CUERANT. 



219 



as Black Naples, but the bush is more stocky, and not so 

 tall a grower. A marked difference may be observed ii\ 

 the hight of the plants when growing in adjoining rows. 



Brown Fruited, (Gtreen Fruited^ JRitssian Green,) — 

 A variety of the Black English, with greenish-brown 

 fruit ; berries hard, dry, and rank flavored. Not worth 

 cultivating. 



Lee's Prolific • — A new sort, of great promise. Berries 

 large^ in compact clusters ; very similar in quality to the 

 Black Naples, but the plants far more productive. 



PROFITS OF CULTURE, USES, &c. 



Currants are not, as a general thing, consumed in as 

 large quantities as some other kinds of our small fruits. 

 Still there is scarcely a garden, however small, in city or 

 country, in which a few Currant bushes are not cultivated. 



The extreme acidity of our more common varieties is 

 probably one reason why larger quantities of them are not 

 used in their natural state. Currant jelly is one of the in- 

 dispensable conserves of which no good housekeeper neg- 

 lects to lay by a store at the proper time, but it has not 

 been known as an article of commerce until within a very 

 recent period. 



Our markets, as a general rule, have been very well sup- 

 plied, and often the price obtamed for Currants has been 

 far below a profitable point. But of late years, since our 

 great fruit-preserving establishments have been started, the 

 demand has increased, and the supply is falling behind. 

 Here let me mention a fact which, I fear, some of our 

 fruit growers, as well as others, do not fully understand, 

 and it may also explain why the prices of certain kinds of 

 fruit appear to increase in exact ratio to the supply. It 

 is this : When the proprietors of one of these large es- 

 tablishments can go into market and purchase fifty thous- 

 and baskets of Strawberries, Raspberries, or other similar 



