206 



The Journal of Heredity 



rniled States Department nf .\,<,M-icul- 

 ture throui^h Mr. David FairchiUl. .V^- 

 ricultural l^xjjlorer of the Department, 

 a coiisij^Miment of cuttinjjs of them 

 reacliinti \\ ashinf^ton. D. C".. May ^K 

 VK)\. (.oncernini,' this Mr. Fairchild 

 stated at that time : "Tlie variety 

 of grape pnxhiciiif; the currants or 

 corinth of commerce. 'I'hese cuttings 

 were purcliased m the village of I'ana- 

 riti, which lies among the mountains 

 hack of Xyloncastron. This village is 

 noted as producing some of the linest 

 corinths in ("ireece." 



Several currant grai)e varieties are 

 grown in (ireecc, though the crop dif- 

 ferences are not distinguished in that 

 country as varieties, hut hy the name of 

 the region in which they are produced. 



Some of the Panariti cuttings were 

 distributed to grape growers in Cali- 

 fornia, Arizona, and southern Nevada, 

 and some used in experijuents in 

 the Depart'i^ent'^ h'xneriment Vine- 

 yards in California, l^xceptional dif- 

 ficulties were encountered in success- 

 fully growing these, and it hecame a 

 prohlem for the viticultiual investiga- 

 tions of the I'nited States Departmeril 

 of Agriculture to find out where the 

 trouble was. The knotty parts of this 

 ])rol)lem ap])ear now to have been 

 solved. 



'J'wo cardinal points must be olxcrvcd 

 to grow them successfully. naiiKly, 

 they should be grown grafted on uhvl- 

 lo.xera ri-sistant stocks congeni.al to 

 them an<l suited to the soil and other 

 conditions in which grown, and the 

 vines need to be thoroughly girdk-d at 

 the j)roj)er time. 



In a ten-year test of growing them 

 on various resistant stocks, a sufficient 

 number of varieties of these stocks 

 have been found from which to select 

 such as are adapted to any of the soil 

 types as well as to other conditions, and 

 that are furthermore congenial to the 

 currant grape varieties and on which 

 they show good fruiting tendencies. 



VI NK (ilKDI.I.NC NKCKSS.NKV 



It has been ascertained that lo niakc 

 the blooms set and secure a full cr(tp 

 of fruit, the vines nnist be girdled. 

 T'm^ girdlin/^' consists in m.aking two 



par.dlil incisions through the bark, 

 around either the trunks, arms, or 

 c.ines of the vines, and taking out the 

 bark between the two ])arallel cuts. 

 This girdling must be thoroughly and 

 cleanly done, and done while the vines 

 are in bloom, (iirdling the vines is not 

 only necessary to promote a full set- 

 ting and maturing of the fruit, but 

 thereby more than twice as much and 

 a better f|uality of fruit is obtained. 



\'ines in the United States Depart- 

 ment of .\griculture Experiment \'ine- 

 \-.'trds produced from eighteen to forty- 

 live pounds of fruit to the vine, the 

 crop dei)ending largely on the variety 

 of resistant stock on which the \ines 

 were grafted. 



When \ines are planted 8x8 feet 

 ai)art ( the usual distance) an acre will 

 \ield a crop of fresh grapes ranging 

 from six to fifteen tons, an average of 

 ten and one-half tons or conservatively 

 from two to five tons of dried currants. 

 From this we conclude that from 4.000 

 to 8,500 acres of these grapes would l)e 

 necessary to produce the 30.000.000 

 pounds we annuallv import and con- 

 sume, and. no doubt, the consumption 

 of them could be much increased be- 

 vond this. 



The berries being seedless, delicious 

 in tlaxor, rich in ((uality, and so very 

 early in rii)ening. they also make an 

 exceedingly desirable fresh fnu't for 

 (he t.able. 



It is. of coiu'se. a great ad\;intagi' in 

 growing grapes for dr\ing ])urpo?es. 

 t(< be in a district which ])erniits sun 

 drying. .Ml the districts in (alifornia, 

 in which grapes for the various pur- 

 ])oses are now grown, it api)ears have 

 suitable conditions for the growing of 

 currant granes. Protection against the 

 dew at night will likely be necessary 

 in some of the C(Xistal districts, but as 

 it is preferable that the currants, while 

 drying, be shaded during the great heat 

 of the day. the same shelter will do for 

 both purposes. 



The im])ort.ance of tlu- P.inarili in 

 the curr.ant group of gra])es suggests 

 a discription of its fruit. (luster 

 fairly comp.ict. cylindrical to tapering, 

 long, narrow. usuallv promiui'iitlv 



