CHAPTER Xiy 



VARIETIES OF CURRANTS 



So far as fruit -producing species are concerned, the 

 botany of the currant is simple, for the currant culture 

 of the United States is practically confined to a 

 single species, Riles rulrum. It is to this species that 

 all our red and white varieties belong. In its wild state 

 the species is found both in Europe and America, and 

 seems to be equally well adapted to the cooler portions 

 of either hemisphere. It is in all cases a northern 

 plant, found in cool, damp situations, and it objects 

 to any radical change from these conditions. In culti- 

 vation, it has become somewhat variable in character of 

 fruit and foliage. Instances are reported^ in which 

 both red and white fruits have been produced upon the 

 same branch. In one caset three red, three white and 

 one striped fruit were found in the same cluster. 



The black currant of the garden is a European 

 species, Rihes nigrum. Although not found in America 

 in the wild state it seems to have had no trouble in 

 adapting itself to American conditions. The American 

 people, on the other hand, have not been so successful 

 in adapting their tastes to the peculiar flavor which it 

 has to offer, and the species has never become popular. 



*Darwin, Animals and Plants under Domestication 1: 400. 

 tGardener's Chronicle 26: 268. 



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