February  24,  1898 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTTGULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
than  to  the  extension  of  itself.”  A  very  common  simile  recognised  by 
earlier  students  of  nature  was  that  pertaining  to  seeds  of  plants  and 
eggs  of  animals,  including  the  reptilia  and  fishes,  as  well  as  of  birds. 
One  great  difference  undoubtedly  obtains  in  the  generally  accepted 
dictum,  that  the  seed  can  only  he  formed  subsequently  to  the  action 
of  fertilisation,  whereas  egg  production  is  not  dependent  upon  that. 
One  can  hardly  touch  upon  such  phases  of  our  subject  without 
being  tempted  to  inquire  further  into  matters  so  fascinating,  yet  a  little 
aside,  perhaps,  of  our  present  purpose.  In  allusion,  however,  to  that 
interdependence  previously  noticed,  we  have,  I  think,  in  parasitic  life 
another  phase  of  similarity  not  to  be  overlooked.  Apart  from  all 
considerations  of  insect  life  infesting  plants,  partly  or  wholly  dependent 
upon  them  at  some  stage  of  their  existence,  there  are  those  jiarasitic 
vegetables,  including  fungoid  organisms,  which  to  their  hosts  are  the 
detrimentals  of  society.  Here  we  have  great  robbers  and  little  rogues 
of  more  insidious  habits,  which  in  their  independence  and  manners  of 
living  are  very  similar  to  that  unenviable  state  of  life  among  certain 
of  the  insectivora  revealed  by  the  magnifying  lens,  and  dt  scribed  as 
follows : — 
“Big  fleas  have  little  fleas  upon  their  backs  to  bite  ’em. 
And  little  fleas  have  lesser  fleas,  and  so  ad  inflnilum.” 
But  it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  go  farther,  possible  though  it 
is  to  bring  forward  a  vast  mass  of  evidence  in  support  of  that  similarity 
exisling  between  the  two  great  kingdoms  of  life. 
We  are,  as  1  said,  apt  to  place  in  juxtaposition  the  highest  forms  of 
animal  li'e,  and  see  nothing  but  a  great  barrier,  so  dismissing  the 
matter  as  of  no  utility  to  practical  workers  in  the  great  field  of  Nature. 
Whereas,  the  farther  we  look,  and  the  more  profoundly  we  investigate, 
that  barrier  dwindles  away  into  dim  prospective,  to  the  very  germ  of 
life  itself ;  to  where,  indeed,  arises  the  great  barrier,  the  veil  of 
creation,  which  mortal  vision  may  not  penetrate.  ’Tis  given  us, 
however, 
“To  trace  in  Nature’s  most  minute  design, 
The  signature  and  stamp  of  power  divine.’’ 
And  we  can  hardly  do  so,  I  think,  without  mutual  advantage  to 
ourselves  and  the  labour  we  love.  Extended  as  our  jiowers  may  be, 
and  great  as  is  the  power  bestowed  “  to  have  dominion,”  the  greatest 
wielders  of  it  in  the  field  of  science  have  utterly  failed  when  attempting 
to  measure  the  infinite  by  the  finite  of  human  understanding.  They 
have  told  us  that  life  cannot  exist  upon  certain  planets  because 
certain  conditions,  regarded  as  essential  to  it,  are  absent ;  just  as  a 
superficial  reasoning  says  there  can  be  no  relationship  between  the  two 
kingdoms  of  life,  whose  very  existence  is  interdependent.  From  the 
former  notion  we  can  hardly  hope  to  escape,  being  of  the  earth  earthy  ; 
but  as  students  of  Nature  it  is  given  us  to  take  occasion  by  the 
hand,  and  make  the  bounds  of  freedom  wider  yet. 
In  conclusion,  one  fact  remains  to  be  faced  in  the  pre-supposed 
question  I  have  to  answer — viz..  What  practical  ends  are  served  by 
bringing  this  subject  before  men  who  are  so  essentially  practical? 
Emerson  speaks  so  pointedly  in  answer  to  this  that  he  is  all-sufficient 
to  act  as  deputy,  expressing  clearly  what  is  felt  to  be  the  truth  of  the 
whole  matter.  He  says,  “All  our  science  lacks  a  human  side.  .  .  , 
Buds  and  stamens,  and  spores,  on  which  we  lavish  so  many  years,  are 
not  finalities ;  and  man,  when  his  powers  unfold  in  order,  will  take 
Nature  along  with  him,  and  .emit  light  into  all  her  recesses.”  Then, 
and  then  only,  I  venture  to  add,  shall  we  attain  to  the  highest  results; 
then  will  the  triumph  of  mind  over  matter  be  complete. — Tnvicta. 
