This section is from the book "The Gardener's Monthly And Horticulturist V28", by Thomas Meehan. See also: Four-Season Harvest: Organic Vegetables from Your Home Garden All Year Long.
Most persons know that the currant of the grocer, is a grape that produces no seeds; and, because it produces no seeds, the berries are only half the size of an ordinary grape. It is supposed that these facts arise from imperfect fertilization. A correspondent inquires why the grape is produced at all, if the fertilization is defective. In short, he wants to know the exact meaning of imperfect fertilization. The honest answer to this is, that we do not know. Though the currant has been known so long, we are not aware of any scientific treatise on the method of its fertilization - for we take it for granted there must be some pollen influence in order to have a fruit set at all, though it may not become of full size or perfect its seeds.
 
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