24 THE RAISIN INDUSTRY. 



Hakluyt states that, in 1586, the chief commodities of the island 

 were " oyle and currants.'* The latter, then, must have been intro- 

 duced some time in the middle of the sixteenth century. Lithgow, a 

 Scotch traveler who in 1609 visited the islands and published an 

 account of the same in 1633, informs us that, besides oyle and wine, 

 Zante produced one hundred and sixty thousand chickens of currants, 

 each chicken of gold being equal to nine shillings of English money. 

 And he adds that the custom duties on those currants amounted to 

 twenty-two thousand piasters (one piaster is equivalent to six shillings), 

 a sum of money which those Islanders could not have afforded (they 

 having been, not above sixty years ago, but a base, beggarly people, 

 and in an obscure place) if it were not that in England there are some 

 who cannot digest bread, etc., without these currants. This seems to 

 imply that, since the introduction of the currant culture in the Island 

 of Zante about the year 1550, the Zanteans had suddenly become 

 comparatively wealthy. So suddenly had this important industry 

 spread, that in 1610, according to Sandys, the chief export of both 

 Zante and Cephalonia was currants. In 1612, Cory at says that 

 4 'Zante is famous for its wine, oile and currants." Fynes Moryson, 

 in his "Itinerary" published in 1617, states that " the English mer- 

 chant vessels exported currants from Zante and Cephalonia, and from 

 Petrasso in the Gulfe of Corinth." Tavernier says, in 1678, that, 

 " Corinth exports great quantities of currants. Patras does the same, 

 which is all the trade from those two places." In 1682, Wheler states 

 that ' ' the ports of Patros, Nathaligo and Missolonghi, all three 

 together having enough to lade only one good ship every year." 

 Randolph, in 1689, mentions that currants were first planted on the 

 plains of Corinth, and that the plain about Vostizza produced corn, 

 currants and wine. Of Zante, he says that it produced two thousand 

 tons of currants. Thus it will seem as if, through the fostering care of 

 the Venetians, the currant trade was transplanted from the mainland 

 of Morea to the Islands of Zante and Cephalonia, there to become of 

 almost national importance. Until the Turks were expelled from 

 Morea, the latter never made any serious efforts to recover the lost 

 trade. First in later times the culture of currants has again spread on 

 the mainland, especially on the northern shore of the Gulf of Corinth, 

 and to-day the combined production of the Morean vineyards is 

 largely in excess of that of the Ionian Islands. 



In our times the currants are exported either from the mainland of 

 Greece, the Morea, the ancient Peloponnesus, or from the Grecian 

 Islands, Cephalonia and Zante. In Morea, the principal ports for the 

 exportation of the currants are Patras and Vostizza, although other 

 ports export a few. Even the Islands of Ithaca and Santa Maura 

 contribute a few. Efforts have been made to extend the culture of the 

 currant vine, and introduce it to other islands, but not with any great 

 degree of success. This is entirely attributed to climatic conditions. 



Characteristics and Quality. The currants are small, seedless raisins 

 produced from the currant grape, which again is characterized by small 

 clusters, which, when perfect, are very compact like the heads of 

 Indian corn or maize. The skin of the berries is thin, the pulp very 



