i8Si.] CULTIVATION OF THE GOOSEBERRY. 315 



by its abundant and profitable produce the skill of tbe gardener, and by- 

 its increased size the care of the amateur grower. Indeed, the success 

 which has attended its culture under the spare hours of the artisan 

 seems to entitle it to the distinctive appellation of the poor man's fruit. 



It has been ascertained that under favourable circumstances the 

 Gooseberry will attain to a considerable age and grow to a great size. 

 Bushes have been grown to measure from twelve to eighteen yards in 

 circumference after being planted about fifty years. The garden of 

 Sir Joseph Banks, at Overton Hall, near Chesterfield, contained at 

 one time two remarkable Gooseberry plants. They were trained 

 against a wall, and the branches of each measured upwards of fifty 

 feet. In this country the plant shows a marked preference to cool 

 situations. The fruit in the southern parts of England is not nearly 

 so good as it is in the north, and in general the flavour of the Scotch 

 Gooseberry is much superior to those produced in any part of England ; 

 while in Scotland itself, the Gooseberries grown about Dundee, Aber- 

 deen, and Inverness, exceed in flavour those grown in the southern 

 counties. 



As far as regards mere size and appearance, however, the Gooseberries 

 of Lancashire are unequalled by any in the world. Growers there 

 have devoted so much attention to them as to have attained to almost 

 absolute perfection in the matter of their cultivation. In the counties 

 of Lancashire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, and Warwickshire, the striking 

 improvement which has taken place in the cultivation of the Goose- 

 berry is to be attributed less to the professional gardeners or market- 

 gardeners, than to the mechanics who very generally spend their leisure 

 time in the pleasing occupation of gardening, and particularly in the 

 culture of the Gooseberry; and it is to their industry and perseverance 

 that we owe the production of most of our largest and best varieties. 

 The custom of gardening has 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 working men to vie with each other in raising 

 large Gooseberries, than in those games of chance, and in cruel sports, 

 to which the leisure hours of the working classes have been too often 

 devoted. The one is a rational and innocent emulation, the other a 

 degenerating excitement or a brutal indulgence. 



The origin of the different kinds of Lancashire Gooseberries is often 

 indicated by their names, which are generally fanciful, often local and 

 personal, sometimes even absurd, but frequently characteristic of the 

 manners of the county in which they are produced. Galloper, Green 

 Corduroy, Tom Joiner, Lancashire Witches, Dan's Mistake, Roaring 

 Lion, Richmond Lads, Cheshire Lasses, Jolly Miner, Porcupine, Jolly 

 Painter, Top Sawyer, Crown Bob, (fee, are sufficient specimens. It is 

 not to be expected that so much attention should, however, be given 



