DEVELOPMENT OF HARDY FRUITS 55 



improved if acidity of some sorts were moderated and by obtain- 

 ing varieties of better flavor. The Moore's Ruby is not so acid 

 as most varieties nor are some of the white sorts as acid as the red. 

 There seems to be no good reason why the size of the currant 

 should not be much increased, but very little work seems to be 

 being done in breeding better currants, certainly little has been 

 done in Canada. 



Black currants are very popular in some parts of America and 

 are particularly popular in certain sections of Canada, and at 

 Ottawa are much more profitable to grow than the red. They are 

 used for jam and jelly and are said to be very useful in moderating 

 colds. Comparatively little seems yet to have been done in devel- 

 oping new varieties of this fruit, although the Boskoop Giant, one 

 of those most recently introduced, is a long way ahead of the old 

 Lees Prolific and Black Champion both in size and quality. When 

 such a marked advance has been made there seems good ground 

 for believing that further advances are yet to follow. Larger 

 fruits and larger bunches may be looked for and the flavor which 

 in the best varieties is very agreeable to many people will, no doubt, 

 be much more refined. The wild American species of black cur- 

 rants, Ribes floridum and Rihes hudsonianum, extend into very 

 cold parts of Canada and hybrids between them and the cultivated 

 varieties of Ribes nigrum may result in combinations which will be 

 very desirable. The black currant was a very popular fruit with 

 the late Dr. \Ym. Saunders at Ottawa and as a result of his labors 

 we have a number of vej-y hardy and productive black currants 

 of good quality that are proving very acceptable in the colder parts 

 of Canada. 



I' Hardy Strawberries. 



And now we come to the last fruit which will be referred to in 

 this paper, the strawberry, the most popular fruit of all. Every- 

 one, we think, will admit after tasting the Marshall and Wm. Belt 

 strawberries that most of the other varieties of which there are 

 several hundred are far below the standard of these fine sorts and 

 the best English varieties. Most of the more productive straw- 

 berries in America are inferior in quality. They are too acid and 



