Red and White Currants. 135 



a globe, and less acid than the common red; and the 

 very pretty " Austrian currant," the fruit of which is pale, 

 with red stripes. How rich and beautiful the language 

 to the eye of the common red and the common white, 

 when in full fertility, needs no telling. The common 

 red, when trained against a cottage wall, where the foliage 

 offers no impediment to full view of the brilliant clusters, 

 hanging in companies often of half a dozen, presents a 

 picture little inferior in charm to that supplied by the 

 vines of Italy. Neither is it needful, except for pleasure 

 of remembrance, to speak of its value for tart and pie, 

 preserve, and jelly, and wine. Red-currant jelly, dissolved 

 in water, furnishes one of the most agreeable and most 

 salutary of all cooling drinks for the parched palates of 

 invalids laid low by fever. Though the ancient Romans 

 seem to have been unacquainted with this useful little 

 fruit, it is interesting to note that in the markets of 

 modern Italy there may be seen baskets of it, gathered 

 wild in the woods of the Apennines and the Alps. The 

 best varieties for cultivation in our own country are, 

 among reds, those called Fay's Prolific, Red Dutch, 

 Knight's Early Red, Houghton Castle, and Raby Castle, 

 an excellent late kind, and very prolific. The largest 

 fruits are produced by Cherry, but the bunches are short, 

 and the quality is inferior. Among the whites, White 

 Grape, large and sweet, is unquestionably the best; 

 White Dutch, if distinct, is also very good, but the 

 berries are comparatively small. Blanc de Versailles is 

 excellent. 



