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Planting Currants

These Ribes species are not nearlyas popular as they used to be for 2 reasons. Inthe first place, the fruits must be processed assoon as they are picked. Secondly, most Ribesspecies have proved susceptible as alternatehosts to the White Pine blister rust disease andthere are definite restrictions placed (by FederalQuarantine Acts) against growing them in manystates and counties. The home gardener whowants to grow currants (or gooseberries) shouldfirst write his State Experiment Station (whichsee) to ascertain whether it is permissible togrow them in his area.

Currants are grown in bush form, in normalgarden soil. They are hardy well north of whereapple trees are grown. These shrubs take littlecare. They might be mulched to help with theweed problem. The application of well-rottedmanure not only acts as a mulch but a fertilizeras veil. The application of commercial fertilizersis usually not worth the effort except on verypoor soils, but plants in the home gardenfrequently respond well to addition of nitrogenin the form of a complete fertilizer. They shouldbe spaced about 5 ft. apart. All canes over 3years old should be removed. Fruits should heused as soon as they are picked, but they canremain on the bush for a week or so in analmost fully ripe condition.

Currants are propagated commercially . byhardwood cuttings taken in the fall after theleaves have dropped. The home gardener caneasily obtain a few extra bushes merely bylayering (which see) a few branches.

As for varieties, 'Red Lake' is an excellentone for the home garden. 'Wilder' producesmore heavily and so is preferred for commercialplantings. Fifty percent of the currants grown inthe U.S. today are grown in N.Y. 'WhiteImperial' is the best white-fruited variety, and`White Grape' is sometimes listed by nurseries.

The black over-wintering eggs and San Jose scale are killed bydormant sprays of insecticide #41. insecticide 15 is effective if thoroughly applied to thecurled leaves. Currant borer which tunnels andkills the canes and currant stem girdlers whichcause the new canes to break near the tip inearly summer are checked by sprays of insecti-cide # 15 when the adults are active, but buttingand burning the infested canes is advised.Imported currant worms, the larvae of a sawfly, are voracious caters when the leaves areabout full grown. Spray with insecticide # 15 butdo not use insecticide #5 or others which mayleave harmful residue on the harvested fruit.Plant bugs and San Jose scale may infest currant.

Diseases

Brown or purplish spots on the leaves indicateinfection by currant anthracnosc, and fungicide# I) gives good control. Blister rust, which ismore important on White Pine, occurs as brightorange spots on Currant leaves in midsummer.See PINUS. Fungicide # I) is advised. Beforeplanting Currant, check local authoritiesconcerning restrictions.

A South African bulbous plant similar toGladiolus, belonging to the iris Family andrelated to Antholyza. Flowers are red andyellow borne in spikes and grown from bulbsplanted in the spring. See GLADIOLUS for cultiva-tion

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