I 
June 20. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
231 
anything under that name, answering to the description 
of what we knew of the old Dwarf Marrow. That 
which is now grown under that name is a robust 
grower, from five to six feet high, and always with a 
simple stem. The pods begin to be produced at about 
three feet from tlio ground, and are continued at every 
successive joint to the summit, numbering, in all, about 
twelve on each plant. The pods are always single, rarely 
in pairs, about three-inches-and-a-half long, and three- 
quarters-of-an-inch broad, slightly curved on the upper 
side, somewhat flat, and closely filled, and containing, 
on an average, seven large peas. 
The seed was sown on the 5th of April; the plants 
bloomed on the 22nd of June; and on the 13th of July 
the pods were ready to be gathered. 
Though a good Pea, it is now far surpassed by many 
others which are in use at the same season, and may, 
therefore, be dispensed with. R. H. 
(To lie continued.) 
BUSI-I FRUITS IN GENERAL. 
Under this heading I would place the Black Currant, 
Red and White Currant, the Raspberry, and the Goose¬ 
berry ; these are the principal. I cannot hope to tell 
any very “ strango things” about them, but merely to 
throw a little light on their habits, as revealed farther 
than usual by the odd season we have undergone. I 
suppose, from the accounts which have come to hand 
from almost the four cardinal points, that three-fourths 
of the Black Currants over the kingdom have suffered 
in an unusual degree from the evil termed, in common 
language, “ blight.” 
The lumping term, blight, is not perfectly satisfac¬ 
tory in the present state of horticultural lore; people 
want a definite idea of what it really is, and from such 
a knowledge, as the only sure basis, to raise up some 
antagonism, if possible, against its recurrence. I do 
not, however, perceive anything of a very mysterious 
character in those Brack Currants I have inspected; 
they are thoroughly infested with that class of Aphides 
which usually attack this shrub more or less; only, 
during the month of May, this year, in a most unusual 
degree. The fact is, that no fruit-tree suffers more 
from drought than this, more especially if the drought 
commence just when the greatest draw takes place on 
the energies of the bush, which is when the crop begins 
to be real berries. 
I have watched the Black Currant closely for many 
years, not simply because it is a Currant, but because I 
have always felt a strong desire to ascertain, for myself, 
the peculiar habits of fruit-trees; for it may almost be 
affirmed that every tree we cultivate has a peculiarity of 
this kind, albeit, most other points in common. I find 
that this Currant will bear almost any depth of mulch¬ 
ing, and since almost anything containing and giving 
out moisture as a medium will prove of service, and 
that the root of the Black Currant likes to be cool, why 
it follows that an extreme drought in spring may be 
overcome by a provision of the kind. I, this spring, 
piled a heap of half-rotten weeds, nine inches in depth, 
round a bush, and I was much gratified through the 
spring to find this bush looking more vigorous than 
all the rest of the row; the fruit, too, is healthier and 
greener, and the whole bush shows plain symptoms of 
approval of this course. I have before observed in this 
work, that the Black Currant shows, at all times, a 
marked disposition to root upwards; I know of no fruit- 
tree like it in this respect. Irrigation would bo the 
thing for this bush; but although so useful a fruit, few 
care to push its culture so far. Indeed, without a steady 
degree of moisture at the root there can be no certainty 
in the crop. 
As to Red and White Currants, I do not know how 
it fares with the country in general, but we have a most 
splendid crop, and the character of the bushes at onco 
poiuts unmistakably to the fact of a past season of 
drought; lor although here exceedingly liable to make 
breast-wood which requires dubbing, yet this year they 
need nothing of the kind. The fact is, they in the main 
enjoy that condition of air and soil which is injurious 
to the Black Currant. The Aphides have been at a 
minimum point with these, and they look delightfully, 
i I hose who have bushes overcharged with growing 
breast-wood should set the dubbing shears to work, 
removing all but about four inches of the base ; or, in 
I other words, leaving a3 much foliage as will allow the 
sun to peep at the branches, but not to shine on them. 
The Raspberry.— Those who have studied this use¬ 
ful fruit in the woods, growing wild, will have perceived 
much identity of habit between it and the Black Cur¬ 
rant. It grows wild in the woods here; and at the very 
back of my cottage is a wood, the soil of winch is black 
and peaty—in fact, rotten sphagnum and the coarser 
grasses, which delight in a moist soil; and here I have 
known the wild Raspberry to throw up canes seven or 
eight feet in height. At the same time, it is fair to state, 
that I have never known fruit produced fit for the 
table. Now, this wood is a continuous shade, and the 
application of the fact is this: that the soil, at least,-is 
congenial; all that is wanting is moro light. But if 
i the Raspberry can endure and enjoy such a damp soil 
! without sunshine, and with, by consequence, a minimum 
! amount of elaboration, how much more is moisture at 
i the root necessary when they are under high culture, and 
exposed to all sunshine? Watering, then, is requisite 
; to this bush, although seldom practised; and many of 
the failures of which we hear are attributable to drought, 
I more than the kind of soil they are growing in. But 
; mulching is here of much importance, especially if the 
soil is not qualified to retain a permanency of moisture. 
As with the Black Currant, almost anything will be 
better than nothing; coarse weeds, the grass from lawns, 
pond weeds, &c., may all be blended; and I recommend 
what I am constantly practising, that these materials 
receivo a kind of charring process to destroy all seeds, 
which otherwise causo unnecessary labour in the end. 
We kindle a good fire of brushwood, hedge-dubbings, 
&c., and when we get a good heap of red-hot material— 
say a small cartload in bulk—we pile the accumulated 
mass of weeds, &c., over the fire, and immediately soil 
it over nearly six inches in thickness. We have a mass 
of this kind within fifty yards of where I write, which 
has been smouldering for a fortnight; it will now be 
broken up, and the weed-casing will come out reeking 
like woollen rags out of a cauldron. The charred weeds 
at the bottom we riddle, and use as drainage to plants, 
and the remainder, weeds, ashes, &c., will be reserved 
for seed-beds, or to work up in planting the Brocoli 
tribes to check their clubbing. 
Those who expect fine crops in the ensuing year 
must take care to thin the suckers now, leaving only 
from four to five to each. Nurserymen who have a new 
kind, which they are selling at five pounds the hundred, 
are justified in leaving a score or two of suckers to a 
stool; but we shall not find our exhibition men thus 
dealing with this or any other fruit. A grain of com¬ 
mon sense, or fair consideration, will show any one that 
twelve suckers will detract more from a given volume 
of soil than five or six; and that, too, from a point 
whence the fruiting shoots must derive their nourish¬ 
ment. 
