96 
JOnRiVAL  OR  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
February  3,  1898. 
wliisky  being  poured  over  them  and  allowed  to  stand  for  a  week  or 
a  fortnight  closely  covered,  then  to  be  strained  and  put  in  bottles.  It 
may  be  pardonable  to  refer  to  this,  but  I  once  had  an  opportunity  in 
Ireland  to  try  some  “  medicine  ”  of  the  kind  described,  and  it  was 
undoubtedly  both  palatable  and  cheering,  but  whether  that  was  due 
to  the  good  quality  of  the  whisky  or  to  the  Black  Currants  I  have 
not  yet  determined. 
It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  Black  Currant  should  have  been  so 
long  cultivated  without  producing  any  varieties,  for  in  1824  Loudon 
placed  it  on  record  that,  “  There  are  no  varieties  of  the  Black  Currant.” 
The  author  named  in  the  previous  paragraph  (Forsyth)  mentions,  it  is 
true,  we  have  “  the  common  Black  and  American  Black  Currants,” 
but  I  have  failed  to  obtain  any  explanation  of  this,  unless  the  term 
“American”  refers  to  some  species,  such  as  Eibes  floridum,  which 
bears  black  fruits.  In  “Loudon’s  Magazine”  for  1828  a  correspon¬ 
dent  refers  to  a  white-fruited  variety  of  Black  Currant  which  had 
been  found  in  a  cottager’s  garden  near  Bath  a  year  or  two  before, 
but  beyond  that  I  have  failed  to  find  any  record  of  an  established 
variety  until  some  years  later. 
The  first  edition  of  the  late  Dr.  Hogg’s  “Fruit  Manual”  was 
issued,  I  believe,  about  1845,  and  in  it  three  varieties  are  named — the 
Old  Black,  Ogden’s  Black,  and  Black  Naples,  the  author  saying  the 
second  variety  “  is  very  fine  and  large,  the  berries  measuring  some¬ 
times  half  an  inch  in  diameter ;  the  clusters  are  also  much  larger  than 
in  any  other  variety  of  Black  Currant.”  This  would  appear  to  indi¬ 
cate  that  the  author  was  acquainted  with  some  not  included  in  his 
list.  Fifteen  years  subsequently  (1860),  when  the  second  edition  of 
the  “  Fruit  Manual  ”  was  published,  the  same  varieties  are  again 
the  only. ones  named;  but  there  are  some  corrections  due  to  further 
experience,  as  it  is  there  said  of  the  Common  Black,  “  This  is  much 
inferior  to  Black  Naples  and  Ogden’s  Black,  and  not  worth  culti¬ 
vation.”  Of  Ogden’s  Black  it  is  said,  “  This  is  not  so  large  as  Black 
Naples,  but  considerably  better  in  every  respect  than  the  Common 
Black ;  the  bush  is  hardier  than  Black  Naples while  of  the  last 
named  variety  Dr.  Ilogg  says,  “  The  berries  are  larger  than  those  c  f 
any  other  variety,  frequently'  measuring  about  three-quarters  of  an 
inch  in  diameter ;  milder  and  sweeter  than  any  other  Black  Currant, 
and  the  best  of  all  the  black  varieties.”  Black  Grape  is  given  as  a 
synonym  of  Ogden’s,  and  New  Black  as  a  synonym  of  Black  Naples. 
I  have  not  succeedotl  in  ascertaining  the  origin  of  the  last-named 
variety,  but  in  an  American  work  by  Andrew  Fuller,  published  in 
1867,  it  is  described  in  similar  terms  to  those  in  the  “  Fruit  Manual,” 
with  the  synomyn  “  Cassis  lloyal  of  Naples.”  The  word  Cassis  is 
applied  to  the  Black  Currant  by  the  French,  and  has  been  used  by 
most  of  the  old  writers,  though  an  older  name  is  Poivrier,  and 
Groseiller  Noir  is  also  given  by  C.  Bailey  in  his  “  IManuel  du 
Jardinier,”  in  1829,  with  Cassis.  Whether  the  variety  Black  Naples 
reached  America  from  France  I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain,  but  it 
is  the  only  clue  research  has  afforded  me.  Perhaps  some  readers  can 
throw  a  light  on  the  origin  of  this  Black  Currant,  as  it  is  still  one  of 
the  best  in  cultivation. 
