378 BUSH-FRUITS 



prised at the range of variation which appeared, it 

 being much greater than he had expected. Nearly all 

 were mild and sweeter than the red parents, some 

 were insipid, and some even showed a medicinal fla- 

 vor. Experience does not seem to bear out his expec- 

 tations in regard to an increasing sweetness, as the 

 newer varieties are many of them more acid than 

 older ones. D. S. Marvin* reports less tendency to 

 sport among currant seedlings than in any other fruit 

 with which he has had experience. He also adds that 

 there is little or no tendency to reversion, nearly all 

 seedlings being as good as the parent, except in case 

 of the Fay, seedlings of which commonly bear smaller 

 fruit than the parent, nearly half of them being white. 

 Perhaps through its long sojourn in the low countries 

 the currant has inherited something of the staid Dutch 

 qualities of the inhabitants, and does not readily depart 

 from long established customs. Yet no fruit, however 

 stable, can long resist the influences of persistent and 

 systematic breeding, and the currant has received too 

 little attention in this line. There is no need that 

 the currant should depart widely from the present 

 types, for there is nothing wrong with them. A 

 steady improvement along these same lines, with 

 perhaps a limited reduction in acidity, is all that is 

 needed, and there is no reason why this should not 

 go on as long as horticulture exists. 



The lists in this chapter and the next are intended 

 to catalogue all the varieties of currants and gooseber- 

 ries known in this country up to the close of 1897, 



*Amer. Garden, 11: 716. 



