sightly wall or fence is to be seen. All are cov¬ 
ered with currants, vines or fruit trees, presenting 
a barrier of foliage, fruit and flowers, delightful to 
behold. 
To train the Currant in this way is a very easy 
matter. Take a young plant of such a growth 
that by pruning it can be made to assume a form 
like figure 3, and plant within six inches of the 
Long Bunched Red is very much like the above, 
but a larger berry and larger bunches, and we 
think a little more acid. 
Short Bunched Red has short, heavy, compact 
bunches. The berries not quite as largo ns Red 
Dutch, hang on the stems well, and we think will 
make an excellent market fruit. It is the favorite 
sort of the growers for market around London. 
umlm 
VALUE AND NEGLECT. 
The Currant is at least one of the most valu¬ 
able of our small fruits—not as delicious as the 
Strawberry and Raspberry, bat keeping much 
longer, applicable to a greater variety of pnrposes, 
and of far more value in the family. As soon as 
the berries are well formed, and before they begin 
to ripen, they are used by many for pies and 
sauces. At. maturity there is nothing better for 
either of these purposes, while for preserving by 
bottling, none of onr frnits keep as well, and few 
are better for winter U9e, —for jams and jellies 
every house-keeper knows the Currant has no 
superior among onr long list of fruits. The Cur¬ 
rant, too, makes a wholesome domestic wine, 
much better than that usually manufactured in 
this section from hall'-ripened grapes. We know 
of a gentleman who sent bottles of wine, made 
from tho White Grape Currant, to a State Fair, 
and obtained the premium offered for the best 
Native Crape Wine, having simply marked his 
bottles with the year the wine was manufactured, 
without specifying tho fruit from which it was 
made. The Currant has been banished from the 
dessert, because it has been considered too small, 
too acid, and lacking iu flavor; but we would ask 
nothing better in its season than a dish of tho 
finer varieties of Currants well grown. The White 
Grape, for instance, with bunches live or six inches 
in length, and berries one-and a-balf inches iu 
circumference, is no mean dish to set before an 
epicure. The poor varieties, as usually grown, 
are certainly unfit for the table, as they are small, 
sour, and almost entirely filled with hard, woody 
seeds. 
All horticulturists who hav expressed opinions 
on this subject, agree with us, we believe, that the 
Currant is not appreciated or cultivated as it de¬ 
serves to be. Mr. Barry says:—“ When we con¬ 
sider how largely the Currant contributes to good 
living in the way of tarts, jams, jellies, wines, &c., 
and how easily it. is cultivated, how little space 
it requires, how patient it is under all sorts of 
maltreatment, we surely must confess it is a most 
valuable fruit,—not for the rich man or the poor 
man, but for every man who has a square rod of 
ground to till. While we have had new varieties 
of other fruits in abndauce and to spare, our list 
of Currants has remained pretty much tho'same 
for a length of time. In cultivation, too, it has 
been sadly neglected,—it receives no pruning, or 
pinching, or training, or mulching, such as are 
lavished on its more favored neighbors/’ JonN 
Saul says:—“Were we to search through the 
whole catalogue of fruits, we could not find one 
possessed of so many sterling good qualities as 
tiii*; and yet how much neglected.” 
Not only has the Currant been neglected by 
cultivators, but by those who have given special 
attention to the raising of new varieties of small 
frnits. We have hundreds of Strawberries, but 
only a few of Currants, and these mostly accidental 
seedlings, introduced within the last few years, 
and some of them not in advance of the old sorts. 
CULTURE AND TRAINING. 
The Currant bush, as we generally see it, is but 
an ungainly stump, surrounded with a thicket of 
suckers, like figure 1. 
FIGURE 3. FIGURE 5. 
fence on which yon design to train it. Then 
fasten the branches down into a horizontal posi¬ 
tion, as in figure 4. Cut off the ends of the shoots 
about one-third. Each of the horizontal brunches 
will give a number of shoots, from wliich two 
mast he selected to train in a vertical direction, 
and one to continue the main horizontal branch, 
as in figure 5. The shoots trained vertically 
should be about eight inches from each other. 
