FRUIT CULTURE IN FRANCE 



353 



duced fruit the next spring. The commercial cultivation of the raspberry is 

 carried on extensively in the neighbourhood of Paris at Bagnolet, Montreuil, 

 Fontenay, Bourg-la-Reine, Sceaux, Verri^res, &c. ; in Burgundy at Dijon ; and 

 in Lorraine at Lundville, &c. The first crop is ripe in June, and the second in 

 September and October. Remove the first flow^ers in order to procure a better 

 crop later on. Raspberries are eaten raw, or used in confectionery, ices, liqueurs, 

 &c. The varieties most commonly grown are : — Fastolf, Horner, Pilate, with 

 red fruits ; Orange de Binkle, with yellow fruit. Autumn-fruiting varieties — 

 Merveille des Quatre Saisons, Belle de Fontenay, with red fruit ; Sucrh de Metz, 

 Surprise d^ Automne, with yellow fruit. 



THE CURRANT 



Currants prefer a situation partly shaded to one exposed to the full sun. 

 Light rather than stiff soils are best for them. The currant is often grown in 

 the worst position in the garden. This certainly lessens 

 its value, for the fact must not be lost sight of that 

 although certain fruits require less than others, there 

 is a minimum of requirement which must not be passed. 

 Currants may be cultivated in beds and borders, the 

 bushes being i m^tre distant from each other, or trained 

 fan-shaped. 



Propagation.— Currants are increased by taking 

 cuttings in winter, or by layers in spring. For com- 

 merce the currant is cultivated in bush form, but the 

 amateur can, as we have said above, train it fan-shaped 

 on iron-wire trellises, or have it upon short stems, or 

 again on a higher stem (i metre) by grafting upon 

 Ribes aureum. Palmate-trained plants give the finest 

 fruit, but it is perhaps hardly worth while to train them 

 thus. Standards and half-standards are very decorative. 

 The fruit is good, easy to gather, and never soiled by 

 the splashing of rain. The life of such plants, however, 

 is short, while grown as bushes one may have currants 

 in full bearing for forty years, provided they are well 

 manured every three years. 



Pruning. — ^Currants bear fruit on branches one 

 year old or on spurs of the same age, which are formed every year on shoots 

 of the preceding year. It is necessary, therefore, to secure shoots of one year's 

 growth in order to maintain the vigour of the tree and the quality of the fruit. 

 The fruits of the currant are eaten fresh, or may be iced, preserved, &c. The 

 best varieties are : — La Versaillaise, Hdtive de Bertin, Fay's New Prolific, with 

 red fruit ; Hollande, La Versaillaise Blanche, with white fruit. Currants are 

 grown in quantities at St. Denis, Sannois, Epinay, Montmorency, Verri^res, 

 Chatenay, Sceaux, Fontenay, Bagnolet, Lille, Nancy, and more or less in all 

 parts. 



Standard Currant 



