238 Home Vegetable Gardening 



CURRANTS 



The currant and gooseberry are very similar in 

 their cultural requirements. A deep, rich and moist 

 soil is the best — approaching a clayey loam. There 

 need be no fear of giving too much manure, but it 

 should be well rotted. Plenty of room, plenty of 

 air, plenty of moisture, secured where necessary by 

 a soil or other mulch in hot dry w^eather, are essen- 

 tial to the production of the best fruit. 



The currant will stand probably as much abuse 

 as any plant the home gardener will have to deal 

 with. Stuck in a corner, smothered in sod, crowded 

 with old wood, stripped by the currant-worm, it 

 still struggles along from year to year, ever hope- 

 fully trying to produce a meager crop of poor fruit. 

 But these are not the sort you want. Although it 

 is so tough, no fruit will respond to good care more 

 quickly. 



To have it do well, give it room, four or five 

 feet each way between bushes. Manure it liberally ; 

 give it clean cultivation, and as the season gets 

 hot and dry, mulch the soil, if you would be certain 

 of a full-sized, full-flavored crop. Two bushes, 

 well cared for, will yield more than a dozen half- 

 neglected ones. Anywhere north of New York a 

 full crop every year may be made almost certain. 