THE  BLACK  CURRANT. 
{Concluded  from  page  96.) 
One  point  in  connection  with  the  variations  in  the  Black  Currant 
is  worth  attention,  and  that  is  in  regard  to  raising  them  from  seed. 
By  careful  and  continued  selection  a  greatly  improved  race  of  varieties 
could  be  obtained ;  and  some,  perhaps,  that  would  be  less  liable  to 
the  attacks  of  the  most  troublesome  pest — the  bud-mite.  The  seed¬ 
lings  are  exceptionally  vigorous,  in  three  years  are  large  enough  for 
transplanting,  and  will  produce  sufficient  fruit  to  determine  their 
merits.  The  seeds  can  he  raised  in  pots  in  a  cool  house  or  frame,  or 
they  may  be  sown  out  of  doors,  but  the  former  method  is  preferable. 
A  few  words  will  suffice  respecting  cultivation,  for  almost  any 
fertile  soil  that  is  not  too  dry  suits  the  Black  Currant,  and  they  will 
thrive  in  much  wetter  situations  than  Gooseberries  or  Bed  Currants.  To 
insure  the  best  results  they  require  liberal  treatment  as  regards 
manures,  and  I  have  found  nothing  better  than  a  dressing  of  well 
decomposed  farmyard  manure,  and  a  sprinkling  of  superphosphate  of 
lime  and  kainit,  the  first  at  the  rate  of  20  tons  to  the  acre,  the 
chemical  manures  at  3  cwt.  and  2  cwt.  respectively  in  the  order  named. 
It  is  quite  as  essential  to  avoid  digging  close  to  Black  Currants  as  it 
is  with  Raspberries,  for  the  roots  extend  a  considerable  distance  and 
often  near  the  surface,  I  have  found  vigorous  roots  two  years  after 
1615 
planting  radiating  3  feet  from  the  stem,  thus  covering  an  area  6  feet 
in  diameter  for  each  bush.  I’he  addition  of  the  chemical  manures  I 
have  found  to  have  a  beneficial  effect  even  in  smaller  quantities  than 
those  named,  and  applied  in  alternate  years. 
The  great  recommendation  of  the  Black  Currant  has  been  its 
freedom  from  diseases  and  insect  enemies,  but  its  value  has  been 
lessened  in  these  respects  greatly  within  recent  years.  First,  there  is 
the  tendency  to  the  loss  of  large  branches  quite  suddenly,  sometimes 
nearly  half  a  bush  dying  in  this  way;  and  this  has  been  generally 
attributed  to  impoverishment  of  the  soil,  to  which  cause  it  is,  perhaps 
partly  due.  But  there  is  another  cause,  and  that  is  traceable  to  the 
pruning,  for  close  examination  has  shown  in  almost  every  case  which 
has  come  under  my  observation  that  the  dead  portion  of  the  stem  was 
in  direct  communication  with  a  cut  branch  which  bad  died  back,  and 
either  the  decay  has  extended  from  this  into  one  of  the  main  stems  or 
a  fungus  has  helped  in  the  mischief.  It  often  ha))pens  that  the  whole 
bush  has  made  vigorous  growth,  and  there  is  nothing  to  indicate  there 
is  anything  wrong  until  the  season  of  growth  arrives  in  the  spring, 
when  the  buds  half  expand  and  wither.  As  far  as  I  have  observed, 
the  evil  is  avoided  to  some  extent  liy  cutting  old  branches  clean  out, 
as  the  older  wood  does  not  heal  readily,  and  in  other  cases  cutting 
close  to  a  good  bud  on  younger  wood  when  the  bush  is  being  formed. 
But  there  is  a  greater  evil  attending  the  Black  Currant  than  that 
described,  and  it  is  one  of  which  the  serious  nature  has  not  been 
generally  recognised,  though  the  mischief  is  extending  so  rapidly  that 
unless  some  efficient  means  of  checking  it  is  promptly  discovered  it 
will  destroy  the  whole  trade  in  this  fruit.  I  allude  to  the  Currant 
bud  mite,  which  causes  the  swollen  buds,  too  readily  detected  in 
hundreds  of  ])lantations  at  the  present  time,  and  which  has  been 
repeatedly  described  and  illustrated  in  periodicals  and  books,  but 
without  any  preventives  or  effectual  remedies  being  recorded. 
