Pruning naturally leads to the subject of propagation, for much of that which is cut away, so far from being useless, is often of great value to the nurseryman; and there are few who grow this fruit for market who could not turn many an honest penny if they would take the refuse young wood of the previous summer's growth and develop it into salable bushes. In most instances a market would be found in their own neighborhood. Nothing is easier than success in raising young currant bushes, except failure. If cuttings are treated in accordance with their demand for moisture and coolness, they grow with almost certainty; if subjected to heat and drought, they usually soon become dry sticks. The very best course is to make and plant our cuttings in September or very early in October—just as soon as the leaves fall or will rub off readily. As is true of a root-slip, so also the wood cutting must make a callus at its base before there can be growth. From this the roots start out. Therefore, the earlier in the fall that cuttings are made, the more time for the formation of this callus. Often, autumn-planted cuttings are well rooted before winter, and have just that much start over those that must begin life in the spring. Six inches is the average length. See Figures A, B and C. Let the cuttings be sunk in deep, rich, moist, but thoroughly well-drained soil, so deeply as to leave but two or three buds above the ground. In the garden, where the design is to raise a few fine bushes for home use merely, let the rows be two feet apart and the cuttings six inches apart in the row. In raising them by the thousand for market, we must economize space and labor; and therefore one of the best methods, after rendering the ground mellow and smooth, is to stretch a line across the plat or field; then, beginning on one side of the line, to strike a spade into the soil its full depth, press it forward and draw it out. This leaves a slight opening, of the width and depth of the spade, and a boy following inserts in this three cuttings, one in the middle and one at each end. The man then steps back and drives the spade down again about four inches in the rear of the first opening, and, as he presses his spade forward to make a second, he closes up the first opening, pressing—indeed, almost pinching—the earth around the three slips that have just been thrust down, until but one or two buds are above the surface. We thus have a row of cuttings, three abreast, and about three inches apart, across the entire field. A space of three feet is left for cultivation, and then we plant, as before, another triple row. These thick rows should be taken up the following fall, when the largest may be sold; or planted where they are to fruit, and the smaller ones replanted in nursery rows. When land is abundant the cuttings may be sunk in single rows, with sufficient space between for horse cultivation, and allowed to mature into two-year-old plants without removal. If these are not planted or sold, they should be cut back rigorously before making the third year's growth.

[Illustration: CURRANT CUTTINGS AND CALLUS]

In moist land, cuttings can be made to grow even if set out late in the spring, especially if top-dressed and mulched; but if they are to be started on high, dry land, they should be out sufficiently early in the autumn to become rooted before winter. If our land is of a nature that tends to throw roots out of the ground—and moist, heavy land has this tendency—it may be best to bury the cuttings in bundles, tied up with fine wire, on a dry knoll, below the action of the frost, and set them out early—as early as possible—in the spring. At any season the rows of cuttings should be well top-dressed with fine manure, and if planted in autumn, they should be so well covered with straw, leaves, or some litter, as not to suffer or be thrown out in freezing and thawing weather. I manage to get half my cuttings out in the fall, and half in early spring.

In the greenhouse, and even out-of-doors, under very favorable circumstances, plants may be grown from single buds; and green wood also propagates readily under glass. A vigorous young plant, with roots attached, may often be obtained by breaking off the suckers that start beneath the surface around the stems; and, by layering or bending bushes over and throwing dirt upon them, new plants are readily made also; but more shapely, and usually more vigorous, bushes are obtained by simple cuttings, as I have described.

When it is designed to grow a cutting in a tree form, all the buds but two or three at the top should be carefully removed.

If we wish to try our fortune in raising new varieties, we must sow seeds of the very best specimens we can find, gathered when perfectly ripe. These seeds should never be kept where it is hot or very dry, and should be soaked for a day or two in tepid water before planting. Sow early in spring, quarter of an inch deep, in fine rich soil, which must continually be kept moist, but never wet. Top-dressings of very fine, light manure would keep the surface from baking, thus giving the seeds a chance to germinate. Tolerate no weeds. Remove the seedlings in the fall to rows three feet apart, and the plants two feet distant in the row. There they may stand until their comparative value can be determined.

