No. 129.] 577 



and refreshes the system much, especially if feverish and heated. 

 There are several varieties of the currant. The three principal 

 ones are red, white and black ; the red is most used, a little lar- 

 ger than the white, more juicy and more acid ; the white is but 

 a variety of the red, both natives of America and the north of 

 Europe. They grow best in a temperate and rather cool climate. 

 The black currant is of a distinct species, a native of the north of 

 Europe and Asia ; it cannot be used for as many purposes as the 

 other two ; it possesses some medicinal properties, either made 

 into a jelly or wine. The red currant makes an excellent wine, 

 if properly made, and when it gets age, five or six years old, it 

 will compare with any for flavor. I have drank it five years old, 

 made of the pure juice. The currant requires a rich soil, and 

 although so easily raised, they are larger and produce better with 

 a little cultivation. Mr. Niel, of Scotland, prunes his bushes in 

 mid winter, shortening the last year's growth to an inch and a 

 half. The ensuing summer as soon as the berries began to color, 

 he cuts off the summer shoots to within"five or six inches above 

 the fruit, this he does with garden shears, and does it rapidly. 

 They last longer than most small fruits, and insects seldom disturb 

 them. Quince seed is medicinal, when boiled down to a proper 

 consistence, the liquor is emollient, it sooths and softens local in 

 flammations of the system, and especially of the eyes, by bathing 

 the inflamed parts with it, and not only relieves but often eflects 

 cures. All the fruits here noticed are cheaply and easily raised, 

 and in abundance, compared with many others, and none of them 

 much disturbed by insects ; always seir readily in our markets 

 and at paying prices. 



The secretary quoted Downing's very valuable work on the 

 Fruits and Fruit Trees of America; refering to the raspberry , black- 

 berry and quince: He observed that a single individual even in 

 the long time he had lived (70 years) was utterly incompetent to 

 the great history of things. That an assemblage of tens of thou- 

 sands of enlightened men in every age and country was necessary 

 to accumulate the knowledge ^Ye now have. And no man can at- 

 tend even a small meeting of enlightened men conversing upon a 

 familiar topic, without being more enlightened, in, some point or 

 other. 



[Assembly, No. 129.] 37 



