4 BULLETIN 856, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



It is the custom in Greece to plant very long cuttings [see PI. I, fig. 2] in 

 the rocky soil, digging down even into the bedrock, upon which the base of 

 the cutting is allowed to rest. In Greece the vines are about 5 feet apart each 

 way and are trained wholly without a wire or other trellis. [See PI. I, figs. 1 

 and 2.] The claim is made that the fruit is so delicate, being, as is well 

 known, an essentially seedless grape, that it requires the dense shade made by 

 the foliage of the low sprawling canes which spring from the low-cut upright 

 main trunk of the plant. As the clusters mature [PI. I, fig. 4] these sprawling 

 canes are lifted from the ground and supported on short stakes to prevent the 

 grapos from actually lying on the ground. 1 After the petals have dropped from 

 the flowers — i. e., when the fruit is well " set " — the vines are ringed or girdled. 

 This girdling is done on the main trunk of the vine, a thin quarter-inch 

 wide ring of bark being removed [PI. I, fig. 3]. This ringing is said to be 

 essential to the production of a large berry. It is the belief that the berries 

 from vines not ringed are richer in sugar, not so filled with juices, and keep 

 better than those from ringed vines [PI. I, fig. 3]. The climate and soil in 

 which the corinth will thrive are various. The requisites are a long summer 

 with good insulation and a not too high temperature, 95° P. being looked on as 

 a very high temperature in the regions where these plants are cultivated. It is 

 a popular belief that the corinth degenerates rapidly on being introduced into 

 foreign countries and that it even becomes a seed-bearing grape. I can not 

 find that this belief is supported by sufficient evidence. Samples of corinths 

 grown in Australia show that at least the plant does not produce seed there 

 and does produce a utilizable product, which, however, is inferior in size and 

 flavor to good Greece-grown specimens. 2 



CURRANT-GRAPE VARIETIES. 



In Greece, where the great bulk of the currants of the world are 

 produced, commercial crop differences are not distinguished by- 

 varieties. However, three distinct colors, white, rose, and dark, 

 therefore three varieties, are represented. 



The Black Corinth variety (synonyms, Zcmte currant, Passerina 

 nera, Corinthe noir, Corinthe sans pipins, Corinthe violet, Corinthien, 

 Corinto nero, Corinthe rosso) was among the earliest grape intro- 

 ductions into California. Vine very vigorous. Bunches below me- 

 dium in size, compact and cjdindrical with well-marked shoulders, 

 often winged. The berries are very small, not over three-sixteenths 

 of an inch in diameter, reddish black, round, usually seedless. 



The White Corinth variety (PL II; synonyms, Corinthe blanc, 

 Corinto bianco, Corinto bianco, Weisse Corinthe, Korinthe Kleine 

 Weisse, Passeretta bianca, Passerina bianca, Passera, ( 1 oree blanc, 

 Corinthari, Corinthi Apro Szemufeher), is not quite so vigor- 

 ous as the Black Corinth and has leaves lighter in color, otherwise 

 resembling it very much. Clusters larger, more conical, and more 

 compact; berries round, white, larger, and not of as good quality; 

 neither do they make as good a dried product as the Black Corinth. 



1 This would appear to be essentially the Obanlros system of training, practiced exten- 

 sively in Prance, especially with varieties producing the Sauteme wines. 



2 See U. S. Kept. Agr., Bur. T'lant Indus. Bui. 66, p. 84. 



