SPRING CATALOGUE OF SEEDS, BU' BS AND PLANTS FOR 1899. 
139 
G^rr^ts. 
These two Currants are novelties of great importance. 
When you consider the enormous size and beauty of the : 
fruit, great productiveness, hardiness and vigor of the 
bushes,(outyielding other varieties almost two to one), we 
may be pardoned if we feel a little pride in being the intro¬ 
ducer of them. Empire is deep ruby red; Purity, pure 
white, the two contrasting magniiicently when seen 
together. In size the fruit is often 214 inches in circumfer¬ 
ence and borne in clusters four inches long, while bushes 
two years from the cuttings yield six to ten quarts each. 
The fruit being so very large and excellent sells readily at 
almost double the price realized for other sorts. It seems 
hardly necessary to say anything more about them. Their 
great value will be apparent. Another valuable point 
about these new Currants is their lateness in ripening, i 
They ripen somewhat later than other varieties, therefore 
escaping the great glut and low prices which Currants 
bring in the height of the fruiting season. Empire and 
Purity coming in later, and being so much finer in size and 
appearance, virtually have the field to themselves. 
Empire— New giant red. | Purity— New giant white. 
30c. each; 1 of each for 50c.; 3 of each for $1.00 , or $3.00 per doz. 
Childs' Giant Ruby— One of the finest of all Currants. It 
is of remarkable strong growth, and in the size and qual¬ 
ity of the fruit it is really a marvel. The berries are 
very large, borne in enormous clusters of twenty to 
thirty, yet leaving room near the wood to make picking 
easily done without bruising or crushing the berries- 
In color they are the most beautiful ruby scarlet, sparl; - 
ling and glossy, and being so large in size they catch 
every eye, and sell more readily and for much better 
prices than any other variety. It is now being largely 
planted where Fay’s and other sorts have been pulled 
out, for it is a greater and surer bearer than any other. 
In this locality it easily produces three or four times as 
much fruit as Fay’s or Cherry, and the fruit is certainly 
much finer in every respect. Mr. N. Hal lock says; “I 
have grown the Giant Ruby Currant for four years. 
Bushes three years set yielded thepast season five pounds 
of fine fruit where Fay’s Prolific, in the same lot, lias 
been an entire failure. Of the seven or eight kinds I 
grow Giant Ruby yields double the quantity of fruit of 
any of them.” 20c. each; 4 for 50c.; 10 for $1, 
