Currant (plant)

“ Not only do currants and gooseberries require similar treatment and cultivation, but they also have a common enemy that must be vigilantly guarded against, or the bushes will be defoliated in many localities almost before its existence is known. After an absence of a few days I have found some of my bushes stripped of every leaf. When this happens, the fruit is comparatively worthless. Foliage is as necessary to a plant as are lungs to a man. It is not essential that I should go into the natural history of the currant worm and moth. ”

“ The wing covers are marked with two small grey dots, anteriorly, and a crescent-shaped one behind the middle.
It is very injurious to the currant bushes in many parts of the country, and constitutes a serious obstacle to [300] growing the plants to a single stem, tree fashion. In the bush form of this plant, the constant reproduction of new shoots compensates for the destruction caused by the borer.
There is another currant borer, an European, which is confined to young shoots; as it is not the larva of a beetle, but of a butterfly, it will be treated in its proper place. ”

“ A deep, sandy soil will generally grow the best crop of berries, while a clay soil tends to produce rust. Good cultivation, good soil, and a judicious use of manure make stout and vigorous canes, with a crop of berries in increased ratio."
Indiana correspondent Orange County Farmer: I have had a good deal of experience in propagating currants. I always plant my currant cuttings in the fall as soon as the leaves fall off. They will make durable roots two to four inches long the same fall, while the buds remain dormant. ”

“ The foliage is small, neat, and of a tender green that helps to set off the pretty flowers to perfection. It is a native of North-west America, and perfectly hardy in every part of the country. Though not equal in point of floral beauty with our common flowering Currant, still the miniature habit, pretty and freely-produced pink-tinted flowers, and fresh green foliage will all help to make it an acquisition wherever planted. Like the other species of Ribes the present plant grows and flowers very freely in any soil, and almost however poor. ”

“ Cabbage.—Set plants for the late crop.
Corn.—Plant sweet corn for succession and late use.
Cucumbers.—It is late to plant, but they may be put in for pickles if done before the Fourth. Cultivate those which are up, and keep an eye open for bugs.
Currants.—Cover a few bushes with muslin or burlap before the fruit ripens, and you can eat currants in August. Use hellebore, rather than Paris green, for the last brood of currant worms, and apply it as soon as the worms appear. There is little danger in using it, even if the currants are ripe.
Lettuce seed does not germinate well in hot weather. ”

“ This seems very absurd when we remember the important place held in the domestic economy by the currant, and how greatly it improves under decent treatment. If it demanded the attention which a cabbage-plant requires, it would be given; but the currant belongs to that small class of creatures which permit themselves to be used when wanted, and snubbed, neglected, and imposed upon at other times. It is known that the bushes will manage to exist, and do the Very best they can, no matter how badly treated; and average human nature has ever taken advantage of such traits, to its continuous loss. ”

“ Currant-bushes grow readily from cuttings. Insert a piece of half-ripened wood five or six inches long into the ground and it will almost invariably take root. In order to keep this plant in healthy bearing condition it should be pruned rather severely each season. Cut away all weak wood, and encourage the production of strong new shoots, from which fruit will be borne next season. Remove a good share of the old branches after they have ripened the present season's crop. ”

“ The former species bears the black, the latter the red currant. White currants are the fruit of a cultivated variety of R. rubrum. Both red and black currants are used for making tarts and pies, jams, jellies and wine; the latter are also employed in lozenges, popularly supposed to be of value in relieving a sore throat, are occasionally preserved in spirits, and in Russia are fermented with honey to produce a strong liquor.
Currants will flourish in any fairly good soil, but to obtain large crops and fine fruit a good rich loam is desirable ”

“ Very noticeable in the bluffs along the large rivers where it dots the gray and greening hillsides with splotches of color. The foliage and bark are also good, so that it is well worthy of note for roadside planting.
Ribes aureum.—Sometimes called the flowering currant. A very hardy native, useful for massing. It bears bright yellow flowers, whose spicy fragrance soon call attention to it when in bloom. Grows from 4 to 7 feet high and spreads rapidly by suckers. Other species of currant and gooseberries are valuable for massing. ”

“ The growth is erect and climbing. The bunches are long, narrow and cylindrical, with heavy shoulders. The berries are small, of the size of peas, seedless and black, very sweet and with a peculiar aroma not found in any other variety. The Black Currant should be pruned short, and the young branches require staking in order to bear well. The home of the Black Currant is the Grecian Islands as well as Morea, especially around Patras. Zante, Cephalonia and Ithaca all produce Currants of the highest quality. ”

“ The American cranberry (O. macrocarpa) is larger and more upright with bigger leaves and berries. Large quantities are exported to Europe and other varieties are also imported into Britain and Germany from Russia and other parts of northern Europe.
Currant (Ribes rubrum) , is an important shrub, bearing red, black and white fruit. Its branches are not prickly; its leaves have three to five lobes, greenish-yellow blossoms and the berries [144] hang in clusters like grapes. It is often planted in gardens for the sake of its fruit, but is also found in a wild state. ”

“ The currant is very hardy, and will grow in any soil or situation, even under the drip of trees. In open situations and rich soils, currants have been grown to a very large size; but not proportionately large to gooseberries. The red, white, and striped currants are varieties of the same species; but the black is another species. All belong to the same genus as the gooseberry.
Raspberries are, what are called, travelling [Pg 242] plants ”

