Nor is this
condition of affairs a thing of the past. Drive through the land
where you will in early July, and you will see farmers mowing
round the venerable Red Dutch currants "to give the women-folks a
chance at 'em." The average farmer still bestows upon this fruit
about as much attention as the aborigines gave to their patches of
maize. This seems very absurd when we remember the important place
held in the domestic economy by the currant, and how greatly it
improves under decent treatment. If it demanded the attention
which a cabbage-plant requires, it would be given; but the currant
belongs to that small class of creatures which permit themselves
to be used when wanted, and snubbed, neglected, and imposed upon
at other times. It is known that the bushes will manage to exist,
and do the Very best they can, no matter how badly treated; and
average human nature has ever taken advantage of such traits, to
its continuous loss.
The patience of the currant is due perhaps to its origin, for it
grows wild round the northern hemisphere, its chief haunts being
the dim, cold, damp woods of the high latitudes. You may tame,
modify, and vastly change anything possessing life; but original
traits are scarcely ever wholly eradicated. Therefore the natural
habitat and primal qualities of the currant indicate the true
lines of development, its capabilities and limitations.
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