CURRANT. 



93 



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

 the berries a proper balsamic quality, by exhaling a due 

 proportion of their acid watery particles." 



M'Mahon observes, that " The only proper metliod of 

 propagating gooseberries and currants is by cuttings ; suck- 

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

 for such will ahvays produce others numerously from their 

 roots, which carry off the nourishment, that ought to go 

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

 thickets, as to smother, and deprive them of the benefit of 

 a free circulating air. 



" The proper cuttings for planting are the shoots of the 

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

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

 markable, according to their kinds, for bearing the finest 

 fruit; let each be shortened from about ten to twelve or 

 fifteen inches long, according to its strength. 



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

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

 which are to be left to form the head of the plant. 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 below a bud, and sometimes at the 

 lower extremity of the cutting, from between the bark and 

 the wood." The cuttings may be first planted in rows, 

 eighteen inches or two feet asunder, and about eight or 

 nine inches apart in the rows. 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 

 BO 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 off, every spring, all the last 

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

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

 eight feet betvv^een 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 of fruit suiHcient to make one 

 thousand gallons of wine annually. The expense of ma- 

 king this wine is about fifty cents a gallon. 



"The common black currants are larger than the red or 



