GROSSULARIA, CURRANT BUSH. 269 



would take a long time & possibly might not produce satisfactory results. Its quicker & 

 safer to propagate them by divided plants supplied with roots, by layering, & even by 

 cuttings that take root easily. 



2°. The most mediocre soil & adverse exposure are adequate for it. But it does 

 better in good soil that's slightly damp. The fruit sets better and becomes more attractive 

 & less sour when facing south or east. 



3°. It can be shaped in all kinds of ways. It grows well on fences, as a leafy shrub 

 or as a bush, espaliered, or as a standard tree. The latter form is preferable when there is 

 limited space for it. It's planted in counter-espaliers or around plots in a kitchen garden 

 lined up with other trees. From only one shoot a stem four or four-&-a-half feet tall is 

 grown, and a top is fashioned at the tip. Since it grows above dwarf trees it doesn't take 

 up the space that they need to spread out, and the shade it makes can't harm them. When 

 it's full of fruit it makes an attractive sight. 



4°. Each year in mid-February the dead wood & snags on the currant bush are cut 

 off. The big shoots are pruned back to three or four buds and the medium-sized ones to 

 one or two buds. The small fruiting branches are left intact. 



5°. Currant bushes that are too old generally produce only small fruit so sour that 

 even birds won't eat them. As soon as they appear to be in decline, they have to be pulled 

 up & replaced with other ones. It's not necessary to go elsewhere for the plants to renew 

 the planting. Young shoots separated from the old degenerated plants & planted 

 somewhere else, or even in the same spot as long as the soil has been renewed, will re- 

 establish themselves & yield beautiful fruit. 



