344 Transactions of the American Institute. 



Hexamer's pronged hoe. It fills a want among agricultural imple- 

 ments before unsurpassed. For loosening up the dirt about grape 

 vines and fruit trees, and for digging all kinds of root crops, it has 

 no superior. Any one that works much in a garden should not be 

 without one. Let any one invest money in that hoe, and in a short 

 time they will wonder how they could ever get along without it. 



Mr. P. T. Quinn. — I have used this hoe, and on light land I like it 

 very much. It can be used with six, four or two tines, according to 

 the character of the work required of it. * The tines can be taken 

 out and keyed in as easily as a scythe is taken from the snath, and 

 the temper and finish of the tool is such that it lasts a long time. It 

 answers also for a potato digger, which it resembles in appearance. 



The Black Cukrant. 



Mr. George Partise, Ferguson's Corners, Tates county, i^. Y, — I 

 would like to know if the black or English currant can be cultivated 

 profitably. I understand it is made into wine in France. 



Mr. A. S. Fuller. — Yes, the black currant is a profitable fruit. It 

 will grow on land too sandy for the red variety, as on Long Island 

 and the pine lands of New Jersey. It is rather slower than the 

 others, and comes in bearing on the tliird or fourth year, while the 

 red comes into fruit the second year, and produces more. But the 

 price of the black currant is about double that of the common red. 

 For five or six years the cidture of the black has been far more pre- 

 valent. 



Much of the port wine is made of the black currant, but I do not 

 call anything v^ine unless made of the pure juice of the grape. I 

 used to detest the odor of this currant; nothing was so disgusting; 

 but after handling it for a great length of time, I like it and j)refer 

 the fruit to any other. This is a taste to be acquired. "We have a 

 great variety of native currants, particularlj^ between the Mississippi 

 and the Pacific, whicli should be cultivated and become better known. 

 I have been experimenting many years and hope to get some valuable 

 seedlings. Instead of taking this course, our nurserymen import 

 every strange and unfit thing from Europe, as though coming thence 

 it must be good. 



Mr. P. T. Quinn, — The black currant docs not bear as well as the 

 red variety. 