The next spring the shoots of the previous sum¬ 
mer’s growth should be cut back about one-third 
of their growth, and so continued each season. 
The pruning and training of trees and plants is 
not simply a mechanical operation. Iticquires 
some thought and good judgment to meet aud 
control the disposition of the plant. We only 
purpose to give a few hints as to the general rule. 
Now, if you have a young plant, one year from the 
slip, with one straight shoot eighteen inches In 
length, about six inches of the top should be cut 
off, leaving too plant about twelve inches in 
height. Then all the buds except two at the top 
should be rubbed off, and at the end of the first 
season’s growth the plant will be like figure 3. 
The after treatment should be as described above. 
VICTORIA. 
* 
Victoria is a late variety, light, bright red, ber¬ 
ries medium size to large, and bunches very long. 
A productive and beautiful variety. 
Prime Albert is also a late variety. Similar in 
color or a little lighter than Victoria,—berries 
larger. Very productive. 
WJ1ITB. 
The White Dutch, like the Red Dutch, is a good 
Currant, but as a general thing has been so badly 
neglected that its true character is little known. 
It is a high flavored fruit,—berries larger and 
bunches rather shorter than Red Dutch,—of a 
yellowish white, aud very transparent skin. Very 
productive. 
The. White drupe is now the favorite White 
Currant. This and tho Cherry have been for some 
years the most popular sorts. Bunches long, 
berricB very large, whitish yellow, sweetuud good. 
Very productive. In the Rural for February 
25, we gave a good drawing of this Currant. 
TrantparaU Is a new French Currant which we 
have not seen, but which Mr. Downing states is 
very productive, and similar to White Dutch. 
The White Clinton, we learn from the same 
authority, is very similar to White Dutch, and 
probably the same. White Antwerp, very large, 
white, sweet,—bunches rather long, and produc¬ 
tive. Neither of these wo think is sufficiently 
distinct from the White Dutch and White Grape, 
to justify their dissemination. 
BLACK. 
The Black English is the common well known 
Black Currant. With good cultivation and plenty 
of manure, it produces a good crop of fine fruit 
It has a bad habit of di opping its berries at the 
time they get about ripe, so that the bunches 
when gathered have but few berries remaining. 
The Black Naples is larger and better than the 
Black English, and is the best of the Black Cur¬ 
rants. Bunches rather short, but berries very 
large. This is now abont the only Black Currant 
planted, and is a most desirable variety. 
CHERRY 
remains. The black currants they do not relish. 
The flies emerge from their winter quarters in 
the ground tho latter part of April or early in 
May, aud soon after the female begins to deposit, 
her eggs on the underside of the newly expanded 
leaves, choosing tho sides of tho veins or uerv- 
area as a fitting place. With tho 6aw-lilto ap¬ 
pendage, for which the family is remarkable, tho 
female commences cutting into the leaves, and 
In tho opening deposits her egg. The larva iB 
hatched in about a week, aud commences feeding 
on the leaf, increasing in size and frequently 
changing its skin, till it is abont three-quarters 
of an inch in length. It is now of a dull pale 
green color, the first thoracic segment being 
deep yellow, the penultimate being also of the 
same color; the feet, tail and head are black, and 
each segment is dotted black also, some having 
as many as twenty-four spots arranged in lines 
down the back, while those on the sides are more 
irregular, with one largo one at tho base of each 
foot. They have six pectoral, sharp, horny feet; 
the fourth segment appears destitute of feet, but 
the six following are each furnished with a pair 
of legs, which assist them in walking; they have 
also a pair of feet at the extremity of the last 
segment 
In the fly state it assumes an ocherons color; 
the body is orange, sometimes bright; the wings 
are iridescent, and, when expanded, are about 
two-thirds of an inch in length; the antenme are 
almost as long as the body, bristly, brownish 
above, and niue-joiuted; the crown of the head 
and eyes are black, as are also three lurge conflu¬ 
ent spots in the center of the trunk, and also a 
large patch on the breast or sternum. 
