270 HOETICULTUEAL MANUAL. 



identical with that of stewed cranberries. The fruit has 

 a jieculiar odor in the skin that many dislike. This is 

 easily removed by immersing the fruit, in a wire basket, 

 for a few moments in boiling-hot water prior to stewing 

 or canning. 



There is nothing essentially different in its management 

 from that of the red currant, except in pruning. The 

 best fruit grows on wood of the preceding year's growth, 

 while the red varieties bear the best fruit on two-year-old 

 wood. Where grown commercially in Europe, the young 

 growth is headed back fully one half each year. This 

 favors the starting of new shoots for the next year's fruit- 

 ing and the cutting back tends to give larger fruit, as with 

 the grape. But this plan requires a system of periodic 

 heading back, quite severely in the dormant period, to 

 secure a renewal of new wood over the whole exterior. 

 But a more primitive system is adopted by amateurs who 

 follow the European home plan. The bearing branches 

 are cut when the fruit is ripe and carried to a bench in 

 the shade, where the fruit is picked at leisure. This 

 annual cutting back gives strong bearing shoots for the 

 next crop. 



In Europe, in the summer of 1883, the writer heard the 

 story repeated, from England east to the Volga Eiver, that 

 the jam and jelly of the black currant was the general 

 remedy for all throat affections, and that the jelly mingled 

 with water was a sure cure for bowel disorders and summer 

 troubles of the stomach. 



267. Golden Currant. — This native fruit {Rihes aureum) 

 of the West has been too much neglected. As found in 

 its native haunts it varies in size of fruit, and quality and 

 habits of regular bearing, as widely as our native plums. 

 The few attempts at selection and culture have been 



