1910. 
CURRANT CULTURE. 
The Entire Story. 
In this particular section currant grow¬ 
ing was given a great deal of attention 
years ago, but of late years but very 
few of the farms have any bushes. 
There came seasons of low prices, and 
that, together with the arrival of several 
insect pests undoubtedly discouraged 
many. It is interesting to remember 
the difference in the size of the currants 
grown fifty years ago and now. The 
“Dutch” currant was the variety then 
grown. They were very, very small in 
size, and it was an arduous task to reap 
them. Next came the Cherry currant, 
a much larger berry, and of late years 
the Fay has been largely grown. There 
have since sprung up several good vari¬ 
eties that will undoubtedly take place 
of the Fay, for while the berries of the 
latter are of good size and productive¬ 
ness, it has the bad habit of spreading 
close to the ground, and it is hard to 
cultivate close to the bushes. Where 
no mulch is used under the bushes, the 
berries lie in the dirt. Packing for 
market has undergone changes too. At 
first the currants were packed in the 
round wooden quart boxes. After a 
while the canners began to use currants, 
and they were packed loose in bushel 
boxes to suit the canners’ demand for 
a larger package. Naturally the weight 
of the currants in themselves jammed 
them, and when the canners would buy 
no more in bushel boxes, then the cur¬ 
rants were packed in 15 and 20-pound 
baskets. Even that did not suit the 
trade, so they were packed in the quart 
basket and shipped in crates holding 
32 quarts. This is the present method 
of packing currants for market, and 
seems now to be as near the ideal pack¬ 
age as can be thought of. Personally 
I think there is a good profit to be made 
from currant culture, provided of course 
that the crop can be sent to a market 
where shipping expenses are not large. 
Prices of late years have been good. 
The principal drawback now is to just 
what an extent • the insect pests will 
damage the bushes, for it looks as if 
there were some serious problems ahead 
along that line. I will speak of them 
later. 
Currants like a rich soil, but a lighter 
soil will do provided there is a chance 
for irrigation. Land for setting out 
bushes should be prepared the same as 
for any crop; that is thoroughly fer¬ 
tilized, plowed and cultivated. * The 
lengthwise line for setting out the bushes 
can be furrowed out with the plow, and 
the crosswise line made by a chain, or 
a rope with a weight of some kind at¬ 
tached. The intersecting lines are the 
points for planting. The old method, in 
use many years ago, of setting out the 
bushes was to have the rows five feet 
apart, and the bushes four feet apart in 
the row. This I do not consider a feasi¬ 
ble plan, for the bushes make a wide 
spread, and it is impossible to get a 
cultivator through after the crop begins 
to form. Ours are planted 7% feet 
between the rows and two feet in the 
row. and our cultivator plies among 
them from the time the ground opens 
up in the Spring until late Fall, as often 
as necessary to keep the weeds down, 
and in a dry season the cultivator does 
much to keep the ground from drying 
out badly. The bushes should be pur¬ 
chased from a reliable source, and set 
out m the late Fall or early Spring. 
1 hey should not be fertilized too heavily 
at first, as the bush would tend more 
to a growth of wood than to the pro- 
auction of fruit. A light coating of 
fertilizer spread broadcast and plowed 
m will be enough once a year until the 
fnnt appears in plenty, when the bush 
wifi need more nourishment. 
1 't is the intention to grow bushes 
from cuttings, these should be taken 
from the bushes in the Fall, and either 
heeled in or planted out. For Spring 
\\ark they can be planted as soon as 
t u- ground can be worked in good shape. 
"or rail planting the bushes should be 
su the latter part of September, and will 
ien have time to callus over and make 
some root before the cold weather sets 
m. Fare should be taken not to plant 
the cuttings on ground that will heave 
with the frost. There are some varieties 
ot cm rant bushes that will not stand 
pruning very much. The dead wood 
should be cut out each year. Other 
Nineties do better by heading back the 
}oung wood Experience will have to 
.each just how to treat each variety, 
l here are several insect pests that have 
to be fought strenuously in order to 
THtC RUHAb NEW-VORKER 
keep the currant bushes from dying out. 
For years nothing seemed to trouble 
them. Then came the currant worm, 
and we still have it with us. It makes 
its first appearance after the leaves are 
well formed, coming sometimes earlier 
and sometimes later, acording to the 
forwardness of the season. The second 
invasion comes about June 17 in this 
vicinity. We have had little trouble 
from the currant worm in late years, 
for we feel we have found a pretty good 
way to put it out of existence each time 
it appears. We use dry Paris green and 
put it on with a Leggett gun. We work 
with the wind, and put on just enough 
barely to see it coming from the gun. 
Too much will burn the leaves, and one 
of the most essential points is to have 
the bushes absolutely dry. The newest 
pest is a striped fly which appears just 
before the fruit is fully ripe, attacking 
the leaves at the top of the bushes, 
and when their work is done the bushes 
look as if their tops had been seared by 
fire. The creature? suck their susten¬ 
ance from the leaves instead of eating 
them, and so far we have found nothing 
that will kill them. I know nothing as 
yet of their mode of life. Just how far 
they are going to injure the bushes can¬ 
not yet be foretold, for we have noticed 
them only the last three or four years. 
