CURRANT. 



mg the full benefit of the sun and air, to maturate and give 

 the berries a proper balsairac quality, by exhaling a due 

 proportion of their acid watery particles.'' 



INi'Mahon observes, that " The only proper method of 

 propagating gooseberries and currants is by cuttings ; suck- 

 ers should never be resorted to, except in cases of necessity, 

 for such will always produce others numerously from their 

 roots, which carry olY the nourishmeiit, that ought to go 

 to the support of the fruit ; and, besides, they form such 

 thickets, as to sinother, and deprive them of the berieht of 

 a free circulating air. 



" The proper catlings for planting are the shoots of the 

 last summer's production, of straight, clean growth ; tliej 

 should be taken from healthy trees, and such as are re- 

 markp.ble, according to their kinds, for bearing the iinest 

 fruit; let each be shortened from about ten to tvv^elve or 

 fifteen inches long, according to its strength. 



" Previous to planting, cut oil every bud as close as pos- 

 sible to the shoot, except three, four or live, near the top ; 

 which are to be left to form the head of the ulant. Some 

 people imagine, that the buds of those parts inserted in the 

 earth grow into roots, which is by no means the case, na- 

 ture never having designed them for such ; the roots, or 

 fibres, always strike out through the clean and smooth bark, 

 but generally a little belov/ a bud, and sometimes at tlie 

 lower extremity of the cutting, from betv/een the bark and 

 the v/ood." The cuttings may be first planted in rovvs, 

 eighteen inches or tv/o feet asunder, and about eight or 

 nine inches apart in the rovvs. When they have had one 

 or two years' growth in these rows, they may be planted 

 out either in autumn or early in spring, where they are 

 intended to produce fruit. Dr. Thacher directs to " let 

 110 limbs grow nearer than six inches of the ground. Prune 

 the shrub every year*, and keep it thin of wood, leaving 

 the middle open ; the limbs extended ; and, when these get 

 about three feet in length, cut olf, every spring, all the last 

 year's shoots. To cultivate on an extensive scale for the 

 purpose of making wdnc, set the bushes in rows, six or 

 eight feet between each bush, with intervals of proper width, 

 and at regular distances for passing across the rows. It is 

 estimated that an acre well cultivated will probably yield 

 on an average a quantity cf fruit sufficient to n^sake one 

 thousand gallons of Vv ine annually. The expense of ma- 

 king this wine is about fifty cents a gaUon. 



The common black currants are lar rcr than the red or 



