88 Upon the Variations of the Red Currant, when 



duce blossoms. These were, with the exception of a very 

 small number, removed from the white currant trees, as 

 soon as their buds unfolded; and those which remained 

 were deprived of their stamens, whilst immature, and sub- 

 sequently fertilized by the pollen of the red variety. The 

 seeds, obtained from this experiment, were sowed in pots, 

 as soon as the fruit had become perfectly mature, and were 

 subjected, early in the following spring, to the artificial heat 

 of a forcing-house ; by which means, and by proper sub- 

 sequent attention, the plant grew more than a foot in height, 

 in the first season. At two years old, in the year 1816, 

 several of the plants, and in the last summer, the greater 

 part of them, produced fruit ; which exhibited a much 

 greater variety of character and merits, than I was at all 

 prepared to expect. By far the greater number produced 

 red fruit ; but many of these, in ripening, first assumed a 

 colour similar to that of the Dutch white, or rather yellow 

 currant, and retained, when mature, a brighter tint, than 

 that of the common red currant. The taste of almost all 

 was more mild and sweet, than that of the red currant : some 

 were rather insipid ; and the sweetness of many was com- 

 bined with an unpleasant medicinal flavour, somewhat simi- 

 lar to that of the black currant. In many there was a 

 want of mucilage, and the juice, though sweet and well 

 flavoured, separated too readily from the seeds, which con- 

 sequently became more perceptible and troublesome ; and, 

 in one instance, in which the berries were greatly in- 

 creased in size, the seeds were found to increase in size, pro- 

 portionably still more than the berries. Five varieties, three 

 red and two white, out of about two hundred, appeared 