VARIETIES

Black currants form quite a distinct class in appearance and flavor, and are not as popular with us as in England. They are stronger and coarser-growing plants than the red and white species, and do not require as high culture. They can be grown to advantage in tree form, as they are quite exempt from insect enemies. The tent caterpillar is the only one that I have seen injuring them. They also require much less pruning, since the best fruit is borne on the young wood of the previous year's growth. If they are grown as bushes, they need more room—six feet apart each way—and the knife need be used only to secure good form and space for air and light. Two native species—Ribes floridum and Ribes aureum—are cultivated to some extent (for description see "Gray's Botany"). Although these species and their varieties are of little value, Mr. Fuller thinks that they might become the parents of far better kinds than we now have, since they are strong growers, and their fruit is naturally of better flavor than that of the European black currant. Ribes aureum is largely cultivated as an ornamental shrub, and its spicy-scented, bright yellow flowers of early spring are among my pleasantest memories. As has already been explained, we can make miniature trees of our white and red currants, by grafting them on its strong, erect-growing stems. Ribes nigrum is the European species, and is found wild throughout the northern part of the Eastern Hemisphere. Mr. Fuller writes that the inhabitants of Siberia make a beverage from its dried leaves which is said closely to resemble green tea. Black Naples is the finest variety of this species. Charles Downing says of it: "Its berries often measure nearly three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Its leaves and blossoms appear earlier than those of the common, or English Black, but the fruit is later, and the clusters as well as the berries are larger and more numerous." Lee's Prolific is said by some to be a slight improvement on the above; by others it is thought to be very similar.

Of red currants, the old Red Dutch is the most prominent. It is the currant of memory. From it was made the wine which our mothers and grandmothers felt that they could offer with perfect propriety to the minister. There are rural homes to-day in which the impression still lingers that it is a kind of temperance drink. From it is usually made the currant jelly without which no lady would think of keeping house in the country. One of the gravest questions in domestic economy is whether the jelly will "jell." Often it does not, and cannot be made to. The cause of its lamentable perversity is this: The currants have been left until over-ripe before picking, or they have been picked wet, just after rain. Gather them when dry, and as soon as possible after they have turned red, and I am informed by the highest domestic authority (my wife) that there will be no difficulty.

In flavor, the Red Dutch is unequalled by any other red currant. It is also a variety that can scarcely be killed by abuse and neglect, and it responds so generously to high culture and rigorous pruning that it is an open question whether it cannot be made, after all, the most profitable for market, since it is so much more productive than the larger varieties, and can be made to approach them so nearly in size. Indeed, not a few are annually sold for Cherry currants.

The White Dutch is similar to the Red in the growth and character of the bush. The clusters, however, are a little shorter, and the fruit a little larger and sweeter, and is of a fine yellowish-white color, with a veined, translucent skin.

The White Grape is an advance in size upon the last-named, and of marvellous productiveness and beauty. It is not as vigorous as the White Dutch, and is more spreading in its mode of growth, requiring careful pruning to make a shapely bush. The fruit, also, is not spread so evenly over the wood, but is produced more in bunches. In flavor, it is one of the very best.

Dana's Transparent, and other white varieties, do not vary materially from either the White Grape or Dutch.

The great market currant is the Cherry. In the "Canadian
Horticulturist" for September, 1878, I find the following:

"The history of this handsome currant is not without interest. Monsieur Adrienne Seneclause, a distinguished horticulturist in France, received it from Italy among a lot of other currants. He noticed the extraordinary size of the fruit, and gave it, in consequence, the name it yet bears. In the year 1843 it was fruited in the nursery of the Museum of Natural History, and figured from these samples in the 'Annales de Flore et de Pomone' for February, 1848. Dr. William W. Valk, of Flushing, Long Island, N. Y., introduced it to the notice of American fruit growers in 1846, having imported some of the plants in the spring of that year."