The broods of caterpillars appear in succession 
occasionally from March till October, but in 
greatest numbers in June. After becoming full 
growD, the grubs descend to the earth, spinning 
themselves a yellowish cocoon, and in two or 
three weeks, according to the warmth of the 
soil, come out again perfect insects or flies, ready 
to lay another brood of eggs. Thus a perfect 
succession is kept up as long as there are leaves 
to supply them with food. Those that descend 
late in the season, when the ground is cold, do 
not come out perfect insects until the following 
spring. • 
For this enemy, one of the best remedies is to 
knock them oil' the plants with bushes, and kill 
them with the feet, or to pick them off and kill 
them. Sowing powdered lime over the plants 
when wet with dew or rain, checks them a little, 
bat must be persevered in to accomplish much 
good. The best way we have tried, is to remove 
the soil under the plants to the depth of three or 
four inches, and bury it in pits three feet deep, 
replacing the Boil token from under the plants 
by that from the pit. it is stated that a heavy 
mulching of tanoaik. placed under the plants in 
the autumn and dug under in the spring, will 
prove effectual in destroying the insects in the 
soil, before they emerge. This we have never 
tried. Water heated to 140 degrees, and applied 
by the syringe or garden engine, will kill the 
grub without injuring the leaves. This we know 
to be good, but it must be applied thoroughly. 
Only those will be killed which are touched with 
the water, and as many are under the leaves, a 
thorough syringing two or three times is neces¬ 
sary. Many of onr friends in various sections 
have written for a description of this caterpillar, 
which we now give. We hope they will have no 
other acquaintance with it. 
VARIETIES. 
The Red Currants are considered the best for 
cooking, jellies, &c., on account of their acidity 
and very beautiful color. The White are pre¬ 
ferred for eating in the natural state, as they are 
sweeter. They make an excellent wine, and all 
that can be obtained in this neighborhood are 
CURRANT. 
generally used for that pnrpoBe. Tho Black are 
of a peculiar strong flavor, and this variety is not 
popular in America, though very valuable. Its 
merits are not appreciated, as they will be ten 
years hence. The taste for the Black Currant, 
like that of tho Tomato, must he acquired, and 
when once acquired, tho Black Currant, like that 
popular vegetable, becomes a necessary luxury. 
Those who make currant wine Bkould try the 
Black for that purpose, aa it makes a very superior 
article. Iu England the Black Currant is prefer¬ 
red to all others for jams, jellies, and tarts. The 
Black Currant Jam, or Jelly, is there considered 
an almost infallible remedy for colds, sore throats, 
Ac.; and invaluable in casos of fever. The good 
English housewife would hardly feel Bufe to pass 
through a winter without a good store. 
RED. 
Red Dutch is an old and well known sort, with 
fair Bized bunches and berricB. It is a good 
bearer and a free grower, and a much better Cur¬ 
rant than most people Huppose, us any one can 
ascertain by giving it good culture. 
The Cherry is, perhaps, tho largest Red Currant, 
having berries of extraordinary dimensions. The 
epgraving we give of this variety many will con¬ 
sider overdrawn, but it is the exact size of the 
bunches and berries from which the drawing was 
taken. The Cherry is now the most popular Red 
Currant, and nurserymen find it impossible to 
supply the demand. 
currant plant trained to hoops. 
A correspondent of the Gardener's Monthly, in 
giving an account of the garden of Alfred Lok- 
ino, of Hingham, Mass., describes his system of 
training the Currant within hoops, as shown in 
the engraving,—the hoops being fastened to stout 
stakes, which are not shown. 
V _ 
EtTEMIES. 