They check the new growth, and may 
yet do lasting injury. Another bad pest 
is the currant borer. It bores into the 
wood, making inroad enough so the 
branches break off. We shall have to 
try some experiments to see what we 
can do to get rid of. it, as we have 
had little experience with treatment for 
this pest. 
The San Jose scale has come to be a 
matter of fact. I* or some years we did 
not realize we had it on our bushes. 
They -were not there in very large num¬ 
bers, but kept increasing each year, 
until we finally woke up to the fact'that 
they were a serious menace. Such thej 
proved to be, for they got such head¬ 
way that in order to destroy the scale, 
the bushes had to be uprooted and 
burned. Fully one-half of our bushes 
we had to treat in this way, and the 
other half I have no doubt we can 
keep by giving them constant attention. 
We give the bushes two sprayings in 
the year, one in the late Fall, which 
should kill all the young scales, and 
another in the Spring to get any that 
should, happen to be left and survive 
the \\ inter. The cost is small, and the 
bushes seem to make a good healthy 
growth under this treatment. We use 
oil for spraying for the San Jose 
scale entirely, getting a good tested 
product, and using at a proportion of 
oil and water recommended by the man¬ 
ufacturer. Of course several inferior pro¬ 
ducts are put upon the market and care 
must be taken to get only the best, or 
much harm will result. Still another 
pest is the tree aphis. The lice are on 
the under side of the leaves, and the 
trouble comes not so much from the 
harm they can do by feeding as from 
the "honey dew” they secrete. The 
rains wash this over fruit, leaves and 
bush and it makes a sticky, black sub¬ 
stance that spoils the sale of the fruit. 
I* oi this we use same oil spray, using a 
much larger proportion of water, for if 
used in the same proportion as when 
treating for San Jose scale, when the 
bush is in a dormant state, the leaves 
would be badly burned. The aphis be¬ 
ing on the under side of the leaf, care 
must be taken that the spray touches 
them This method for treating aphis 
has been used only a season or two, 
but so far as we were able to tell, it 
has been successful. This seems like 
a long array of trouble with insect pests, 
but if proper care is used in treatment 
for them, it should not present too 
formidable a one to be successfully 
combated, with the possible exception of 
the striped fly and borer. I do not feel 
quite certain yet just what can be ex¬ 
pected from those quarters. 
We have usually grown from 50,000 
to 60,000 quarts of currants each sea¬ 
son, but owing to our having to destroy 
the bushes entirely in the badly infested 
spots, we had less than 30,000 last year. 
We rre not discouraged, however, for we 
.n , secured abou t 10,000 cuttings, and 
shall hope soon to have as good a show¬ 
ing as ever. Where a good market is 
close at hand it would pay to grow a 
small quantity of black currants. They 
usually bring a high price, although the 
demand is limited. The cost of labor 
for gathering a currant crop is not 
They are usually picked by 
children of the neighborhood, who are 
glad to make a little extra money in 
this way. I have had no experience in 
the raising of raspberries, and we raise 
but few strawberries comparatively, but 
of the three fruits, I should consider 
the currants the most profitable, owing 
to the more perishable nature of the 
other two fruits, richard hittinger. 
PEARS AND APPLES TOGETHER. 
There was a question on page 25 about 
planting apples and Kieffer pears 20 feet 
apart. What I say, of course, refers to this 
locality. Our soil is clay and gravel, below 
the top soil, and trees grow large here. I 
planted an orchard 30 years ago and read 
everything I could find about orchards. The 
advice I got was cultivate, fertilize. I 
wanted that orchard to pay, I had planted it 
30 feet apart for the apples, with fillers of 
pear and quince with a few cherries both 
ways, I grew various kinds of truck between 
the rows, manuring well, allowing for the 
good of the trees that were coming on. The 
trees grew finely, I got two crops of fine 
apples, then the roots got out to the middle 
of the rows and those trees started for the 
moon. Of the fillers some of them gave 
two or three light crops and some had to he 
cut away without bearing at all. I then 
put away all my book knowledge, put the 
orchard in grass and mowed two years, then 
pastured it with hogs. But the ruin was 
done, I got apples again when I had time to 
gather them from the top of a 16-foot lad¬ 
der. As my trees bore on the same years 
that others did, common apples were plenty 
in our market, and all the fine highly-colored 
apples that would sell, were above 16 feet 
high, and the number of hogs I could make 
pay for their keep at other times made no 
perceptible mark on the apples on the ground. 
There is an old orchard near here with a 
block of Winter Grixons in it that must be 
50 or 60 feet high, and they bear well too, but 
the fruit is too high to be gathered, and is 
ruined in falling. Another orchard on a 
side hill where a very thin soil overlays the 
gravel has made low spreading tx-ees, has 
borne well and the fruit is easy to gather. 
