2 BULLETIN 86, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
The name “ currant ” has developed by gradual evolution from the 
name Corinth, the port whence the early supplies of this fruit reached 
_ western Europe. It is quite likely that the name “ currant” was ap- 
pled to the genus Ribes because of the resemblance its racemes of 
fruit bear to clusters of the “ grape of Corinth.” 
Currant grapes are most extensively grown about Morea, the 
ancient Peloponnesus of Greece, and on the islands belonging to that 
country, including Cephalonia, Zante, and other adjacent islands. 
Of late years currant grapes have also been grown to some extent in 
Australia. 
IMPORTANCE OF THE CURRANT INDUSTRY IN GREECE. | 
The devastation of the vineyards of France by the root louse + 
caused in that country a heavy demand, at high prices, for dried 
currant grapes to be used in the manufacture of wine and brandy. 
This resulted in the planting of such large acreages in Greece that in 
some regions the growing of these grapes became the sole industry. 
The reestablishing of the French vineyards on phylloxera-resistant 
grape stocks introduced from the United States of America and the 
fact that France in 1883-84 imposed import taxes on dried currants 
practically excluded the Greek product from that country. This re- 
sulted in a crisis in the currant industry of Greece, as the production 
greatly exceeded the demand. 
The “ parakratesis,” or “ retention,” act was passed by the Greek 
Parliament in 1895 for the purpose of maintaining prices and con- 
trolling the yearly output and to prevent as far as possible the over- 
stocking of the markets. By its provisions every shipper of currants 
was obliged to deliver to the customhouse, together with his declara- 
tion of export, a receipt which showed that he had deposited in one 
of the Greek Government warehouses a quantity of currants equal, 
for example, to 15 per cent of those he desired to export. The ex- 
porter put on the bill which he forwarded to the purchaser a state- 
ment of the quantity ordered and its price, plus the price of the per- 
centage of the whole order which he had deposited in the Government 
warehouse. Therefore, the foreign purchaser when buying 100 tons 
of currants paid the shipper for 115 tons and virtually made, through 
the exporter, a present of 15 tons to the Greek Government. The 
retention requirement was not always 15 per cent, but a figure de- 
cided upon yearly by a committee of officials from the different 
centers of currant production. The fruit thus donated by foreign 
buyers was sold by the Government to loca] distilleries and wine 
makers, with the proviso that 1t must not be exported as currants. 
While the grower usuaily sold all his fruit direct to the shipper, 
he often preferred to deliver his inferior grades to the retention 
y) 
1 Phylloxera vastatrix. 
