The Humble Currant and Gooseberry—By S. W. Fletcher "ire.te: 
EVEN HERE THERE ARE QUALITY VARIETIES—LARGER BUNCHES AND MORE OF THEM PRODUCED BY A SYSTEM 
OF PRUNING THAT ANYONE CAN MASTER—ENGLISH GOOSEBERRIES THAT ARE ALMOST AS LARGE AS PLUMS 
“| Pe peculiar merit of currants and 
gooseberries is their reliability. They 
occupy an humble place in the fruit garden, 
but we could ill afford to spare them from it, 
not only because of the excellent jellies, jams 
and sauces they make, but also because they 
have the cheerful habit of yielding a crop of 
fruit every year. They are the hardiest of 
our common fruits, and very easy to protect, 
if planted in a trying climate. Moreover, 
these two fruits take up less space, in pro- 
portion to the amount of fruit produced, 
than most other small fruits. They are 
easily grown, reliable, and compact; these 
three points commend currants and goose- 
berries for the garden, especially the sub- 
urban garden where space may be limited and 
conditions not ideal. 
In America the currant is much more pop- 
ular than the gooseberry; the reverse is true 
in England. English gardeners have de- 
veloped many hundred of varieties of goose- 
berries, some of them bearing fruits of im- 
mense size and weight, occasionally even 
three to five ounces. But their gooseberries are 
grown very largely for dessert use; they are 
allowed to ripen on the bushes and are eaten 
out of hand. In this country very few 
gooseberries are eaten except in jelly, jam, 
sauce or canned; for these purposes they are 
picked while still very green. Probably this 
is partly because the common American 
varieties are not nearly as good to eat out of 
hand as the best English sorts. The English 
varieties are successful here in only a few 
localities; they need more moisture and 
coolness than our summers afford. Never- 
theless, it is to be regretted that Americans 
do not look with greater favor upon ripe 
gooseberries as a dessert fruit and endeavor 
to breed American varieties of high quality. 
COOLNESS AND MOISTURE NEEDED 
Both these fruits love coolness and mois- 
ture; hence they do not thrive in a hot, dry 
climate, either in the South or inland. Cur- 
rants and gooseberries can be grown on the 
higher altitudes of most parts of the South, 
but are worthless in the lowlands. Like the 
Prince Albert currant. A very productive variety, 
and largely grown for canning 
A standard grown currant. The bush form is 
usually preferred in America, because the borers are 
then less injurious. La Versaillaise, one of the best 
red varieties, large and productive 
brambles, they prefer a northern slope. In 
a small garden a northern site may be made 
to order by planting them on the north side 
of a building. Shade is beneficial to them 
because it cools; it is therefore common to 
plant currants and gooseberries between 
rows of fruit trees; a practice good for the 
small fruits, but apt to be hard on the tree 
fruits, unless they are given intensive culture. 
In a closely planted city or suburban garden 
currants and gooseberries do better than the 
other fruits, especially if the canes are kept 
well thinned to prevent disease. 
Currants are less imperative about their 
surroundings than gooseberries; the latter 
much prefer a rich bottom soil and are quite 
at home on fairly stiff clay, but are impatient 
of the lighter soils on which currants will get 
along fairly well. While strong loams are 
preferred, almost any soil, even a light, sandy 
loam, will grow currants and gooseberries 
worth the trouble, but such soils should be 
built up with rotted manure before and after 
planting. Humus is nearly as essential to 
10 
success in growing currants and gooseberries 
as in growing raspberries and blackberries; 
for much humus in the soil, especially if from 
manure, furnishes the richness, coolness 
and moisture in which these fruits delight. 
PLANTING 
Except in the northernmost localities, fall 
planting is better than spring planting. The 
spring planting is apt to be delayed and the 
conditions for growth are most favorable in 
early spring. At any time between Septem- 
ber first and frost, planting may be done 
The plants should be one or two years old, 
the latter being preferred, if not undersized. 
Fall set plants should be heavily mulched. 
If planting is delayed until spring, let it be 
done very early. The distances for setting 
commonly recommended vary from 4 x 4 ft. 
to 6x4 ft. for red and white currants and 
gooseberries. Black currants, being larger, 
are set one-half farther apart. 
MULCHING OFTEN SATISFACTORY 
The plants may be tilled or mulched. In 
a majority of fruit gardens tillage is probably 
preferable, since other parts of the fruit 
garden must be tilled. But both currants 
and gooseberries thrive well under a mulch 
of straw, manure, or even of ashes three or 
four inches deep. In the dryer parts of the 
Middle West, mulching gives better results 
than tillage. The mulching should begin 
at planting time, by putting several forkfuls 
of manure around each plant. As the plant 
grows the mulched area is widened, and new 
material is applied each year. In some 
cases it may be best to mulch beneath the 
plants and till between the rows. Because 
they lend themselves so readily to the mulch 
system, currants and gooseberries are well 
adapted for planting on the borders of the 
fruit garden, where tillage cannot be given. 
Tillage, if practised, should be shallow, and 
should be stopped about the same time as the 
tillage of other small fruits. 
THE PRUNING THAT GIVES LARGE BUNCHES 
_ Little pruning or training is needed the 
first summer, except to pinch back shoots 
that outstrip the others. If the plants are 
Lancashire Lad; a popular English gooseberry 
freer from mildew than most English varieties 