The  eighth  edition  of  the  “  Fruit  Manual,”  issued  in  1884,  contains 
descriptions  of  two  other  varieties  in  addition  to  those  in  the  preceding 
issues.  Taking  them  in  chronological  order  Lee’s  Prolific  Black  was 
raised.  Dr.  Ilogg  tells  us,  by  Mr.  George  Lee,  markec  gardener  of 
Clevedon,  in  Somerset,  and  it  received  a  first-class  certificate  from  the 
Koyal  Horticultural  Society  in  1869.  Further,  after  stating  that  the 
berries  were  “  as  large,  or  larger,  than  those  of  Black  Naples,”  the 
author  says,  “  This  is  by  far  the  best  of  all  the  Black  Currants.” 
With  regard  to  this  I  have  in  my  memory  examples  of  Lee’s  Prolific 
grown  fifteen  years  ago,  which  exactly  corresponded  with  the 
description  in  the  “  Fruit  Manual,”  but  the  variety  I  have  had  or  seen 
under  this  name  within  the  past  six  years  is  much  inferior  to  Black 
Naples ;  it  does  not  grow  freely,  bears  scanty  crops,  and  the  individual 
berries  are  small.  In  short,  it  seems  to  me  that  in  some  cases  the 
common  old  Black  has  been  distributed  under  this  name.  In  the  form 
I  have  obtained  it  Lee’s  Prolific  is  not  worth  growing,  and  Ogden’s  13 
little  better. 
The  second  variety  alluded  to  is  Black  Champion,  and  I  well 
remember  when  this  was  first  shown  by  Mr.  Dunnett  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Koyal  Horticultural  Society  on  August  9th,  1881,  when  the 
Fruit  Committee  awarded  a  first-class  certificate  for  it.  I  measured 
berries  that  were  over  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  the 
fruits  shown  were  probably  the  finest  examples  of  Black  Currant  ever 
exhibited.  Shortly  afterwards  I  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing  the 
original  plants  growing  in  Mr.  Dunnett’s  garden  in  Essex,  and  for 
vigour  of  habit,  free  bearing,  and  distinct  rich  flavour  of  the  berries- 
the  variety  was  all  that  could  be  wished.  As  seen  then  and  several 
times  subsequently,  I  should  have  had  no  hesitation  in  placing  this 
variety  before  all  Black  Currants  known  to  me ;  but  unfortunately 
subsequent  experience  has  been  similar  to  that  with  Lee’s  Prolific,  for 
though  large  berries  are  obtained  from  the  variety  I  have  grown  under 
that  name,  they  are  not  sufficiently  abundant,  nor  is  the  plant  of  the 
free  habit  it  should  be  to  commend  it  to  a  grower  who  has  to  sell  the 
produce.  Whether  this  is  due  to  deterioration  or  to  inferior  varieties 
being  substituted  for  it  I  am  not  prepared  to  say,  but  in  my  experience 
1  have  seen  special  conditions  or  cultural  methods  result  in  great 
variations  in  the  size  of  Black  Currant  fruit,  nearly  as  much  as  there 
is  between  varieties.  Some  nurserymen  regard  Black  Champion  as 
identical  with  Baldwin’s,  but  my  plants  of  the  former  will  not  compare 
with  this  iu  growth  or  productiveness,  though  I  know  several  market 
growers  who  have  Baldwin’s  under  the  two  names. 
