.J  anu  ary  17,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
61 
by  4  feet  to  allow  of  cropping  between  the  lines,  in  good  rich  soil ;  for 
Currants,  be  it  remembered,  require  a  considerable  quantity  of  manure 
to  grow  them  well.  In  February  prune  the  shoots  down  to  about 
3  inches;  then,  in  the  following  spring,  select  four  or  five  of  the  shoots 
cutting  all  the  shoots  back,  excepting  those  forming  the  framework 
of  the  bush  (and  these  to  6  or  7  inches),  to  within  an  inch  or  so  of 
their  base  ;  no  matter  how  many  or  how  strong  and  fine  they  may 
be,  off  they  must  come,  the  height  which  Currant  bushes  are  allowed 
CURRANTS  RED  AND  WHITE. 
which  will  give  to  the  bush  the  most  natural  cup-like  form,  and  reduce 
their  length  to  about  6  inches,  these  shoots  being  intended  to  form  the 
permanent  bush.  All  the  other  shoots  should  be  cut  in  to  within  an 
inch  of  their  base,  where  the  fruit  will  be  borne  in  clusters. 
The  following  season  in  pruning  pursue  exactly  the  same  practice, 
to  attain  being  about  4  feet.  This  pruning,  cutting,  and  slashing  in  a 
field  of  Red  Currants  seems  sad  havoc  and  destruction  to  the  uninitiated ; 
the  ground  is  stx-ewn  with  wood  and  shoots,  more  than  half  of  the  plants 
being  out  away — all  the  fine  young  shoots,  indeed — and  nothing  left  but 
four  or  five  gnarled,  knotty,  and  very  ugly  stems  from  which  to  obtain 
