96 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Mr. Wilder said that no "White Black Cap" is worth growing. 

 They are all of a disagreeable ' ' mulatto " color. 



Robert Manning alluded to the statement made by Mr. Wood, 

 as to the unproductiveness of the Dana's Transparent currant, 

 which he thought liable to produce a wrong impression. He had 

 two short rows of Versaillaise and Dana's Transparent, side by 

 side, and the latter, though not so vigorous as the former, was 

 quite satisfactory both as to growth and productiveness. 



Mr. Wood said that his plants of Dana's Transparent growing 

 among his pear trees, drop their foliage when the fruit is about 

 two-thirds growii, while the Versaillaise retains its foliage. 



Mrs. E. M. Gill had had the same experience as Mr. Wood with 

 the Dana's Transparent, though well watered. Red currants, under 

 the same treatment, did not lose their foliage. 



Mr. Smith had been very successful with Dana's Transparent ; 

 the foliage did not drop. He watered and mulched the plants. 



Henry Ross said that Mr. Wood's Versaillaise currants were 

 superior to those which he raised himself. He had grown seven or 

 eight varieties, and thought the Red Dutch the sweetest of all the 

 red currants. 



J. W. Manning thought the Lovett's Red or Improved Red, 

 originated man}' years ago b}- Capt. Josiah Lovett, a most skilful 

 cultivator, the sweetest red currant. It is a great bearer. 



Robert Manning thought the Red Dutch superior in qualit}' to 

 the Versaillaise, and the White Dutch superior to either the Dana's 

 Transparent or the White Grape. 



Mr. Wood spoke of seeing fruit of the Versaillaise at Mr. 

 Wilder' s grounds when first introduced, and of the skepticism of a 

 friend to whom he spoke of it, as to its being so much larger than 

 the Red Dutch, but who gave up and owned himself beaten when a 

 basket of the fruit was shown him. Mr. Wood thought the Dutch 

 no better in quality than the Versaillaise. 



Daniel T. Curtis had seen a berry of the Versaillaise measuring 

 two and one-eighth inches in circumference. He spoke of the 

 skilful culture of the currant and gooseberry by the late Thomas 

 Dowse, of Cambridgeport, who preserved the fruit on the bushes 

 until October. 



The Chairman announced that an Essay on " Peat as a Fertilizer 

 and an Absorbent," would be read by H. Weld Fuller, on the next 

 Saturday. 



