Hints on Vegetable and Fruit Farming. 
89 
bushes are liable to be attacked in the early spring by the larvae 
of an insect known to entomologists as the gooseberry sawfly 
(Nematus Ribesii). To prevent this, it is desirable after an 
attack to dig quicklime, or lime-ashes or soot, close round the 
bushes in the late autumn. Syringing with soft soap and soda 
and water has been found efficacious. Sprinkling with powdered 
hellebore also is effective, but it is dangerous to apply this 
when there is fruit on the bushes, as hellebore is a deadly 
poison.* 
Red Currants. — These bushes are propagated in the same 
way as gooseberry-bushes, from cuttings put in a nursery. The 
length of the stem can be regulated by the number of " eyes " 
retained on the cutting ; but it is generally better to let the 
stocks be short. Bushes may be taken out from the nursery after 
the second year, and put 5 J feet apart, or 6 feet if standard trees 
are planted with them. The distance at which currants and 
gooseberries are put, whether 5 J feet or 6 feet, must depend upon 
the quality of the soil to some extent. Currant-bushes must be 
kept cup-shaped, and the terminal shoots should be pruned to 
lengths of from 6 inches to 9 inches, according to their vigour. 
Laterals should not be pruned away, as in gooseberry-bushes, 
but cut back, so that spurs may be formed, upon which the 
fruit is grown. The best sorts are the Scotch, the Imperial, 
Red Dutch, and the Raby Castle. There is a kind of red 
currant known as the Queen Victoria, whose bunches and 
berries are exceedingly large and fine. This is particularly 
adapted for growing in the gardens of farms, as it requires 
rather more care than other kinds, and the fruit makes a good 
display. If it were packed in small neat boxes, or baskets, and 
set off with coloured paper, the fruit would bring good prices in 
London, Brighton, and other places. Here, again, the garden 
of the farm may well be utilised. Bushes may be bought of 
fruit-farmers at from 65. to 9s. per 100. An average crop is 
from 4500 lbs. to 5200 lbs. per acre, and the price runs from 
\\d. to 2f(f. per lb., while the amount of expense per acre is 
about the same as in the case of gooseberry-bushes. There is 
a very large and increasing demand for this fruit for jelly, jam, 
and for bottling. 
Black Currant-bushes, as has been said, require a deep, 
moist soil. They are easily propagated by cuttings. Care 
should be taken not to cut these too long, nor to remove the 
buds, as the bushes should have very short stems or stocks. In 
fact, in most cases black currant-bushes do not grow from a 
Sec ' Manual of Injurious Insects, and Methods of Prevention,' by E. A. 
Ormerod. Sonnenschein and Allen, Paternoster Square. 
