CURRANTS IN igoo. 



359 



Fig. iJ 



Fay (reduced) Showing 

 Productiveness. 



known. The quality was excellent, for it 

 had a brisk, sprig-htly, mild acid flavor, 

 which gives it first rank ; but its small size 

 made it a poor market berry, and slow of 

 harvesting-. 



Now a great change has come over cur- 

 rant cultiv^ation. With the advent of the 

 Cherry currant, so large in berry that it 

 captivated the buyer, and so easy to gather 

 as to reduce the cost of harvesting, there 

 came a great impetus to planting, some 

 asserting that $200.00 an acre was a common 

 return for the crop. Then came Fay's Pro- 

 lific with a wonderful flourish, and everybody 

 planted it ; and now several others contest 

 the first place for the commercial garden. 



To determine the best variety of each 

 color for our Ontario fruit growers to plant 

 was the purpose of the Provincial Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture in starting a Small Fruit 

 experiment station at Burlington, in charge 

 of A. W. Peart, who has now sixteen varie- 

 ties of Red and White Currants in bear- 



ing. On the 23rd of July the writer 

 visited this station and found Mr. Peart 

 quite ready to leave the interests of 

 his four hundred acre grain farm to 

 take us through his experimental plots 

 on plums, pears, peaches, grapes and 

 small fruits. In looking over his currants 

 we found his Fays very fine, with bunches 

 about four inches in length. The bush is 

 not equal to that of the Cherry in 

 vigor or endurance. The illustration, 

 Fig. 1895, shows excellent fruiting habit, 

 in which point there is little to choose 

 between the two varieties, the latter 

 of which is of European and the for- 

 mer of American origin. Very similar to 

 these two popular varieties is the Versail- 

 laise, from France, diff"ering from the two 

 former in having berries of less uniformity 

 in size, and on the whole averaging smaller. 

 Some of the bushes at Mr. Peart's were a 

 marvel of productiveness, and we thought it 

 worth while to take a snap to show their 

 manner of fruiting. (Fig. 1894.) Belle 

 de St. Giles, Fig. 1896, is a magnifi- 

 cent looking currant, so large and fine, 

 but it does not appear to be as produc- 

 tive as the varieties mentioned above. The 



Fig. 1896. Belle de St. Giles (reduced.) 



