THE MONTHLY BULLETIN". 503 



years in the future of this currant for California, for the reason that 

 even our housewives in this country where raisins are so generally 

 grown will go out of their way to buy Zante currants in preference to 

 our Thompson Seedless. They claim that there is a flavor in this grape 

 which is not found in the Thompson Seedless and the Sultana, and I 

 am inclined to believe that there is something in it. Of course, we have 

 imported the Thompson Seedless and the Sultana, which are most gen- 

 erally grown here, and it seems strange, the conditions being so favor- 

 able for the production of these grapes, that the currant has not been 

 more generally grown here. Last year I happened to be over at the 

 experimental vineyard of the government station, and we picked all the 

 Zante currant crop they had on their vines. There were not many 

 currants, but sufficient to make an experiment in order to determine 

 how these grapes were dried. They were placed on trays, exposed to the 

 sun for a . short time, and then the trays were stacked. Those who 

 sampled the raisins afterwards, and there were among them men who 

 were thoroughly familiar with the best quality of the imported Zante 

 currants, did not hesitate to say that this Zante currant, as grown here, 

 was fully equal to the imported article. The grape requires no process- 

 ing of any kind. It can be picked earlier than any other variety of 

 raisin crop which we have, and there is no question in my mind but 

 there is a great future for this grape in the interior valleys of this 

 State, and I hope the time will come when it will be more generally 

 planted. The vines seem to be excellent bearers, something which has 

 been doubted heretofore because the grapes have never been given a 

 thorough trial until the last few years, so with that fact of their being 

 good bearers, and with the additional fact in their favor of their earlier 

 ripening, they can probably be picked in the early part of August, it 

 gives a grand opportunity for introducing the variety and developing 

 this branch of the raisin business, which has never been touched on in 

 the State. 



Mr. Nuttixg. I didn't quite understand, at the beginning of this 

 discussion, whether the Zante grape was a black or a red grape. 



Mr. Roeding. The Zante currant is a black grape, but there are two 

 varieties — the black currant and the white ; the black currant, however, 

 is generally grown. I saw it in Greece eleven years ago, and the black 

 currant is the one generally grown in the vineyards of Greece. 



Mr. Nuttixg. I was surprised to hear, at a meeting where several 

 raisin growers were present the other day, that the point was made that 

 the United States Government was still maintaining that the Zante 

 currant was a currant and not a small grape. Has that been finally 

 settled to the satisfaction of the government, or is that ghost of the past 

 coming up again? 



Mr. Roeding. There is no quesion at all, but it is a question that will 

 be brought up whenever the tariff: comes before the Senate and the 

 House of Representatives. That is the old excuse that is made, that the 

 importers bring up every time that the growers argue for a duty on 



