May, 1908 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



XVII 



CURRANTS AND GOOSEBERRIES 



By E. P. Powell 



THE currant is one of the prime essentials 

 to home comfort. It came over from 

 England with the Puritans, and no gar- 

 den has ever been complete without it. We are 

 recently finding out that it is impossible to 

 overstock the market with fine fruit of this 

 sort. In fact the price has been going stead- 

 ily upward for the last ten years. It used to 

 rule at about five cents a pound or quart, and 

 is now somewhere between twelve and four- 

 teen. This price, of course, does not rule in 

 remote sections, where the city market can not 

 be easily reached. Better yet, the currant 

 is one of the quickest of our fruits to make 

 returns after planting. One-year-old plants 

 should be in fine bearing the third year, while 

 two or three-year-old plants should begin to 

 bear at once. 



The list of varieties has grown greatly 

 within the last few years, but most of the new 

 sorts are hardly worth the planting. I have 

 tried most of them, and am now confining my 

 new planting either to my own seedlings, or to 

 White Grape, with Versailles and Fay. One 

 or two of the new ones, notably Perfection, 

 prove excellent. I have from my long list of 

 seedlings selected three which surpass every- 

 thing except White Grape. Number 1 ripens 

 a tremendous crop about the Fourth of July, 

 a little earlier than any other sort, and for 

 that reason I have named it Fourth of July. 

 The branches are long, but the berry is not 

 quite as large as Fay. Number 2 is every way 

 identical with Fay and Versailles, except that 

 the bush stands fully one-third larger than 

 either of these sorts, and gives me full one- 

 half more currants. It is a magnificent bush, 

 standing six and seven feet high, with a strong 

 arm and an open head. Number 3 is abnor- 

 mal in holding its fruit, in perfect condition, 

 for two months after all other currants are 

 gone. Two years ago it was entirely sound 

 until November 12, when it was frozen. In 

 1907 it was frozen a little earlier, but through 

 October it was as fresh as any currant ever 

 picked in July. I have named it October 

 Red. Number 2 I have named the Red Giant. 

 I do not yet offer these for sale, but have 

 placed them in the hands of the veteran straw- 

 berry grower, M. Crawford, of Cuyahoga 

 Falls, Ohio. 



In planting for market it is necessary to 

 select red sorts, although the white currant is, 

 as a rule, sweeter and every way better. It 

 makes a red jelly, but not as red as the red 

 currant. Where these facts are known the 

 market is slowly changing, and the demand 

 for whites is increasing. I would, therefore, 

 plant one row of White Grapes to every ten 

 rows of red sorts. This White Grape currant 

 is the most delicious ever yet produced for eat- 

 ing out of hand, or for table use. The bush 

 is also an enormous producer. I have picked 

 from a single bush seven quarts, a quantity 

 never surpassed in my garden by any other 

 variety except Red Giant. It must be borne 

 in mind that white currants are less subject 

 to being devoured by the birds. They do not 

 see them as readily as they see the red. This 

 whole matter of destruction by birds depends, 

 however, upon the largeness of the plantation. 

 Those country homes which have long rows 

 of cherries will hardly observe the loss of the 

 few; and it is the same with berries and cur- 

 rants. I allow my hens to go freely among the 

 currants, and rarely observe them touching 

 one. 



The currant is a good home fruit for an- 

 other reason, that we can propagate them our- 

 selves, and very easily, from either seeds or 

 cuttings. If from cuttings, take the trim- 

 mings of recent growth, make them about one 

 foot in length, cut smooth under a joint, and 



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