Apple trees should not be closer than 40 
feet here, so they will spread out, for they 
will surely go up, if they need to do it to 
get light. If those apple trees are early 
bearing varieties like the Yellow Transpar¬ 
ent, it would pay to let them go as they 
are and watch for the first sign of crowding 
and then cut them out to 40 feet apart both 
ways, but if they are in good ground and 
tilled, they would give the owner much 
more satisfaction if they were taken out 
this Spring to 40 feet apart, I should let the 
Kieffer pears stay as they are, and keep the 
tops cut off, as they too, will gxmw out of 
a ^dder, but they will bear well at 
-0 feet apart and when they crowd it will 
g®. U, m ® enough to thin them out. The finest 
Kletters are grown on the poorest land here 
On orchards that have become crowded and 
very tall, there will be a few fine specimens 
in the top, but the main crop will be much 
inferior in size and color. I have known 
40 bushels of apples to be picked from one 
apple-tree that had room to spread and so 
throw a great many bearing buds against 
rn ?V A. E. R. 
Delaware. 
SI 3 
DAILY 
OUTPUT 
17.500 
BBLS. 
YEARLY 
OUTPUT 
OVER 
6 ,000,000 
ALPHA 
PORTLAND CEMENT 
is absolutely the best that can be made 
for all farm work. Largely used by 
U. S. Government and in State, Munici¬ 
pal and Railroad work—a reputation of 
20 years behind it. Ask your dealer for 
ALPHA 
Send for Booklet and learn why it is the best. 
ALPHA PORTLAND CEMENT GO., 
ADDRESS 
2 Center Square, EASTON, PA. 
7 machines in i 
JTOOl CA,NO< 2 H* 
TRY IT FREE 
7 machines in one. Handiest 
tool on the farm. Has 7 Car¬ 
borundum (Diamond) srrindinz 
wheels. Takes rust off tools and 
sharpens them 25 times faster than 
sand-stone. 8 times as efficient as 
emery. Does not draw temper. High 
speed and easy running. Write for 
free trial. Positively no money down. 
Send postal for free booklet today 
HARMAN SUPPLY CO. 
loOHamsonSt., Dept. 3583 Chicago. 
SLATE 
The Maximum Life 
of other material is but 
THt IISIF/ilSIC V OF 
Made by nature and by nature perfect. Nature 
“erfe^tM take8 ‘ ThiS 18 WHY th0 
SHELDON ’ S W Purple 
ROOFING SLATE 
places the imitations of man beyond consid¬ 
eration. Sheldon’s Slate will NEVER wear 
put. Cheaper than any other material in exis¬ 
tence. Saves you many times their cost in 
stopping all Roof troubles and expense forever. 
It s the ONLY material you can AFFORD to 
consider Write today for our FREE booklet. 
It tells the whole story. 
F. C. SHELDON SLATE CO., 
Main Street, Granville, /V. V. 
LET ME START YOU IN BUSINESS ! 
I™*! hirnish the advertising matter and the plans. I 
"A 1 °“® sincere, earnest man in every town and town- 
i JSk.J j"'? 1 ' 8 ’ Mechanics, Builders, Small Businessman. 
Anyone anxious to improve his condition. Address 
COMMERCIAL DEMOCRACY, Dept. 0-35, Elyria, Ohio. 
\ 
r Get 
bigger ^ 
r profits from’V 
your farm and^k h 
garden If 
Planet Jr 'Pools are the 
greatest crop-producing helps 
r y° u can have on your farm or in , 
r your garden. They often do the work , 
r °J s ' x men —effect a saving of time, labor, ^ 
, an T money from the start, and do such thorough 
cultivation that you get an increased yield. 
Planet Jr Implements are the strongest and last the longest of 
any implements made. They were designed- by a practical 
farmer who studied his own garden needs, and used his skill and 
energy to supply them. His neighbors’ needs proved just as great, 
and now he makes Planet Jr Tools for over two million farmers 
and gardeners. Every Planet Jr is fully guaranteed. 
H If . Th f newest Planet Jr Combination Hill and Drill Seeder, Wheel 
Hoe, Cultivator and Plow, opens the furrow, sows any kind of garden seed 
accurately m drills or hills, covers, rolls down, and marks out the nfxt row-all 
at one operation. Also a perfect Wheel-Hoe, Cultivator and Plow. 
No. 12 Planet Jr Double Wheel-Hoe, Cultivator and Plow is the 
handiest implement ever made for truckers and gardeners. All cultivating parts 
aie of high-carbon steel to keep keen edge. Specially designed to work extremely 
close to plants without injury. Does away with hand-weeding. 
N n, W Catalogue Free The 1910 illustrated _ 
1 lanet ft C atalogue must be seen by every farmer and A 
gardener who wants to “keep up with the times.” 
Its 56 pages describe 55 Planet Jr implements ^r^ 
a tool for every kind of farm and garden 
cultivation. It is absolutely free if you . 
fill out the coupon, cut off, and 
enclose in envelope or paste 
on postal, and mail it W v 
to us. Don’t miss it. <. 
Do it now. ^T/V 
S L Allen & Co , rO A 
Box V-II07 M 
Philada ° * 
Pa 
/ 
V 
