CURRANTS, CONTINUED--PROPAGATION, VARIETIES
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.