THE 



VOL. VII.] 



MARCH, 1884. 



[No. 3. 



FAT'S PROLIFIC OURRAjSTT. 



The oft-repeated expression that " no 

 improvement has been made in the cur- 

 rant for a long time," is no longer true. 

 The variety, Fay's Prolific, a coloured 

 illustration of which adorns this number, 

 is a most decided step in advance. We 

 have had sufficient size in the Cherry 

 and Versaillaise, but they were very 

 acid, short iunched, and poor croppers. 

 It is true that their large size enabled 

 growers to obtain the highest market 

 rates from th-ise who purchased for 

 table use, but the fruit canneries would 

 not pay these prices, size being a mat- 

 ter of secondary consideration. Thus 

 it came to pass that since the demand 

 for canning purposes sprang up, those 

 growers who relied on the more pi'o- 

 dnctive, though less showy, Victoria 

 currant, probaby realized more profit 

 from an acre of these than did those 

 who grew the larger and more showy 

 sorts. 



It is said that the late Lincoln Fay, 

 of Portland, Chautauque County, in the 

 State of New York, for many years 

 endeavoured to raise a currant that 

 would combine the size of the Cherry 

 with the productiveness of the Victoria, 

 To this end he fertilized one with the 

 pollen of the otlier, and raised some 



thousands of seedlings, from out of 

 which he selected this as the one that 

 most nearly realized his desires. It is 

 now sixteen years since this seedling 

 was obtained. For some eight or nine 

 years Mr. Fay tested this variety by 

 the side of all the sorts in cultivation, 

 until becoming convinced of its superi- 

 ority in several jjarticulars over any of 

 these, he planted it extensively for his 

 own marketing. About three years 

 ago the writer visited Mr. Fay, and 

 although it was then too late in the 

 season to see the fruit upon the plants, 

 there was yet abundant evidence that 

 his then very extensive plantation of 

 this currant had yielded a bountifid 

 crop. 



The Fay's Prolific has fruited for two. 

 years in our grounds without receiving 

 any more care than has been given to 

 all the other varieties, and we are con- 

 strained to say that it has fully sustain- 

 ed all the claims that Mr. Fay express- 

 ed to us regarding its size, productive- 

 ness and quality. We have found the 

 size of the berries to be about equal to 

 that of the Cherry Currant, while th^ 

 bunch is very much longer, and beino' 

 naked for about half or three quarters 

 of an inch fi-om the point of connec- 