One  variety  which  has  come  into  cultivation  since  the  last  edition 
of  the  “  Fruit  Manual  ”  is  Baldwin’s  Black,  already  referred  to,  and 
which  is  said  to  have  been  raised  in  Kent,  but  as  to  the  precise  time 
of  its  introduction  I  have  no  certain  information.  It  is,  however,  a 
useful  variety,  strong  iu  habit,  very  prolific,  somewhat  earlier  than 
Black  Naples  and  with  larger  average  fruit,  and  together  they  con¬ 
stitute  all  that  any  grower  can  require  in  Black  Currants. — Fecit 
G  aowEE. 
P.S. — Since  writing  the  above  notes  with  regrrd  to  the  Black 
Naples  Currant  I  have  referred  to  the  “  Hortus  Duroverni,”  a  cata¬ 
logue  issued  by  W.  Masters,  nurseryman,  of  Canterbury,  iu  1831,  in 
which  a  list  of  Currants  is  given,  and  amongst  them  is  the  “Black’ 
and  “  Naples  Black,”  so  that  the  variety  would  apjiear  to  have  been 
in  cultivation  at  least  fi  teen  years  before  the  first  edition  of  the 
“  Fruit  LVianual  ”  was  published. — F.  G. 
(To  be  continued.) 
AMONG  THE  HARDY  FLOWERS. 
The  harvest  of  the  gardener  comes  not  in  autumn  alone.  At  all 
seasons  he  may  reap  some  reward  for  his  toil  and  care.  I.ven  the 
grower  of  hardy  flowers  alone  may  seldom  be  without  the  rec  anpeuse 
given  by  the  plants  he  cherishes.  At  times  the  harve>t  is  scant,  but 
it  is  his  own  lault  if  he  is  long  without  some  flower  to  yield  him 
delight.  '1  he  dying  time  ot  the  old  year  and  the  fi'st  days  of  the 
new  are,  jierhaps,  Ins  fasting  time,  unless  hard  frost  jirevail  when  the 
longer  days  are  well  on  the  way.  So  now,  in  this  mild  season,  the 
garden’s  dwellers  begin  to  give  more  than  a  gleaner’s  share,  to  him 
who  loves  them.  Even  with  weather  saddening  to  the  optimist,  and 
more  than  confirming  the  grumbling  of  the  pessimist,  the  flowers  have 
come  on  apace.  They  have  sprung  into  birth  as  rose  the  Highland 
host  on  the  hillside  at  the  signal  of  Eoderick  Dhu.  From  mound  of 
grey  pink  or  green  and  Mossy  Saxifrage  Snovv'drops  and  Crocus 
have  emerged.  The  grass  of  the  lawn,  the  meadow,  and  woodland 
are  sprinkled  or  made  white  with  the  pendent  blooms,  or  are 
gay  with  the  coloured  spires  or  cups  of  the  Crocus.  The  Winter 
Aconite  is  more  plentilul  now  than  when  last  we  wrote,  and  its 
cheerful  little  flowers  have  companionship  in  their  yellow  colouring 
now. 
The  glaucous  grey-leaved  Barbary  Eagwort  (Othonnopsis  cheiri- 
folia)  has  a  few  of  its  yellow  flowers  nearly  open,  looking  pretty,  as  if 
set  in  a  grey-coloured  fluted  cup.  Yellow  Crocuses  are  fairly  plentiful 
now,  for  C.  gargaricus,  C.  aureus,  C.  ancyrensis,  and  C.  vitellinus  are 
all  in  bloom.  Some  of  the  pot  Marigolds  have  not  been  vanquished 
by  the  winter’s  days,  and  with  a  Doronicum  or  two  keep  up  the 
colour’s  claims.  Snowdrops  are  plentiful,  and  the  eye  is  delighted 
with  their  charms  of  purity  and  form.  Their  beauty  is  not  challenged, 
but  their  place  in  our  hearts  is  not  uncontested,  for  the  Snowflake  has 
come  to  draw  us  to  admire  its  beauty  and  its  grace.  The  varieties  of 
Erica  carnea  have  not  yet  reached  the  zenith  of  their  beauty,  but 
