82 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
never allowed to .shine on the pots. The H. cucullata 
does not strike readily from cuttings, but grafts well on 
any of the freely growing species. It may be raised also 
from imported seed. 
THE ERUIT-GAKDEN. 
Trellises. —If we were called on to give a sound 
definition of what constitutes a trellis, we should ap¬ 
proach the subject with a very measured step. Having, 
however, a desire to show how things of this character 
may become matters of great service to many of our 
fruits, it may be well to observe, that by trellises, or 
treillages, according to some of our old authors, is meant 
any material whether wood or iron, or anything else, 
which supports in an artistic Way, anything belonging 
to the vegetable kingdom which may be trained thereon. 
Position, therefore, is nothing here; it may be hori¬ 
zontal, or, what we shall hereafter have to term, table 
trellis. It may be of the saddle form, or an incline ; or it 
may be some other form; for instance, an arcade over 
head. 
This much premised, tire object in view may be pro¬ 
ceeded with. It is well known to the readers of this 
work, that gooseberry trellises were recently dwelt on; 
and it is a pleasure to find that this homely old English 
fruit has still many a patron, as evinced by some letters 
and queries lately received, applauding the plan des¬ 
cribed atp. 391, Vol. iv. Amongst the rest, our coadjutor, 
Mr. Beaton, in his funny discourse about the tubs, gave 
the “ one cheer more” for our homely gooseberry. 
Thus invigorated, then, we proceed to point to some 
other fruits which deserve trellis culture; and to com¬ 
mence, we will take the currant as “ grouping well” with 
the subject—to use a painter's phrase. To expatiate on 
the utility of the red and white currant, whether for the 
dessert, or, what is perhaps of more importance, for 
tarts, ices, or other confectionary matters, and to at¬ 
tempt to show how necessary it is to endeavour to 
secure as long a season of them as possible, would, in¬ 
deed, be a mere waste of paper. They are frequently 
used with the raspberry, and we shall shortly show how 
families may receive a constant supply of both, with the 
greatest facility, from Midsummer until the middle of 
November, or nearly so; and, we think, after five months 
service, the bushes may very fairly be permitted to go to 
rest. 
It will be remembered that a kind of double trellis was 
recommended for the gooseberries; this, however, will 
not be quite the thing for the currant. Before proceed¬ 
ing farther, let us remark, that we are now speaking of the 
red and white currants only : the black will neither need 
nor deserve a trellis ; not on account of any inferiority 
as to useful purposes, but because the fruit cannot be 
made, by any scheme with which we are acquainted, to 
hang on the bush after becoming fully ripe; therefore, 
any experiment in the way of prolonging its season must 
proceed chiefly on the retarding principle, before they 
change for ripening. We have to propose, therefore, a 
trellis composed principally of perpendicular rods, on 
which alone the currants should be trained. Such may 
be put up exceedingly cheap, for we have miles of it in 
our neighbourhood, as ordinary cattle and sheep fence; 
but in these cases the wires are horizontal. Of course 
a stronger connecting rod would be necessary at top and 
bottom; and this would have to be strained to well-fixed 
posts, capable of withstanding a great amount of tension. 
The perpendicular rods need not be nearer than one foot 
apart; indeed, perhaps no better distance could be de¬ 
vised ; and at the bottom of every upright we would 
plant a young bush, or even a strong cutting. Now 
some persons will think them too near, —that they will 
rob each other, and so forth; but there need be no fear of 
[November 7. 
this. It must be borne in mind, that the amount of soil 
requisite for any given plant is principally ruled by the 
volume of leaves and shoots which the tree is permitted 
to retain ; and as the trellis we propose is not above five 
feet, or thereabouts, in height, each plant would be sub¬ 
jected to a rather severe confinement; indeed we sug- | 
gest this on principle, in order to increase the size of the 
fruit. 
Deeming it necessary to give some information con¬ 
cerning this strained wire trellis, we will say something ; 
in the sequel about price, mode of fixing, &c.; in the | 
meantime we will suppose that the ground requires pre- | 
paration, which, indeed, in all trellising matters would 
be best performed before the trellis is put down; care 
being taken that the trellis-fixers place their feet on 
boards during the operation, or the whole proceeding j 
may be nullified. 
Soil. —For the white and red currant, then, the ground ! 
must be of a mellow character, and from 18 to 24 [ 
inches deep. An upland sandy loam, or indeed any j 
ordinary free garden soil, will grow them pretty well; 
but it may be observed, that in order to preserve them 
long on the tree, a soil which preserves a steady mois¬ 
ture, yet free from all stagnation, is of great service. 
Wherever, therefore, stagnation exists, or the ground is 
very adhesive, it must certainly be drained; and if some 
fresh maiden soil cannot be obtained to incorporate with 
the existing soil, the usual ameliorators must be freely 
introduced—such as rotten leaves, mellowed pond mud, 
the bottom of the rubbish or weed heaps that have be¬ 
come almost mouldy with age, or indeed any vegetable 
matter; for the currant is very partial to humus of every 
kind, or any dark soil of a soft and mellow character, and 
fine in texture. Of course, in ameliorating a given plot 
of ground for them, if too adhesive, recourse must be had 
to the usual mechanical corrections, such as sand, charred 
material, lime-rubbish, &c. Our friends must not deem 
us too tedious in thus prescribing for the currant, for 
although it may be grown in tolerable perfection on most 
soils, yet we would have those on trellises first-rate, both 
as to produce, size, and flavour. 
We would, in preparing the ground, allow six feet in 
width for the prepared bed ; this will give three feet of 
prepared soil on each side the trellis. Now, we are 
aware that this will be a somewhat inconvenient dis¬ 
tance for ladies or gentlemen who carry out personally 
the manipulations necessary; but we may observe, that 
after the ground has fairly settled there can be no 
objection whatever to forming a gravel-walk, or a pro¬ 
menade of grass, to within two feet of their stems, 
which two feet must be held, according to our doctrine, 
inviolable, inasmuch as we shall recommend an annual 
top-dressing, by system, in order to encourage abundance 
of surface fibres. The beneficial action of such is at 
this day undoubted ; and when time serves we shall 
show their exact use and their immense importance. 
Currant Trellis. —These things carried out, we come 
to the fixing of the trellis, and the kind of plants, with 
their character. Strong oak posts, charred, being firmly 
planted at each extremity in the centre of the prepared 
soil, so as to be incapable of swerving, intermediate 
posts (which may be of larch) must be introduced at 
about every six feet. Three horizontal courses of strong 
wire rod will now bo necessary in order to brace the 
whole together, and to fasten the upright wires to. 
These rods should be stout, for on them will much of the 
security of the work depend. One wire at or near the 
top, another near the bottom, and a third midway will 
suffice; and to these, as before observed, upright rods 
of about half the thickness of the horizontal ones may 
be carried at about one foot apart. These rods or wires 
must all be stretched tight, and made perfectly fast at 
their ends; for no slipping or movement must be per¬ 
mitted. 
