LUTHER BURBAKK 



family, its members have by no means a monop- 

 oly among the popular small fruits of the garden. 



There is at least one other bush that may 

 claim to compete with the brambles in wide range 

 of habitat and in general popularity among gar- 

 deners. This, of course, is the familiar currant. 



The forebears of the currant ^ow wild, repre- 

 sented by various species in both Europe and 

 America. The wild red species, Ribes rubrum, 

 from which all our common cultivated red, white, 

 and pink currants, large and small, sweet and 

 sour, are descended, is indigenous to both conti- 

 nents. It has maintained its specific identity re- 

 markably through long generations, as the close 

 similarity of the specimens found wild in Europe 

 and America testifies. The more common Amer- 

 ican wild species, however, in most regions is the 

 black cxu-rant, which also has a European con- 

 gener. 



The American black currant is a hardy plant, 

 growing far north in Canada. It varies greatly in 

 different regions, both in appearance and in the 

 quality of the fruit it bears. 



There are other wild species and varieties 

 without number, so that there is abundant mate- 

 rial supplied the plant developer for work with 

 this valuable fruit. 



I have experimented with a large number of 



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