This variety is now very widely disseminated, and its culture is apparently becoming increasingly profitable every year. Two essentials are requisite to success with it—high manuring and skilful pruning. It has the tendency to produce long branches, on which there are but few buds. Rigorous cutting back, so as to cause branching joints and fruit spurs, should be practiced annually. The foliage is strong and coarse, and the fruit much more acid than the Dutch family; but size and beauty carry the market, and the Cherry can be made, by high culture, very large and beautiful.

Versailles, or La Versaillaise, is a figurative bone of contention. The horticultural doctors disagree so decidedly that the rest of us can, without presumption, think for ourselves. Mr. A. S. Fuller has probably given the subject more attention than any one else, and he asserts, without any hesitancy, that this so-called variety is identical with the Cherry. Mr. Fuller is certainly entitled to his opinion, for he obtained plants of the Cherry and Versailles from all the leading nurserymen in America, and imported them from the standard nurseries abroad, not only once, but repeatedly, yet could never get two distinct varieties. The writer in the "Canadian Horticulturist" also states in regard to the Versailles:

"Some pains were taken to obtain this variety on different occasions, and from the most reliable sources, so that there might be no mistake as to the correctness of the name; but after many years of trial we are unable to perceive any decided variation, either in the quality of the fruit, the length of the bunch, or the habit of the plant, from the Cherry currant."

I must admit that I am inclined to take the same view; for, during several years, I have looked in vain for two distinct varieties. I have carefully kept the two kinds separate, but find in each case the same stout, stocky, short-jointed, erect shoots that are often devoid of buds, and tend to become naked with age, and the same dark green, thick, bluntly and coarsely serrated foliage. Mr. Downing thinks the difference lies in the fact that, while the Versailles strain produces many short bunches like the Cherry, it also frequently bears clusters, and that such long, tapering clusters are never formed on the Cherry. This is the only difference, I think, if any exists; but in no instance have I been able to find this distinction well defined and sustained by the bearing plantations that I have seen. Mr. Downing, however, has had tenfold more experience than I have, and his opinions are entitled to corresponding weight.

That this class is much inclined to "sport," I think all will admit. One bush in a row may be loaded with fruit year after year, and the next one be comparatively barren. The clusters on one bush may be short and characteristic of the Cherry, while a neighboring bush in the same patch may show a tendency to mingle some long clusters with the short ones; and young bushes grown from the same plant will show these variations. I am satisfied that distinct and much improved strains could be developed by propagating from bushes producing the best and most abundant fruit, and that a variety having the characteristics of the Ideal Versailles could be developed. The importance of this careful selection in propagation can scarcely be overestimated, and the fruit grower who followed it up for a few years might almost double the productiveness and quality of many of his varieties.

Victoria (known also as May's Victoria, and having a half-dozen other synonymes) is a distinct variety, whose great value consists in its lengthening out the currant season two or three weeks after the above-named kinds have matured. The fruit is also large—between the Red Dutch and Cherry in size—exceedingly abundant, and although rather acid, of good flavor when fully ripe. The clusters are very long—from five to seven inches—tapering, and the berries are bright red. If it is grown in some moist, cool, half-shady location, the bunches will hang on the bushes very late in the season. In many localities it is found very profitable, since it need not be sold until the others are out of the market. The young branches are rather slender, but the plant itself is vigorous, and can be grown at less expense than the Cherry.

There are many other named varieties, but in the majority of instances the distinctions between them are slight, and as they are waning before the finer varieties that I have described, I shall not attempt to lighten the shadows that are gathering around them. The future promises more than the past, and I think that, before many years pass, some fine new kinds will be introduced.

The enemies and diseases of the currant will be treated in a later chapter.