-the world that either our 

 clieese-makers are incompetent, or that the cow8 

 and pasturage ai'e rrof ada|ited to the making of 

 fi,rst-rate cheese, when nothing is further from t&e 



truth." ^ . ,;""__ ':'.'-.'^'.-_. : ' ;.- ; .'.-.Z'" 



Sajlteso Hay.^^A cbnespoudent: of. tbe:0«m- 

 try Gcnileman says he abandoned the, olcL prajetice 

 of putting salt on hay, a« it addsNtoiilft^s&oistasre 

 instead of lesseniug it. - •—. ; -.. ;".■?' 



This opinion is backed with a will, by a writpr 

 for the Boston Cullicuior, who lays.down the law, 

 as he understands it, in the following unequivdcal^ 

 manner: - .:^:- y >^ 



It is time this absurd custom was do««-^way. 

 It is beyond conception how so transparent a hum- 

 bug ever got so widespread. Every particje^bt 

 salt used on hay is a positive injury to it.t-' The 

 practice of salting hay ought to be almost as much 

 discountenanced and discouraged as though it 

 were an actual poison. Men will make almost su- 

 perhuman exertions to get their hay up dry, and 

 then immediately icet it tcith salt. 



|;^The work of boring a new artesian well, to 

 supply Sacramento with good drinking water, has 

 been commenced on the bank of the river in front 

 uf the Water Works building. 