“ To destroy the oïdium, a fungal pest that severely injures the plantations, the vines are dusted, at the time the fruit is maturing, with finely-ground brimstone. The currants when sufficiently ripe are gathered and placed on a drying ground, where they are exposed to the sun in layers half an inch thick; from time to time they are turned and swept into heaps, until they become entirely detached from stalk. They are then packed in large butts for exportation. The wine made from the currant-grape is inferior in quality, but is said to be capable of much improvement. ”

“ No fruit crop will respond more readily to good care than the currant. Clean cultivation and a liberal use of manure or fertilizers will certainly be followed by well-paying crops. One-or two-year-old plants may be set, 4 by 6 feet. Trim the bush by cutting off most of the suckers below the surface of the ground. The currant should have cool moist soil. If the season is dry, a mulch of straw or leaves will assist the plants to establish themselves.
Currants are easily propagated by mature cuttings of the new or previous year’s canes. ”

“ The Large Dutch Red, and White, are much larger varieties and generally preferred in the best Eastern gardens. Every farmer, if he has nothing else, has a long row of currant bushes, and gets, usually, five times as many currants as he can consume. Very few fruits have so few diseases incident to them as the currant. It is not infested with worms, its fruit is subject to no blight, it bears every year, is rarely affected either by severe winters or late frosts, and we do not remember a season in our lives when there was not, at least, a partial currant crop. ”

“ The wild currant and the fuchsia-flowered gooseberry are not edible, but they are under no such obligation; they "make good" with long wands of jewel-red, drooping blossoms, and in the case of the [54] currant, with delicate pink racemes, thrown out almost before the leaves while the earth still smells of winter dampness. Though nobody seems to know how it travelled so far, the "incense shrub" is a favourite of English gardens where, before the primroses begin, it serves the same purpose as in the west coast cañons, quickening the sense into anticipations of beauty on every side. ”

“ The leaves of the flowering currant give a sort of intermediate flavor between black currants and red. Orange, citron, and lemon leaves impart a flavoring equal to that of the fruit and rind combined, and somewhat different from both. A few leaves added to pies, or boiled in the milk used to bake with rice, or formed into crusts or paste impart an admirable and almost inimitable bouquet. In short, leaves are not half so much used for seasoning purposes as they might be. ”

“ The black currents, which are larger than the red, ... are reasonable pleasant in eating.”—Voyages, p. 72. Our black currant is Ribes floridum, Herit.,—considered by Linnæus (Sp. Pl., p. 291) only a variety of R. nigrum, L., the true black currant of the gardens; and our red currant, which I have gathered in the White Mountains,—far below the region of R. rigens, Michx., the more common red currant there,—appears to be undistinguishable from R. rubrum, L. (the red currant of gardens) ; unless, possibly, as an American variety of it. This is probably R. albinervium, Michx. ”

“ Currants and gooseberries should be pruned annually and only the one- or two-year-old wood retained for production. Thinning out in this manner will give better size and quality. Where the currant worm is troublesome the foliage should be dusted with arsenate of lead or Paris green as soon as it is well developed and before the fruit is started. ”

“ Much care is requisite in keeping the varieties true. This is especially the case with the curled sorts. The seed-growers, who value their stock and character, select the best and finest curled plants, [Pg 432] and allow no others to flower and seed. When the object is to improve a variety, but few seeds are saved from a plant; and, in some cases, but few seeds from a head.
Use.—The leaves of the curled varieties afford one of the most beautiful of garnishes: they are also used for flavoring soups and stews. The seeds are aromatic, and are sometimes used as a substitute for the leaves ”

“ This shows how much the growers are opposed to experimenting and improving upon the methods which have been handed down to them from their forefathers. As we have shown, the currant vines are all very closely pruned, very much in the same way as our Muscats. Seldom more than three spurs are allowed to remain, each one with two or three eyes. Summer pruning or topping the branches is never practiced on the currant vines, but generally on the wine grapes. ”

“ CHAPTER XXVI 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. ”

“ CURRANT JELLY.— The currants should be large, fine, and fully ripe. The best and sweetest currants grow in the shade; and the largest, also. If exposed to the full heat of our American sun, it turns them sour, dries up the juice, and withers their growth. Gather them when fully ripe, strip them from the stems into a cullender, and wash and drain them. ”

“ The grubs leave the fruits in the fall and enter the ground, where they hibernate and transform to adults the next May, June, or July, depending on the season. When the adults appear, jar them from the tree on sheets or curculio-catchers and destroy them. To determine when they appear, jar a few trees daily, beginning the latter part of May in New York.
Currant-worm.—In the spring the small green, black-spotted larvae feed on the foliage of currants and gooseberries, beginning their work on the lower leaves. A second brood occurs in early summer. When worms first appear, spray with 1 lb. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Among our cultivated fruits there is but a limited number that need to be propagated by cuttings, though, where it becomes necessary, many of them may be grown in this manner, to which procedure there are no serious objections, though there are some of a theoretical nature. The currant and the gooseberry are increased almost exclusively [63] from cuttings, they strike root very readily, and are multiplied to any extent; their seeds are sown only to produce new varieties. ”