i 



PROMISING NEW FRUITS. 



considered worthy of thorough test by those interested in plum groov- 

 ing in the South. 



The specimen illustrated in Plate LIV was grown by the originator 

 at Jackson, Aiken County, S. C. 



PANARITI GRAPE. 

 [PLATE LV.] 



The Panariti grape is one of the " currant " varieties, the fruit of 

 which when cured constitutes the dried " currants " of commerce. 

 Botanically this group of grapes belongs to Vitis vinifera, as do the 

 other European varieties. They are largely grown in Greece and on 

 some of the island possessions of that country, including Cephalonia 

 and Zante. The principal districts on the mainland are in Morea, 

 the ancient Peloponnesus. In these island and mainland districts 

 nearly the entire population is engaged in and dependent on this 

 industry. 



The culture of these grapes in Greece has extended over many 

 centuries. According to Eisen, 1 Pliny referred to them as early as 

 75 A. D. as being grown there, though they appear to have no further 

 historical record for nearly a thousand years. Following the eleventh 

 century, as indicated in Eisen's account, occasional reference is made 

 to them in the old herbals and in other literature of the fourteenth, 

 fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries, under such names as " reysyns de 

 Corauntzs," " Corauntz," " corent," " reysonys of Corawnce." " raysns 

 of Coren," and " currans." By gradual evolution the name " cur- 

 rant " appears to have developed from the name Corinth, the port 

 whence the earlier supplies of this fruit reached western Europe. 

 It appears evident that the name " currant " or " currantes " was 

 applied to this type of grape, at least when dried, as early as 1578. 



The common garden currants (Ribes species) do not appear to have 

 come into cultivation until toward the close of the sixteenth century. 

 So far as historical records show, the dried fruit of the " currant " 

 grape had then been an article of commerce in some of the European 

 markets for several centuries, so that there seems to be no reason to 

 doubt that the name currant was applied to the genus Eibes because 

 of the r'esemblance which its racemes of fruit bore to clusters of the 

 " grape of Corinth." 



The importance of the currant grape not only to very large num- 

 bers of the peasant population of Greece, but to the Government as 

 well, forms an example which is probably without parallel elsewhere 

 in the world. The part taken by the Government in recent years in 

 maintaining the stability of this industry through control of a portion 

 of the crop is equally remarkable, 



1 Eisen, Gustav. The Raisin Industry, 1890, p. 6. 

 20139 YBK 1911 28 



