BOTANICAL, INDEX. 
81 
GENUS RISES. Limits. 
SUBGENUS RIB ESI A. BE EL ANDIE R. 
RED AND BLACK CURRANTS. 
SEVENTH PAPER. 
would be difficult to imagine a thrifty farm-house within the temperate zone, 
'itIII w here the influence of modern civilization is felt, without seeing a few (at 
least) bunches of Currant bushes growing, usually along the side of the gar- 
^ en f enees< They are among the first objects of care and cultivation to the 
CKzfjY settlers in a new country, and usually, the only cultivated fruit for many 
^ years afterwards seen about their new place. These bushes must furnish 
fresh table dessert in a variety of forms for the family during a portion of June and 
July, while in the forms of jellies and jams they are expected to add much comfort, 
if not luxury, to the pleasant winter gatherings of friends. To be sure, in the newer 
portions of the country there are many varieties of edible fruitgrowing wild, but, as 
a rule, none of these native fruits are cultivated, and 
when the season for ripening arrives a general time of 
wild berry picking is often indulged in by the whole 
family or often by a whole neighborhood. This is al- 
ways a season of merry-making, and enjoyed by all, 
both old and young alike. 
Another very popular use for the fruit of the cur- 
rant in remote portions of the country, or in early 
times, was the manufacture of home-made currant 
wine, and certainly no more nourishing drink was 
ever made than this simple wine. But the great abun- 
dance of grapes and other fruits, more economically 
produced for wine, has caused the custom of currant- 
wine making to be now nearly, if not entirely, aban- 
doned. The currant has, however, really been the 
usual standard fruit for making jellies for the large 
mass of farmers’ wives in times past; and now since 
the knowledge of canning- and preserving all kinds of 
fruit has become so general, large quantities of cur- 
rants are annually canned, 
perhaps, not by themselves 
very extensively, but by mix- 
ing them with an equal por- 
tion of other fruit, which con- 
tains a less proportion of malic acid. 
In a scientific point of view there is very little difference 
between the Currant and Gooseberry, indeed, both belong to 
the same botanical genus of plants, Eibes , and both require 
the same kind of treatment, soil, climate, etc. Sir Joseph 
Paxton enumerates SI described species, the largest portion 
being found in the temperate portions of America, reach- 
ing from the Straits of Magellan to the Arctic Circle, form- 
ing shrubs varying from 2 to 6 feet in height. They are 
found as far north the 70th parallel in Norway, produc- 
ing annual shoots 20 inches in length. None of the species 
are suited for hot climates, in their natural forms, but 
within the past few years many of the new hybrid varie- 
ties have been introduced nearly to the tropics with marked 
success. All our cultivated red and white fruited varieties are the direct descendants 
Fig. 207. R. rubrum. var. albinerium. 