The  first  notice  of  this  pest  known  to  me  occurs  in  the  Journal 
of  Horticulture  correspondence  pages  in  .January,  1867,  where 
inquiries  are  answered  referring  to  its  appearing  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Glasgow  and  other  parts  of  Scotland.  Two  years  after  this  the 
Rev.  J.  M.  Berkeley  had  specimens  sent  to  him,  and  the  injury 
was  determined  to  be  due  to  the  presence  of'  a  mite,  a  species  of 
Phytoptus,  afterwards  described  by  Professor  Westwood  as  Phytoptiis 
ribis.  But  there  seems  to  be  some  variability  in  these  minute  peSts 
which  has  occasioned  much  discussion  as  to  their  true  nature.  The 
practical  aspect  of  the  matter  is  that  these  pests  attack  the  young- 
buds  in  their  earliest  stages,  certainly  the  effects  are  visible  in 
October  and  November,  they  feed  on  the  inner  scales  of  the  bud,  set 
up  an  abnormal  condition  resulting  in  a  swelling  of  the  tissue  until 
a  large  globular  bud  is  formed,  and  in  the  spring  these  do  not  open 
but  wither.  At  first  a  few  affected  buds  only  may  be  observed,  and 
this  is  the  time  to  adopt  remedial  measures,  the  first  means  being  the 
careful  removal  of  every  swollen  bud,  placing  them  in  some  vessH  for 
burning.  Then  if  the  bushes  are  thoroughly  and  repeatedly  dressed 
with  some  approved  and  penetrating  insecticide  the  damage  may  be 
checked  for  a  time.  But  I  have  never  yet  seen  a  plantation  com¬ 
pletely  cleared  by  any  other  method  than  cutting  the  bushes  down 
close  to  the  ground,  dressing  the  stumps,  and  watering  the  soil  with  a 
liquid  insecticide,  or  giving  a  dressing  of  lime,  afterwards  stimulating 
the  plants  to  vigorous  growth  by  heavy  dressings  of  manure. 
When  once  the  mite  has  a  firm  hold,  the  total  destruction  of  the 
bushes,  and  the  occupation  of  the  ground  with  another  crop  for  a 
year  or  two,  seems  to  be  the  only  means  of  dealing  with  it.  I  have 
seen  bushes  with  from  100  to  300  diseased  buds,  and  the  enormous 
number  of  mites  present  can  be  imagined  when  it  is  remembered  that 
they  measure  about  the  200th  part  of  an  inch  in  length,  and  every 
bud  contains  swarms  of  them.  As  to  the  time  when  the  bushes 
should  be  dealt  with,  1  would  suggest  spraying  before  the  buds  expand 
and  immediately  after  the  fruit  is  gathered,  for  it  appears  that 
the  increase  of  the  pest  fakes  place  from  February  onwards  through 
the  summer  months.  Miss  Ormerod  gives,  in  her  “  Manual  of 
Injurious  Insects,”  full  details  of  what  has  been  tried,  but  the 
Board  of  Agriculture  has  also  issued  a  leaflet  which  can  be  had  free 
on  application  to  the  Secretary,  4,  Whitehall  Place,  London. 
The  various  mixtures  that  have  been  tried,  and  recommended  for 
application  in  spring  and  late  summer,  are  the  following: — 
4  gallons  of  petroleum  and  Gibs,  softsoap  to  150  ga'lons  of  water; 
2  gallons  carbolic  acid  and  6  lbs.  softsoap  to  100  gallons  of  water ; 
2  lbs.  sulphur  and  3  lbs.  lime  boiled  in  3  gallons  of  water,  and  the 
plants  syringed  with  a  dilution  at  the  rate  of  3  pints  to  a  large  pail 
of  water ;  and  4  ozs.  suljffiuret  of  lime  and  2  ozs.  softsoap  to  a  gallon 
of  hot  water.  The  effects  are  varied  and  uncertain.  Tlie  difficulty, 
obviously,  is  to  find  something  that  will  penetrate  into  the  buds  and 
destroy  the  mite  without  injuring  the  bush,  and  the  mixtures  or  com¬ 
pounds  of  sulphur  seem  to  afford  the  best  chance  of  doing  this, 
especially  if  they  can  be  applied  in  a  form  that  will  adhere  to  the 
buds.  The  matter  is,  however,  so  important  that  some  organised 
system  of  dealing  with  the  jiest  should  be  decided  upon  generally. — 
Fruit  Grower.  ’ 