The Currant is subject to no enemies or dis¬ 
eases of particular importance, except the Cur¬ 
rant Caterpillar, which for four or five years 
past has caused great trouble and anxiety to the 
growers of this fruit, and a partial or total loss 
of the crop, aud iu some cases of the plants. 
This insect is supposed to be the same as that 
which is known in Eugland as the grub of the 
Gooseberry Saw Ply. It is thought to have been 
imported from Europe with gooseberry plants. 
Rochester seems to be the center of its opera¬ 
tions, and in many places fifteen or twenty miles 
distant it is unknown. Mr. Hoag, of Eockport, 
stated at the laBt meeting of the Fruit Growers’ 
Society, that he saw a few on his plants, for the 
first time, the present season. Their spread would 
FIGURE I. FIGURE 2. 
Let the pruning knife be judiciously applied. 
Remove all suckers, and have a clean Btem from 
bix to ten inches high, and a pretty round head, 
(like figure 2,) with the branches kept sufficiently 
thinned out to admit light and air freely. Then, 
every year give a good dressing of well-rotted 
manure, and yon will have plants that yon will 
have good reason to be proud of, and fruit that 
your friends will mistake for grapes. The shoots 
of the previous year’s growth should be shorten- 
ed-in every spring, as this will induce the forma¬ 
tion of fruit spurs. The Black Currants, however, 
hejtr principally on the wood of the previous year’s 
growth. 
We have succeeded in making good plants and 
in growing fine fruit, by allowing abont four 
branches to start from the ground. A3 soon as 
the plant baB borne a crop, cut one of these main 
branches down to the ground, and a new one will 
start from below the surface. Next year cut 
another, or two, if deemed necessary; and in thiB 
way all of the plant above the ground is lenewed 
every three or fuur years. This would be a very 
valuable plaD, was it not for the fact that young 
plants are so easily obtained, and come into bear¬ 
ing so early. 
BANG OF. 
The Bang Up is an English Black variety, with 
short, heavy bunches, shouldered, as seen in the 
engraving. The berries hang on the bunches 
well, and we are much pleased with it. It bids 
fair to be a very valuable sort. We had not seen 
it in fruit until the present season. 
The roots of the Black Currant are short and 
fibrouB, and consequentjy it has a small space in 
which to gather food. It is also a great feeder, 
and therefore requires a liberal supply of manure. 
One season of good treatment will convince the 
cultivator of this fact. 
gooseberry saw fly, 
Grub, Cocoon, and Perfect Insect 
no doubt be checked, if every one, on its first 
appearance, would make a diligent effort for this 
purpose; hut where it becomes numerous it 
is, to say the least, very difficult to save the plants 
from destruction. They commence their ravages 
soon after the young leaves appear, and as a new 
brood of insects appear every two or three weeks, 
the cultivator generally becomes discouraged, 
and retires from the contest. In England they 
destroy, we believe, only the leaves of the goose¬ 
berry, but in this country, where gooseberries 
are scarce, they commence at the few gooseber¬ 
ries that may be within their reach, and then 
attack thb currants, seldom leaving while a leaf 
figure 4. 
We would recommend the training of the Cur¬ 
rant on walls or fences. The finest fruit we have 
ever seen was raised in this way. ThnB cultivated 
they occupy no room in the garden,give no shade 
to injure any other plant, but make beautiful the 
ugly fences and walla that disfiguic even the best 
kept American gardens. Those who have traveled 
in Europe know that there, even in cottage gar 
dens of little or no pretensions, not a foot of un- 
VER8AILLAISE. 
La Versaillaise has berries about as large as the 
Cherry, but mnch longer bunches. It is a French 
variety not much disseminated in this country, 
except around Boston, whore, we understand, it 
is grown quite extensively for market, proving 
more productive, and more popular in market 
than any other sort. Our engraving is the exact 
size of a bunch grown by Ellwanger & Barky. 
The length of onr article on the Currant pre¬ 
vents the publication of several articles from cor¬ 
respondents, as well as answers to inquiries now 
in type. 
