188 



GROSSULARIE^E. I. RISES. 



t. 74. Fl. dan. 967. Blackw. herb. t. 285. Smith, engl. hot. 

 1289. Flowers yellowish. 



Var. a, sylvestre (D. C. fl. fr. 4. p. 406.) leaves and berries 

 smaller ; lobes of leaves short. 



Var. ft, hortense (D. C. 1. c.) leaves larger, sometimes varie- 

 gated ; berries sweeter and larger than in var. a. Cultivated in 

 gardens. R. rubrum, Lois. nouv. diet. 3. 



Var. y, cdrncum (Berl. mss. ex D. C. prod. 3. p. 481.) leaves 

 rather tomentose beneath ; sepals red ; cells of anthers distant ; 

 berries pale red. R. rubrum domesticum /3, baccis carneis, 

 Wallr. sched. p. 106. 



Far. S, variegatum (D. C. prod. 3. p. 481.) berries variegated. 

 Wallr. 1. c. 



Var. e, album (Desf. cat. bot. p. 164.) berries white. Ait. 

 hort. kew. 2. p. 40. Wallr. sched. p. 106. Berl. 1. c. t. 2. f. 15. 



The red currant is called Groseille ordinaire a grappes, or 

 d'outre mer, in French ; Johannlsbeere, in German ; and Uvetla, 

 in Italian. It is a low shrub, with smooth branches, downy 

 leaves, yellowish green flowers, disposed in pendulous racemes, 

 which appear in May, and the fruit ripens in June and July. 

 The berries of this shrub, in its wild state, are red ; but cul- 

 tivation has produced white and pale red berries. Professor 

 Martyn observes, that " The currant does not seem to have been 

 known to the ancientGreeks and Romans, as the southern nations 

 of Europe have not even an appropriate name to it at this day. 

 The old French name, groseilles d'outre mer, and the Dutch, 

 besklns oversee, proclaim their having been strangers imported. 

 Our English name of currant is evidently from the similitude of 

 the fruit to that of the Corinth grape, the small grape of Zante, 

 or the common grocers' Corinths or currants. The red currant 

 has been long cultivated in Britain, and very much improved in 

 the size of the bunch and berry." 



Use. The fruit is acceptable at the dessert, being of an 

 agreeable acid taste. It is much used for jellies, jams, and wines. 

 Forsyth says it is the most useful of all the small fruit, either 

 for the table and kitchen, or for preserving, making wine, &c., 

 and continues longer in succession than any other. According 

 to Withering, the juice forms an agreeable acid to punch ; and 

 Professor Martyn says it was a common beverage in Paris in 

 1763. Its medicinal qualities are similar to those of other sub- 

 acerb fruits, allaying thirst, lessening an increased secretion of 

 the bile, and correcting a putrid and scorbutic state of the fluids. 



Varieties. There are as follow : 



* Red currants. 



1 Common red, groselllier rouge a petit fruit, groseilller 

 ordinaire a fruit rouge. 



2 Red Dutch, large red Dutch, New red Dutch, large red, 

 large bunched red, Morgan's red, red grape, groseilller rouge 

 a gros fruit. This is the best of the red currants for all pur- 

 poses. 



3 Knight's large red. 



4 Knight's sweet red currant. 



5 Knight's early red currant. 



6 Champagne, groselllier a fruit couleur de chair. 



7 Striped-leaved currant, and variegated-leaved currant. 



8 Large pale red Dutch. 



* * White currants. 



1 Common white currant, groseillier a fruit blanc. 



2 White Dutch currant, new rvhlte Dutch, Morgan's white, 

 white crystal, white Leghorn, pearl white. This is one of the 

 very best of the white currants. 



3 Pearl white, blanc peril. 



4 Speary's while. 



Propagation and nursery culture. The same as in the goose- 



berry. With a view to obtaining new improved varieties from 

 seed, Mr. Knight procured cuttings, in the year 1810, of the 

 finest varieties of the red and white currants, which he planted 

 in pots of very rich mould, and placed under a south wall, to 

 which the trees were subsequently trained. At the end of 3 

 years, within which period the pots had been as often changed, 

 the trees were first suffered to produce blossoms. These were, 

 with the exception of a very small number, removed from the 

 white currant bushes, as soon as their buds unfolded ; and those 

 which remained were deprived of their stamens while immature, 

 and subsequently fertilized by the pollen of the red variety. 

 The seeds thus obtained were sown in pots, as soon as the fruit 

 had become perfectly mature, and were subjected early in the 

 following spring to the artificial heat of a forcing-house ; by 

 which means, and by proper subsequent attention, the plants 

 grew more than a foot in height the first season. At 2 years 

 old, in the year 1816, several of the plants, and in 1817, the 

 greater part of them, produced fruit of great variety of charac- 

 ter and merits ; but out of about 200 varieties, only 3 red and 

 2 white appeared to possess greater merits than their parents. 



Soil and site. All the sorts are very hardy, will grow freely 

 and bear plentifully almost any where, alike in open or shady 

 situations, by which the fruit may be obtained early, in June 

 and July, and prolonged for several months in succession till 

 October. As to soil, the currant generally does well in any 

 common garden-soil, well tilled and recruited : it bears the 

 greater crop in a strong loam or improved clay, somewhat moist ; 

 the earlier in a sandy light soil, which is not pqor. Previous to 

 planting, the ground should be dug 2 feet deep. 



Final planting. The season for planting, on a dry soil, is 

 any time in open weather from the fall of the leaf till Fe- 

 bruary or March. Plants expected to bear the following sum- 

 mer, are best moved in October, unless the ground be wet in 

 winter. Allot a competent supply of standard bushes, to be 

 planted chiefly in the kitchen garden, in a single row, round the 

 main quarters, or in the outward borders, or some in cross rows, 

 to divide extensive quarters. Plant them from 5-10 feet dis- 

 tance in the row. To raise large supplies, full plantations are 

 formed in parallel rows, with intervals between the rows of 8' 

 or 10 feet, and between the trees in each row of 6 feet. Where 

 convenient, have also some choice sorts, trained against walls, 

 paling, or trellis-work, of different aspects, to obtain early and 

 late fruit in perfection ; some against a south exposure for early 

 production ; others on east, west, and north walls for interme- 

 diate succession and late fruit. Plant them at 6, 8, or 1 feet 

 distance ; letting them occasionally fill up the vacant spaces 

 between other wall-trees. The branches should be allowed to 

 advance from near the bottom, and be trained in a nearly hori- 

 zontal direction, from 3-6 inches asunder. Before nailing them, 

 cut out superabundant and irregular growths, retaining a com- 

 petency of regular shoots for orderly training, among which, if 

 any are of very considerable length, prune them to moderate 

 extent. Some may likewise be trained as espaliers, in a de- 

 tached row in the borders or divisions of the quarters. The 

 bushes so trained may either be left to grow without support, or 

 be tied occasionally to stakes, and the branches thus will not 

 overspread the ground. Being kept moderately thin and re- 

 gular, they will bear fine large fruit, and make an agreeable 

 appearance. 



Mode of bearing. Currant bushes, in general, bear the fruit 

 both on the young wood of one, two, or three years' growth, 

 and on the older brandies from small spurs and snags along the 

 sides, which continue for several years fruitful ; but the fruit 

 produced on the last year's shoots are always the finest, espe- 

 cially when the old mother bearers have borne more than 4 

 years. 



