184 THE AMERICAN GARDENER. [Chap. 



is preserved all the year, by stewing and putting 

 into jars, and when taken thence is better than cur- 

 rant jelly. The fruit, in its whole state, laid in a 

 heap, in a dry room, will keep sound and perfectly 

 good for six months. It will freeze and thaw and 

 freeze and thaw again without receiving any in- 

 jury. It may, if you choose, be kept in water all 

 the while, w^ithout any injury. I received a barrel 

 in England, mixed with water, as good and as fresh 

 as I ever tasted at New York or Philadelphia. 



306. CURRANT.—There are red, white and , 

 black, all well known. Some persons like one il 

 best, and some another. The propagation and cul- ; 

 tivation of all the sorts are the same. The currant \ 

 tree is propagated from cuttings ; and the cuttings !^ 

 are treated as has been seen in Paragraph 275. i 

 When the tree has stood two years in the Nursery, | 

 plant it where it is to stand ; and take care that it | 

 has only one stem. Let no limbs come out to grow \ 

 nearer than six inches of the ground. Prune the 

 tree every year. Keep it thin of wood. Keep the 

 middle open and the limbs extended ; and when 

 these get to about three feet in length, cut off, every 

 winter, all the last year'^s shoots. If you do not 

 attend to this, the tree will be nothing but a great 

 bunch of twigs, and you will have very little fruit. 

 Cultivate and manure the ground as for other fruit [ 

 trees. See Paragraphs 289 to 296. In this coun- 

 try the currant requires shade in summer. If ex- 

 posed to the full sun, the fruit is apt to become too 

 sour. Plant it, therefore, in the South Border. 



307. FIG. — There are several sorts of Figs, but 

 all would ripen in this country. The only difficulty 

 must be to protect the trees in winter, which can 

 hardly be done without covering pretty closely. 

 Figs are raised either from cuttings or layers^ 



