THE SMALL FRUITS OF NEW YORK 299 



This is the oldest of the named white currants, has several synonyms, and is badh- 

 confused with other white varieties. Careful reading of the following description, however, 

 should enable anyone to identify it. The darker color of the fruit is possibly the best 

 distinguishing mark. The fruits are very early and very sweet, other characters which 

 help to identify it. The berries are of but medium size or small, and are not uniform in 

 size, characters which will drive it from general cultivation in competition with larger- 

 berried sorts. White Dutch is a very old, European variety, dating back more than two 

 centuries. In the literature, however, there can be found no account of its origin or the 

 history- of its dissemination. Wliite Dutch together with Red Dutch long ago were largely 

 used in the improvement and development of varieties of currants. The variety was 

 probably brought to America early in the nineteenth century and has since been grown in 

 most currant plantations. In 1852 the American Pomological Society placed White Dutch 

 in its list of fruits recommended for general cultivation. 



Plants above medium in size, vigorous, upright, slightly spreading, dense, very produc- 

 tive, healthy; young shoots numerous; leaf-buds small, pointed, lean, nearly glabrous, 

 appressed; leaves medium in size, subcordate to almost truncate at the base, with obtuse 

 lobes, dark green, rugose, glabrous, with somewhat serrate margins; petiole medium in 

 length and thickness, greenish, tinged red at the base, pubescent. Flowers midseason, in 

 short, dense, drooping medium- to few-flowered racemes; calyx-tube greenish, saucer- 

 shaped, glabrous; calyx-lobes broadly obtuse, separated, glabrous, pale green; ring lacking 

 or very faint; ovarj'- glabrous. Fruit earh-; clusters short, medium compact, tips poorly 

 tilled, 8-15 berries; cluster-stems medium in length and thickness; berry-stems short, 

 slender; berries small to medium, not uniform, roundish oblate, yellowish white, a little 

 darker than White Grape; skin smooth, thin, tender, translucent; flesh moderately juicy, 

 mildly subacid, almost sweet ; quality excellent ; seeds large, medium in number. 



White Grape, i. Trans. N. Y. State Agr. Soc. 9:373. 1849. 2. Cultivator 3rd Ser. 5: 

 13, fig. 1857. 3. Card. & For. 7:188. 1894. 



Imperial Yellow. 4. Horticulturist 21: 2 li. 1866. 



White Grape is distinguished from other varieties of its kind by having the largest 

 cluster and berry of any. The currants are rather lighter in color than those of White 

 Dutch, are sourer and not so richly flavored. Possibly this variety is the best of the white 

 currants because of the vigor, productiveness, hardiness, and healthiness of the plant. The 

 variety is an excellent one for both home and commercial plantations, although its spread- 

 ing habit of growth, making it somewhat unmanageable, is somewhat against it. The 

 slendemess of the canes help to identify the variety. No trace of the history of this sort is 

 obtainable except that it is an old European variety long grown in America. There is also 

 no clue as to when it was brought to this country-, but the literature leads us to believe that 

 it was much cultivated at least a hundred years ago. The nomenclature is in a bad state 

 of confusion, and the variety has been often mLxed with White Imperial and White Trans- 

 parent. In 1852 the American Pomological Society added White Grape to its catalog list 

 of recommended currants. 



Plants of medium size and \'igor, spreading, sometimes sprawling, dense, productive; 

 young shoots numerous, rather slender; leaf-buds large, long, pointed, plump, pubescent, 



