sorts. It is generally supposed that this is effected by variation of soil and climate; and as it is well known that every cultivated vegetable degenerates when repeatedly sown in the same soil, it is by no means improbable that the quality of fruit trees might be very much improved by raising them from the seed, in situations as different as possible from those in which the seed is produced.

The gooseberry plant, under favourable circumstances, will attain a considerable age, and grow to a great size. At Duffield, near Derby, there was, in 1821, a bush ascertained to have been planted at least forty-six years, the branches of which extended twelve yards in circumference. At the garden of the late Sir Joseph Banks, at Overton Hall, near Chesterfield, there were, at the same time, two remarkable gooseberry plants, trained against a wall, measuring each upwards of fifty feet from one extremity to the other*.

The yellow gooseberries have, in general, a more rich and vinous flavour than the white: they are, on that account, the best for the dessert, and also for being fermented into wine. When the sort is choice, and well picked, so that none of the fruit is damaged, or over or under ripe, and when the wine is properly made, it often puzzles an unpractised taste to distinguish the wine of the best yellow gooseberries from champaign. It has the flavour and colour, and it mantles like the best of the foreign wine.

Generally speaking, the green gooseberries are inferior to the yellow, and even to the white: many of them, however, run large, and are used for the sake of appearance. Large gooseberries in general, and large green ones in particular, are thick in the husk, and contain less pulp than those of a smaller size; while the flavour is in general rich in proportion to

Hort. Trans. vol. v.

the thinness of the husk. Some of the larger greens, especially those that are smooth, gourd-shaped, and of a brownish tinge, are almost tasteless, or even disagreeable.

The red gooseberries are very various in flavour, but are commonly more acid than the others. The same may be said of most other fruits; and it agrees with the well-known fact that acids change the vege table blues to red. In many fruits, and the gooseberry in particular, the amber colour is accompanied by the richest vinous flavour, while the white tends to insipidity. When the green is deep and pure, sweetness seems to be the leading characteristic, as in the Gascoigne gooseberry, the green-gage plum, and the small green summer pear, known in Scotland by the name of the "Pinkey green." Among the red gooseberries there are, however, many exceptions. Some of the older and smaller red sorts (especially that known by the name of the "old ironmonger') are very sweet. It would be unavailing to fix upon any particular kind of gooseberry as the best, as every year produces new varieties. In the fruit catalogue of the Horticultural Society there are nearly two hundred kinds enumerated, of which about a hundred and fifty are the large Lancashire gooseberries.

The cultivation of gooseberries forms a pleasing occupation amongst the manufacturers of that part of the kingdom; and the custom has doubtless a tendency to improve both the health and the morals of the people. Any pursuit which makes men acquainted with the peculiarities of vegetable economy, in however small a degree, has a beneficial effect upon the heart and understanding: and it is certainly better for weavers and nailers to vie with each other in raising the largest gooseberries, than in those games of chance or cruel sports, to which the few leisure hours of the working classes are too often devoted. The one is a rational and innocent emulation; the other,

a degrading excitement, or a brutal indulgence. The names of the Lancashire gooseberries are indicative of their humble origin." Jolly Miner," "Jolly Painter," ""Lancashire Lad," Pastime," "Top

66

Sawyer," and so forth, may appear odd to a foreigner; but they are characteristic of the manners of the country in which they are produced, as the highsounding titles which distinguish the fruits of other nations are indicative of theirs.

The gooseberry shows of Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, and other manufacturing counties, are conducted with great system; and an annual account of them, forming a little volume, is printed and published at Manchester. The heaviest gooseberry which appears to have received a prize, was exhibited at the Shakspeare Tavern, Nantwich, in 1825 it weighed 31 dwts. 16 grains. The prizes given on these occasions are adapted to the manners of the homely people who contend for them, being generally either a pair of sugar-tongs, a copper teakettle (the favourite prize), a cream-jug, or a corner cupboard. The proceedings of these contests, and the arrangements for future years, are registered with as much precision as the records of horse-racing; and, doubtless, the triumphs which are thus handed down to the collier's or the weaver's children, by the additions which the goodman makes to his household ornaments, are as deeply valued as the "gold cups" of Newmarket.

THE RASPBERRY—Rubus idæus.

This plant obtains its common name from the rough and bristly appearance of the fruit. The French call the raspberry "Ronce du Mont Ida," (in common parlance, "Framboise,") considering it a native of that classic ground, for which they have the authority of Pliny. The root is perennial and spread

ing, but the stems last only two years. Both the red and the white varieties are natives of Britain, and prefer situations that are shaded and rather moist. The uses of the raspberry, both for the table and for sweetmeats, are well known. Though the flavour of raspberries is peculiar, it is one which is very generally liked; but it is the most fleeting with which we are acquainted. Even a few hours will diminish it; and if the berries be kept for two or three days, the flavour is almost entirely gone. Even on the bush, the flavour does not continue above two or three days after the fruit is ripe. Raspberries, indeed, to be enjoyed in perfection, should be eaten from the bush. They require less attendance than almost any other fruit; and if the twice-bearing kind be mixed with the others, they may be continued till November. The shrubs come into full bearing about three years after the planting of the stools or roots, and they last good for about three years more, at the end of which they begin to degenerate. The common mode of propagation is by cuttings, which should always be taken from plants that are in their prime bearing condition, on or about the fourth year after they are planted. A quantity of peat or bog-earth greatly improves both the size and the flavour of raspberries. New varieties may easily be obtained from the seed, the plants raised from which begin to bear the second year. There are thirty-five varieties of raspberry mentioned in the Fruit Catalogue of the Horticultural Society; of which the differences in quality are very considerable. Gardeners in general appear to have paid too little attention to these differences.

THE STRAWBERRY-Fragaria vesca.

No vegetable production of the colder latitudes, or which can be ripened in those latitudes without

the assistance of artificial heat, is at all comparable with the strawberry in point of flavour; and, if the soil and situation be properly adapted to it, the more cold the climate, indeed the more bleak and elevated, the more delicious is the berry. The fine aroma of the strawberry is not quite so evanescent as that of the raspberry; but it is by no means durable, and the berries can be had in absolute perfection only when taken from the plants, and in dry weather, for a very slight shower will render the strawberry comparatively flavourless. The soils and situations in which the strawberry and the raspberry come to the greatest perfection are the very opposites of each other. The strawberry, in all its varieties, certainly in all the finest of them, is a sort of rock plant; and soil which contains a good deal of decomposed rock, more especially if that rock be greenstone, or any other containing much clay, produces fruit of the finest flavour. The places where the strawberry is the finest, as raised for the market, and of course as produced at the least expense of artificial culture, are probably Edinburgh and Dundee, at both of which the soil is of the description mentioned.

The strawberry is very widely diffused, being found in most parts of the world, especially in Europe and America. Its common name is peculiar to England, and is supposed to have been derived from the custom of laying straw under strawberry plants when their fruit begins to swell. Others, however, contend it is strayberry, from its trailing along the ground. The gardener of Sir Joseph Banks revived this old method with advantage. The fruit was known in London, as an article of ordinary consumption, in the time of Henry VI. In a poem of that age, called London Lyckpeny,' by John Lidgate, who died about 1483, we find the following lines: