171 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 3. 



NagazJiie o) Hoiticullure for SepStmber. 



\Vu oorcliully coimiiend to our leadeia lliis vuhiable 

 publication, edited by C. M. Hovcy and published 

 niontbly in Boston. We should be very happy to for- 

 ward names or sul)Scripiiona for n work which deserves 

 the imtronage of the friends of Gardening, Fruits and 

 Flowers in the country. We extract from this num- 

 ber an interesting and useful article on the currant. 

 Uemarks on the Cultivation cf the CurraTit, 

 Veiy few of our garden fruits are so much neglect- 

 ed as the currant. Its cultivation seems to be n mnl- 

 ter of no consideration, and when the bushes ore once 

 planted, they oie left to take their chance, and little 

 nttcuiion is bestowed upon them afterwards. Pruning 

 is entirely forgotten, and the plants often become a 

 prey to insects, which soon destroy them. A fruit 

 80 generally admired for its good qualities and iib 

 mnny excellent uses, and so universally cultivated thai 

 scarcely a garden exists in which it may not bu fomtfl, 

 should not he eo entirely neglected ; for, like all other 

 trims and plants, it is susijeptible of improvement, and 

 bail the same attention heen given to it ihnt has been 

 lavished upon the gooseberry, we doubt not but that 

 new varieties, far excelling any we now possess, would 

 have been found in our gardens, as common as the 

 lu^w and improved sorts of that frnil. 



Ill France the currant has long attracted attention, 

 and, until lately, has been much more highly esteemed 

 than the gooseberry. But the French horticulturists 

 (lid not attempt any improvement in the varieties. 

 The Dutch cultivators were the lirst who seem to have 

 paid particular attention to it ; they succeeded in gir- 

 ing a greater value to this fruit by the production of 

 seedlings, and it is from this source that the very best 

 varieties at present known have been sjiread over En- 

 rope and America. 



The late Thomas Andrew Knight, E^q , President 

 of the Lindon Horticultural Society, called the atten- 

 tion of cultivators to the currant, and he attempted 

 the production of new varieties from seed. The cur- 

 rant, be thought, might eventually become a very 

 sweet fruit. 



It is well known that the accidental circumstances 

 of soil, sitn.ition. &c. in which the currant iias been 

 grown, have been the means ot so alieiiug the ap- 

 pearance and character of the fiuit, that new names 

 ii'ive been given to such as have been found in a supe- 

 II -r state .'f growth, and iome of the sotts ore known 

 uorii-r at hn-ii half a dozen synonymous terms. We 

 ]ii\-',' known individuals who have cultivated the cur- 

 runt many ye irs, who upon seeing those of superior 

 growth, have inquired the name of the variety, under 

 tl'.c impression that they might add a larger and better 

 a lit to their garden : yet how snrpri.sed iiave they 

 bsen to learn that it was one and the same kind of 

 ubich they had abundance already, only in an inferior 

 and neelected stale of growth. It is indeed a rare cir- 

 cumstance to Hnd plants in any thing like the vigor 

 tfey can be made to attain by proper cultivat.on, the 

 npplicntion of manure, and above all, the proper mode 

 of pniuiiig. 



Within a few years some attempts have been made 

 to produce new seedlings, and we find in the English 

 journals of last year, two or three new varieties offer 

 e.l for snlo. Among our own cultivators, very few 

 have thought of bestowing oo much care on this fruit : 

 yet there are iiieiunces where it has been done, and 

 with good success. Cnptain Lovett, of Bjverly, pre. 

 BJnieil some very beautiful fruil at n late meeting of 

 the M laHOclrnsetts Horticultural Society, which would 

 nu suiter in coinpaiison with the celebrated Red 

 Dutch : the clusters of iVnit were large, and the ber- 

 ries of great size and fine color; continued e.vperi- 

 monts, however, are requisite to arrive ni important 

 r.'snlts, and effect decided improvements : by contin- 

 UfiUy selecting the largest fruit, and producing sue 

 ce si ve generations, in a few years the whole charac- 

 ter of the fruit would undoubte ly be inu.-^h changed. 

 Jl the goosebjrry, from a small, sour, and almost un- 

 eatable fruit, has been increased to tlii'ee times its ori- 

 ginal size, its tl.iv ir and iv/oelness improved, why 

 may not the currant, by the same attention, be equal 

 ly beneliiLd, and rendered more worthy of exieusive 

 cultivation? We hope our ninRtenr horticulturists, 

 among whom ore many who delight in the production 

 cf improved Irnils, will not oniil to give the currant a 

 p otion of their atiention. 



But it is to the cultivation of the well known and 

 excellent varieties of the currant which we already 

 possess that we wish to call the attention of cullivn- 

 lors. If their mode of treatment be pro|jcrly under- 

 stood, it may be applied to any improved vanelies, 

 which may hereafter take the place uf those that ate 



now known. To give this in lull, we shall commenci 

 svith the Production of Seedlings, and add all the 

 other particulars of their growth under the following 

 heads ; — Situation, Soil, Raising Young Plants. 

 Planting Out, Pinning, (both sunmier and winter,) 

 Insects, and General Observations, concluding with 

 Description- of the Different Varieties, 



Raising llir. Cinntntfium See(/.— To grow seed- 

 lings. It IS important tliat the largest and best fruit 

 shriild he selected. To do this, a strong and healthy 

 plant should be selected, and if too full of fruit to pre 

 vent its at.nining a good size, it should be thinned out, 

 leaving oirly sufficient for the plant to bring to the ut- 

 most perfection ; ns soon as the fruit is ripe, it shonld 

 be picketl. and the seeds washed out from the pulp . 

 this may be easily done by bruising the seeds in water, 

 and passing the whole through a sieve, and afterwords 

 sproiding it out in o cool, shady situation to dry, after 

 which it may be placed in papers until tie time of 

 planting in the month of April, At that season a 

 small piece of ground efaoiild be selected for the pur- 

 pose, and be made fine by deep spading and raking the 

 surface; the seed may then lie planted in drills about 

 n foot apart, scattering it thinly that the plants may 

 ot come up so crowded as to require thinning out to 

 any extent. No other care is requisite than to keep 

 thj bed clear of weeds ; they will produce fruit in the 

 second or third year, when such as ore worth pre- 

 serving should be marked, and the remainder rooted 

 up and thrown away. 



Situation. — The currant is perfectly hardy, and will 

 grow in any situation, whether exposed or not ; but 

 it produces the larsiost and best fruit in a sheltered 

 garden, not exposed to high winds. In warm and 

 sunny borders, the fruit is ripe earlier, and is -ooner 

 gone, than when growing in partially shady situa- 

 tions ; against o north wall, the fruit will bang on the 

 bushes until the middle or latter part of September. 

 Even within the shade of trees we have bad very fine 

 fruit ; but we svould not select such a spot to raise the 

 best. Besides a few bushes set oni for the express 

 purpose of having fine fruit, the currant may be dis- 

 tributed in any part of the garden where a l)ueh will 

 lill up a vacant spot ; they may also be trained ngainst 

 fences, in which situations they bear good crops. 



Soil. — The currant will grow in almost any good 

 garden soil ; but that in which they produce their fruit 

 in the greatest perfection is a deep, rich, mellow loam, 

 somewliat moist ; very stiff clayey soils ore the least 

 adapted to this fruit. In sandy soils the fruit is earli- 

 er, but the crop is small, and soon gone. When it is 

 the ooject to produ.e very superior fruit, the soil 

 should be staked out, and then covrred with three or 

 lour inches of good old decomposed manure. It 

 should then be trenched eighteen or twenty inches 

 deep, placing the top spit and the manure nt the bot- 

 tom of the trench. When the bed is settled, a little 

 manure may be dug into the surface, and it will then 

 be ready for plonting. 



Raising Voun^ Plants. — Cultivotoia who wish to 

 make large plantations, and arc desirous of raising 

 t'leir own plant-', can easily do so. The cuttings 

 s'nould be planted out in April, just as the buds begin 

 to push, ficlecling a shady border, and planting them 

 live or six inchis apart ; the cuttings should be about 

 a foot long, of the preceding year's wood, healthy and 

 vigorous, and cut oil' directly below a joint. If the 

 hushes are to bo grown in the manner of tinoll trees, 

 witli one main stem, all the eyes should be cut out but 

 the two top ones. Planted out in this manner, ihev 

 make pretty plants, which may be removed to the 

 fruiting bed the following year. 



Plnnt'ng Out. — The period for planting ont is any 

 time alter tlie fall of the leaf in autumn until setere 

 frost, and early in spring before the buds hove pus'ied 

 so faros to show their flower buds. In dry situations, 

 October is probably as tavornble a .season as cm be se- 

 lected, as tiie id.ints start into leafviry early in the 

 soring, often before the cultivator thinks it time to 

 plant out, ninl a season is lost: but if the ground is 

 inclined to be wet in wiiiier, the early part of April 

 IS the best season. The modes of planting ore vari- 

 ous, some preferring to place thetn on the boidi-rs of 

 walks, and othera in beds by themselves; we think 

 the best plan is, when many plants arc wanird, to set 

 ■ipnrt snrdl piece of ground for their exclusive 

 growth ; but whotever siiuotiun 's chosen, prepare 

 the soil aa above directed. Tiie proper distance ot 

 which plants s'-ionid he p'onted, is six feot apart bo- 

 iween the rows, and four feet from plant to plant : less 

 distances than these will do, but the chances of pro- 

 curing large fruit will he less. To plant neatly, a 

 line should be stretched across the bed ; at the proper 

 distances put down a small stake, then commence 

 takiiig out tUo earth ; now plaee in the pluut, setting 



t against the line : spread out'the roots carefully, ond 

 cover them with fine earth, making it firm around the 

 roots, and treading it lightly when finished ; give each 

 plant a pot of water, il dry weather ot the lime of 

 plonling. Keep the surface of the soii loose, ond 

 clear from weeds, by occasionol hoeings during the 

 summer. 



Pmning.—^exl to a good lich soil, pruning ie the 

 most important thing to be attended to ; neglect in 

 this respect will be sure to couse disappointment to 

 the cultivator who expects large and tine fruit. The 

 i-iranches will shoot up thick and weakly, and, if not 

 'ittended to, ond the supcrflutiua onea cut out, the 

 bush wil' be so crowded as to produce only a quon- 

 liiy of half formed clusters, with a few small hemes. 

 Il ie known to many cultivators, thougli perhaps 

 not to oil, thot the currant beors its fruit both upon the 

 young wood of lad year's growth, upon that of the 

 second and third year, and also upon the lilile spurs 

 which spring from the older shoots ; but it is only up- 

 on the young and vigorous wood of the preceding 

 year that fruit of superior size and beaiiiy is obtained. 

 Knowing this fact, the cultivator may proceed with 

 his pruning, which may be done ot two seasons, both 

 winter and summer, viz ; — 



Winter Pruning. — The first object should be, after 

 the plant is sot out, to sec that it is pruned so os to 

 foriti a handsome head ; ond, first, we may premiss 

 that it is the intention to prune them in the best meth- 

 od, that ie, with single stems, like trees in miniature, 

 from uhich the bronches fork out at the distance of a 

 foot or more from the ground : this will prevent the 

 continual growth of suckers, which not only injure the 

 fruit, springing upas they do the whole season, but 

 destroy the beauty ond regularity of a whole planta- 

 tion. Winter pruning may be performed late in tho 

 autumn, or early in the spriiig : as the currant haa 

 extremely brittle shoots, aonie think it is beat to prune 

 in the fall, and by thus shortening the branchce, to 

 lespen the danger of the heavy anowa breaking them 

 down. Commence by cutting clean ont all the cross 

 shoots, leaving only those which spring up regularly. 

 The strongest branches of the old wood should be 

 shortened to six or eight inches, ond the weaker ones 

 to very short spurs ; the new wood made during the 

 summer should be also shortened lo four or five buda 

 or joints. The principle ever to be kept in mind is, 

 to have the head of the bush supplied in all parts with 

 a 2ood proportion of new wood every season ; and 

 tills can only be done by cutting away the older branch- 

 es ofter they have home one or two crops, and encour- 

 aging the growth of young shoots from their base ; 

 at no time shonld the head of the bush be allowed to 

 extend more than three feel in diameter, ond three 

 feet high. 



Summer Pruning--~Thia conaiata only in looking 

 over the plants, ofter the fruit is well formed, and 

 nipping off new shoots which are growing up where 

 they ore not wanted another year: by so doing, on 

 aliundnnco of air will be admitted to ihe centre of the 

 Inish, without which the liuit would be inlerior. 

 Some cultivators recommend shortening the bearing 

 branches to within a lew eyes of the fruit, as soon oa 

 It turns color, but of the advantage to be derived from 

 this practice we have some doubt. If any suckera 

 spring from the root, they should be cut off clean to 

 the stem. 



Iiisect,.i. — The currant baa but few enemies in tho 

 insi'ct tribe ; the most injurious is the borer, (JEge- 

 via lipuliforviis, ) which cat's its way up the centre of 

 the ^tems, causing great debility, ond eventuolly 

 nearly destroying the plants, or ot least incapocitoling 

 them from producing any thing but very small and 

 poor fruit: the bushes aie also in danger of being 

 broken by light winds or with heavy crops of fruit. 

 The best pteveiuive for this insect is to keep the 

 plants in a vigorous state, ond well supplied with 

 sti'ong young wood, as it is only in tho older branches 

 that tlie borer conimcncos its ravages. When they 

 once take possession of the bushes, cut out all the 

 d sh lotp, C'^peciolly such as are in any way dce.iyed, 

 and encourage only sir-mg new wood ; the aphides^ 

 or plant lice, occosionnlly infest the leaves, bni these 

 may be cosily destroyed by one or two washings of 

 whale oil snap. 



General Obsercaiions. — The French cultivators re- 

 c.immend the forming of new plantations every five 

 years, ond maintain that, unless this is attended to, 

 the fruit will beamoll- We have no doubt that the 

 fruit wouid be somewhat improved by such new plan- 

 tations, but still, if tho old bushes are judiciously 

 pruned, the soil kept well manured and tilled, the 

 will be little r.ccessity of planlingout so often. 



The fruit generally begins to ripen about the mid- 

 dle of July, and continues in perfection until the mid- 

 dle of August, and in some shady situations aa late as 



