566 



THE RED AND WHITE CURRANT. 



1224. Forcing. — The gooseberry may be forced in pots, and this is fre- 

 quently done in the north of Germany and Russia, especially where there 

 are Scotch gardeners. The temperature is never allowed to be high, and 

 abundance of air is given during sunshine. Mr. Hay, at Bristol, plants 

 gooseberries and currants in pots in November, removes them to the peach- 

 house in January, and sends the plants to table, with ripe fruit on them, by 

 the end of April. Ribes divaricatum and R. niveum {E. of Tr. and Sh.., pp. 470 

 and 471), produce rich perfumed fruit well adapted for tarts, and for im- 

 proving, by cross fecundation, the common gooseberry. 



SuBSECT. IX. — The Red and White Currant. 



1225. The Red and White Currant — Ribes rubrum. L. and R. r. 

 var. album, (Groseiller commun, Fr. ; Gemeine Johannisbeere, Ger. ; 

 Aalbesseboom, Dutch ; Ribes rosso, Ital. ; Grosella, Spayi. ; — E. B. 1289, 

 Arh. Brit., vol. iii., p. 977 ; and Encyc. of Trees and Shrubs., p. 477) — are 

 deciduous shrubs, the red variety indigenous in England and other parts of 

 Europe, and the white variety produced from it by culture. The fruit in 

 a wild state is small and very acid, but in gardens it has been increased in 

 size and greatly improved in flavour. It contributes to the dessert from the 

 beginning of July to September, and by matting up (1222) the fruit will 

 hang on the trees till November or December. 



1226. Use. — The appearance of large red cui'rants at table is brilliant, 

 and contrasts well with dishes of white currants, and with green fruit, such 

 as apples, pears, and plums. The taste cannot be called rich, but it is 

 agreeably subacid and cooling. The red currant is much used for jellies, 

 jams, wines, to acidulate punch, and for tarts ; and continues longer in season, 

 both for the table and the kitchen, than any other summer fruit. 



1227. Varieties. — The best are the White Dutch, red Dutch, Knight's 

 Sweet red, which is less acid than the red Dutch, and Knight's large red. 

 No selection can be better for a cottage garden, or for a garden in the coldest 

 part of the country ; but for display the Champagne currant may be added, 

 which is large and of a very pale red. 



1228. The propagation and future treatment of the red and white cur- 

 rant scarcely differs from that of the gooseberry. When the fruit is 

 required to be large, only a limited number of bunches ought to be allowed 

 to remain on the branches, and the greater part of the summer shoots ought 

 to be stopt and stopt again in order to throw strength into the fruit ; admit 

 the sun and air to give it colour and flavour, and also to ripen the wood. 

 Even in general cultivation, stopping the shoots in the end of June ought 

 to be performed, as, by so doing, the buds at the base are enlarged. The 

 currant is very frequently trained against a north wall, because there it 

 ripens later, and is thought to hang longer on the tree ; but its flavour in 

 such a situation is inferior to what it is when grown in the open garden, 

 either as a bush, or on an espalier. The fruit should be gathered in a dry 

 state, and it should not be heaped up on a dish till it is al)Out to be sent to 

 table. Late in the season it is sometimes disfigured by cobwebs, dust, and 

 particles of decayed leaves, in which case it should be washed and dried on a 

 sieve, or by hanging up in the fruit-room before it is presented at the dessert. 

 The currant, like the gooseberry, is attacked by the larvas of moths, by a 

 species of aphis, by a coccus, and when the fruit is ripe it is sometimes 

 devoured by earwigs. The latter may be lured into bundles of bean-stalks 



