HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 323 



For the Florist and Horticultural Journal. 



CURRANTS. 



With the exception of the Strawberry, there is not a small fruit 

 that holds a more important position than the Currant. It is of the 

 most hardy nature ; subject to no disease, good, better or best in all 

 localities, according to treatment, and even when it is cast aside and 

 only visited when its fruit is matured for the table or the market. 

 In nineteen cases out of twenty it is entirely neglected, receiving 

 neither pruning, manuring or culture — degenerating, as it is termed 

 — degenerate — -no — never. It will produce rich scarlet, silver or 

 jet black clusters, five inches long, and three in circumference, almost 

 equal to bunches of grapes, and a certain crop. 



Culture— -Plant in a deep, sandy loam, that is very highly ma- 

 nured, that is, manure from the stable or barn yard laid on three or 

 four inches thick, and well incorporated with the soil eighteen inch- 

 es deep — select plants that have been grown from cuttings, and 

 about two or three years old ; cut the wood of the past season down 

 to three or four eyes, and from the stem or roots cut out every eye 

 or shoot leaving the stem clean six inches to a foot above ground — - 

 dig the holes one foot deep and five feet apart ; the soil that is re- 

 placed amongst the roots must be broken fine with the spade and 

 gently tra nipped down ; — give a [qw waterings in dry weather and 

 you will have a growth of from one to two feet the first reason . — 

 During winter, prune back those shoots to within six inches of the 

 proceeding year's wood, and thin out any branches that are not six 

 inches from each other — the fruit is produced on spurs of the old 

 wood, and when those spurs make a small growth, it should be cut 

 back to one eye. When the bushes have reached three feet in 

 height after pruning, they should then have there young wood cut 

 back every pruning season to one eye, and whenever the branches 

 offer to be nearer to each other than six inches they should be cut 

 clean out, forming the bush always with a round head and quite 

 open in the centre. After their regular yearly pruning, they must 

 have a periodical manuring ; digging or forking it in amongst the 

 roots. You may thereafter rest assured of a full crop in wet or 

 drought; — no failure; — always a supply for the table, the confec- 



