As to the native home of the currants, opinions have considerably differed. Some have supposed Zante or Naxos to have been the original home of this grape; while others, with better reasons, have held that their original home was Corinth. Beaujour, who was French consul in Greece in 1790, says: “The fruit is not indigenous to Morea. No writer before the sixteenth century mentions it, and the result of my inquiries is that the currant came from Naxos into the Morea about 1580. It is true no such plant now exists in Naxos, but it has similarly disappeared from the territory of Corinth, though it is very certain it was cultivated there in former days, when the Venetians held the country.” This account does not agree with the statements of Comte Grasset St. Sauveur, consul to the Ionian Islands from France in 1781. He states, in his History of the Ionian Islands, that “the first plants were imported from Corinth to Zante about two centuries ago” (or about 1580). There are no exact records of the time or of the introducer; but the date is fixed by the regulations of the Senate of Venice relating to custom duties. It is likely this introduction took place not much before 1553, and was caused by the hostility of the Turks, who then held Morea, to the merchant vessels of the other nations of Europe, who in fact forbade them any entrance to the Gulf of Corinth, the principal export place for the currants. Thus John Locke, who in 1553 describes Zante, speaks of other products of the island, but not of currants.
Hakluyt states that, in 1586, the chief commodities of the island were “oyle and currants.” The latter, then, must have been introduced some time in the middle of the sixteenth century. Lithgow, a Scotch traveler who in 1609 visited the islands and published an account of the same in 1633, informs us that, besides oyle and wine, Zante produced one hundred and sixty thousand chickens of currants, each chicken of gold being equal to nine shillings of English money. And he adds that the custom duties on those currants amounted to twenty-two thousand piasters (one piaster is equivalent to six shillings), a sum of money which those Islanders could not have afforded (they having been, not above sixty years ago, but a base, beggarly people, and in an obscure place) if it were not that in England there are some who cannot digest bread, etc., without these currants. This seems to imply that, since the introduction of the currant culture in the Island of Zante about the year 1550, the Zanteans had suddenly become comparatively wealthy. So suddenly had this important industry spread, that in 1610, according to Sandys, the chief export of both Zante and Cephalonia was currants. In 1612, Coryat says that “Zante is famous for its wine, oile and currants.” Fynes Moryson, in his “Itinerary” published in 1617, states that “the English merchant vessels exported currants from Zante and Cephalonia, and from Petrasso in the Gulfe of Corinth.” Tavernier says, in 1678, that, “Corinth exports great quantities of currants. Patras does the same, which is all the trade from those two places.” In 1682, Wheler states that “the ports of Patros, Nathaligo and Missolonghi, all three together having enough to lade only one good ship every year.” Randolph, in 1689, mentions that currants were first planted on the plains of Corinth, and that the plain about Vostizza produced corn, currants and wine. Of Zante, he says that it produced two thousand tons of currants. Thus it will seem as if, through the fostering care of the Venetians, the currant trade was transplanted from the mainland of Morea to the Islands of Zante and Cephalonia, there to become of almost national importance. Until the Turks were expelled from Morea, the latter never made any serious efforts to recover the lost trade. First in later times the culture of currants has again spread on the mainland, especially on the northern shore of the Gulf of Corinth, and to-day the combined production of the Morean vineyards is largely in excess of that of the Ionian Islands.
In our times the currants are exported either from the mainland of Greece, the Morea, the ancient Peloponnesus, or from the Grecian Islands,—Cephalonia and Zante. In Morea, the principal ports for the exportation of the currants are Patras and Vostizza, although other ports export a few. Even the Islands of Ithaca and Santa Maura contribute a few. Efforts have been made to extend the culture of the currant vine, and introduce it to other islands, but not with any great degree of success. This is entirely attributed to climatic conditions.
Characteristics and Quality.
—The currants are small, seedless raisins produced from the currant grape, which again is characterized by small clusters, which, when perfect, are very compact like the heads of Indian corn or maize. The skin of the berries is thin, the pulp very sweet, with a strong flavor and aroma. The raisins are similarly aromatic and very sweet, sometimes semi-transparent, but generally dark violet. The flavor of the raisins is entirely distinct from the Muscatel, and is very superior to that of the also seedless Sultana raisins.
Soil and Irrigation.
—The soil best suited to the currant grape is a calcareous marl, which must be of good depth, loose, and easily worked. Such marls are also prized for their great power of retaining moisture. But vineyards are planted in Cephalonia, Zante and Ithaca in the most different soils and situations. They are found in gray marls, in red clay, on the plains and among the hills, in fact, in the most widely different situations. The soil of Zante contains a small percentage of sulphate of lime or gypsum, which is by many considered indispensable for the successful and profitable culture of the currant vine. The currant vine thrives especially in low and rich land which can be irrigated, and irrigation is quite essential to the perfect development of the grapes. Many vineyards, however, are not irrigated, the irrigation, of course, only being practicable on the plains. This irrigation is practiced from October to the end of December, often while the natural rainfall supplies the artificial watering. The lands are generally small freeholdings, owned by the peasants. The most valuable currant vineyards are situated on the rich and level valley lands.
Preparation of the Land for Irrigation.
—The preparation of the land for a currant vineyard is expensive, as the land is hardly ever level enough to admit of the vines being immediately planted. The surface is therefore first leveled and divided up in smaller cheeks or flats, each one surrounded by a bank. The whole is covered with a network of ditches, which are necessary for the perfect irrigation of the soil. Where there is water enough, the vineyards are irrigated in November and December, and are then flooded as often as practicable, the water sometimes standing on the ground for weeks in succession. In perfectly arranged vineyards, the irrigation is so managed that the water flows from one check to another, and is first shut off at the advent of the New Year, when the pruning and cultivation begins. By this plentiful irrigation, the ground becomes thoroughly soaked, and remains saturated until the next season, when rain again sets in and fills the irrigation canals. No summer irrigation is used in old vineyards, and in young vineyards only in case of great necessity.