CURRANT 



CURRANT 



417 



replacing it with young (Fig. 615). The older plan of 

 training to a tree form (Pig. 616) gave less productive 

 plants, more subject to damage from the Currant borer, 

 with no opportunity for renewal. Experiments in thin- 

 ning the fruit by clipping off the outer end of the clus- 

 ters have shown an increase in size and in yield. 



The fruit should be picked when dry, taking especial 

 care to prevent crushing the berries or tearing them 

 from the stems. If properly picked it stands shipment 

 well, but if carelessly picked it will quickly spoil. For 

 shipping purposes it must be picked while still hard and 

 firm, though for home use or near market it wiU be bet- 

 ter if allowed to remain longer, especially for dessert 

 use. If protected with netting, it will remain on the 

 bushes until autumn. The fruit is commonly marketed 

 in quart baskets, shipped in crates, like any otlier ber- 

 ries, though the 9-pound grape basket is now largely 

 used. This is a convenient package, both for the ship- 

 per and the consumer. 



Plantations may be kept in bearing for many years 

 with good care, liberal feeding and continuous renewing 

 of the wood, but practical growers generally find it ad- 

 visable to replant after eight or ten years of fruiting. 

 The cost of replanting is light, and is more than repaid 

 by the advantage of young, vigorous plants in fresh 

 soil. Yields vary greatly. Many growers doubtless do 

 not average 50 bushels per acre, while others may secure 

 as high as 250 bushels. With good care Currants should 

 yield from 100 to 150 bushels per acre, though even this 

 amount will be obtained only by good culture and care- 

 ful attention to details. In garden culture 2 to 4 pounds 

 per bush may be expected, though many neglected plants 

 scarcely yield as many ounces. Under favorable condi- 

 tions they are usually a profitable crop, though, 

 like all other fruits, they are subject to fluctua- 

 tions in price and market demands. 



Red varieties are most profitable. Some of the 

 white sorts are sweeter, but find little demand 

 in market. Victoria is one of the most popular 

 all-round varieties. Cherry and Versailles are 

 probably more largely grown than any others. 

 Fay is capricious, succeeding remarkably well in 

 some locations, but proving unsatisfactory in 

 others ; its habit of growth is straggling and 

 undesirable. Red Dutch, though small, is still 

 highly prized on the Plains ; Prince Albert, a 

 very productive late variety, is popular with 

 canners and for jelly. Among newer varieties 

 the Wilder is promising. White Grape and the 

 newer White Imperial are popular white vari- 

 eties. Black Currants are little grown in the 

 United States but are popular in Canada. Black 

 Naples (Pig. 611) is the most popular kind. 



The best-known insect enemy is the imported 

 Currant worm {Pteronus Sibesii}, which never 

 fails to strip the leaves from neglected bushes 

 throughout the eastern United States, though as 

 yet unknown on the Plains. It begins feeding 

 on the clusters of leaves close to the ground, 



and if taken in time may be poisoned with arsenites, 

 though powdered hellebore, at the rate of a teaspoon- 

 ful to a gallon of water, is the common remedy, and 

 the one which should be used after the fruit sets and 



.-/■■' 







n. 



616. Tree-form training of Currant. 



the Insects have scattered over the bushes. The im- 

 ported and native Currant borers also cause damage. 

 They can only be controlled by cutting out and destroying 

 infested canes early in spring, before the perfect insects 

 emerge. The Currant fly [JUpoclira Canadensis) some- 

 times causes serious injury to the fruit, depositing its 

 egg just beneath the skin, where the presence of the larva 

 causes the fruit to turn red and fall prematurely. No 

 practicable remedy has yet been suggested. Among 

 fungous diseases, there are several which prey upon the 

 leaves, causing them to fall prematurely, but they all 

 yield to thorough treatment with fungicides. The Cur- 

 rant tubercle, a disease which has recently proved inju- 

 rious in New York and New Jersey, threatens to be a 

 serious enemy and a difficult one to fight. It 

 is first shown by wilting of the leaves and pre- 

 mature coloring of the fruit. The clusters are 

 ^_ small and straggling, and, together with the 

 ' i'_^ leaves, soon shrivel and fall, which is followed 

 j' i, '^ by the death of the canes. Digging and burn- 

 ing affected plants is the only rem- 

 edy thus far suggested. The dis- 

 ease may be transmitted in appar- 

 ently healthy cuttings, so that fields 

 known to be affected 

 should not be used as 

 source from which 



_ ^. 4 



■^-TiJ to propagate. 



^T.r^ mi.- J. j._ 



614. 

 Currant 

 cutting. 



615. To illustrate the pruning of a Currant bush. 

 The old cane, a, is to be cut away. The straight new canes at left are to remain. 



The treatment of 

 black Currants does 

 not differ materially 

 from that of reds, ex- 

 cept that the plants, 

 being larger, require 

 somewhat more room. 

 The fruit, though pos- 

 sessing a most un- 

 pleasant odor and fla- 

 vor, becomes agree- 



27 



