CUEEANT 



HABDY FBUIT GARDEN 



CUEEANT 1095 



Catherina, Leveller, Mount Pleasant, B,nA 

 Trumpeter. 



Or een- shinned Oooseberries 



Keepsake. — Fruit large, smooth or 

 slightly hairy, good flavour, early. 



Matchless. — Fruit large, good flavour. 



Thunder. — Fruit large, roundish, 

 hairy, excellent flavour, early. 



White-sMnned Oooseberries 

 Snowdrop. — Fruit very large, round- 

 ish, highly flavoured. Skin white with 

 broad green veins, hairy. 



White Champagne. — Fruit small, 

 hairy, sweet and rich flavour. 



* Whitesmith. — Fruit large, downy, 

 roundish oblong, very fine flavour, rather 



THE CURRANT (Eibbsnigbum and 

 E. rubkum). — The Currant is a first cousin, 

 so to speak, of the Gooseberry, and indeed 

 belongs to the same genus {Bibes), the cha- 

 racteristics of which are given at p. 436. 



There are three distinct varieties of 

 Currant grown for their fruits, namely, 

 the Black Currant {B. nigrum), the Red 

 Currant (iJ. rubrum), and the White 

 Currant, which is a botanical variety of 

 the same species. They all flourish in a 

 good garden soil, well drained, and not 

 too heavy in texture. In fact, they may 

 receive precisely the same treatment as 

 recommended for Gooseberries, but the 

 soil may be, if anything, somewhat richer 

 and heavier. The ground may be mulched 

 and manured in the same way, and the 

 plants may be grown not only as bushes, 

 but likewise against walls and trelhses. 

 The heaviest crops, however, are obtained 

 from bushes, and they require less atten- 

 tion. The distance between them may 

 be the same as for Gooseberries, and in 

 the south of England they produce heavy 

 crops either in an open sunny position, or 

 partially shaded between rows of Apples, 

 Pears, and Plums. The best time for 

 planting is the same as for Gooseberries, 

 from the middle of October to the end of 

 November (see p. 1092), and new plants 

 may be raised from cuttings in exactly the 

 same way as Gooseberries (see p. 1093). 

 The advantage of having Red and White 

 Currant bushes on a clean stem about 1 

 ft. long may be emphasised here, as in 

 the case of Gooseberries, as the lower 

 branches are then kept free firom the soil 

 (into which they root readily), and the 



fruits are not splashed with mud during 

 heavy rains. Black CmTants are scarcely 

 suitable for growing on a stem, and may 

 be allowed to develop their shoots from 

 the surface of the soil. 



Pruning. — There is a great difference 

 in the habit of growth between Black 



FIG. 161. — ^RED CURRANT. 



I?IO. 162.— 

 BLACK CURRANT. 



Currants on the one hand and Bed and 

 White Currants on the other, and it is 

 most important to bear this fact in mind 

 at the time of pruning. Bed and White 

 Currants may be pruned at the same 

 time and in the same way as recommended 

 for Gooseberries, that is, by shortening 

 back the tops of the main shoots, and 

 cutting the side branches back to two or 

 three buds. The superflous growths and 

 buds may also be removed early in 

 summer (see Pruning Gooseberries, 

 p. 1092). 



Fig. 161 represents a branch of the 

 Bed Currant, which shows the fi:uit-buds 

 (/) borne on the wood, b, 2 to 3 years 

 old, and not on the shoots ripened the 

 previous year (shown at A), which is 

 furnished only with wood-buds (w). 



Black Currants do not produce their 

 berries in long drooping racemes chiefly 



