4 BULLETIN 856, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
It is the custom in Greece to plant very long cuttings [see Pl. 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 Pl. 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 [Pl. I, fig. 4] these sprawling 
canes are lifted from the ground and supported on short stakes to prevent the ~ 
grapes from actually lying on the ground.* 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 [PIl. 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° F. 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.’ 
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, Zante currant, Passerina 
nera, Corinthe noir, Corinthe sans pipins, Corinthe violet, Corinthien, 
Corinto nero, Corinthe rosso) was among the earhest grape intro- 
ductions into California. Vine very vigorous. Bunches below me- 
dium in size, compact and cylindrical 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. I1; synonyms, Corinthe blanc, 
Corinto blanco, Corinto bianco, Weisse Corinthe, Korinthe Kleine 
Weisse, Passeretta bianca, Passerina bianca, Passera, Coree 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. 
‘This would appear to be essentially the Chantres system of training, practiced exten- 
sively in France, especially with varieties producing the Sauterne wines. 
2See U. S. Dept. Agr., Bur. Plant Indus. Bul. 66, p. 84. 
