THE SMALL FRUITS OF NEW YORK 315 



considerable length from several pomological writers from Parkinson to the 

 present time. The next Englishman to write at length of gooseberries 

 was John Rea,^ gardener and author, who published his Flora, Ceres &■ 

 Pomona in 1665. Under the chapter heading Grossularia, Rea says: 



" Goosberries are of divers sorts and colours, as red, blue, yellow, white, 

 and green; some of them rovind, others long; some smooth, and others prickly. 



" Of red Goosberries there are three sorts, one small and round, seldom 

 bearing; another bigger and a little flat, but no very good bearer; the third 

 is called the Damson Goosberry, this is a good bearer, the Berries large, round, 

 and red, and (when full ripe) with a blue tincture over them like a Damson. 



" The blue Goosberry hath the Berries thinly set on the branches, which 

 are small, a little long, and of a dark red colour, tinctured over with blue. 



" Yellow Goosberries are of several sorts, one large, round, and smooth; 

 others lesser; some long and prickly, of which there are two sorts chiefly 

 esteemed; the first round, smooth, large and good, of a bright yellow colour, 

 and called the Amber Goosberry; the other is large, long, and prickly, of a 

 deep yellow colour and good taste, and is called the great Hedge-hog Goosberry. 



" The white Holland Goosberry is the fairest, biggest, and best bearer 

 of all others; the Berries are large, round, smooth, white, transparent, and 

 weU-tasted. 



" The green Goosberry is of two sorts, one bigger and longer than the 

 other, both very green and good, but the bigger is most esteemed." 



Skipping a hundred years and a little more, thereby passing over a 

 number of excellently written English agriculture books which have more 

 or less to say about gooseberries, let us take as the next author who 

 describes gooseberries, Mawe. In his Dictionary of Gardening and Botany, 

 1778, Mawe- describes 24 gooseberries as follows: 



" Varieties of the different species. Many varieties of Gooseberries 

 have been raised from seeds; some having round berries, others oval; some 

 hairy and some smooth, and of different colours, as Red — Green — Yellow 



— White, &c. consisting of the following varieties of each sort. 



''Red Kinds. — Hairj^ Red Gooseberry — Smooth Red Gooseberry — 

 Deep Red Gooseberry — Damson, or Dark-red Blueish Gooseberry — Red 

 Raspberry Gooseberry — Early Black-red Gooseberry. 



" Green Kinds. — Hairy Green Gooseberry — Smooth Green Gooseberry 



— Green Gascoigne Gooseberry — Green Raspberry Gooseberr}^ 



''Yellow Kinds. — Great oval Yellow Gooseberry — Great Amber 

 Gooseberry — Hairy Amber Gooseberry — Early Amber Gooseberry. 



" White Kinds. — Large White Crystal Gooseberry — Common White 

 Gooseberry — White-veined Gooseberry. 



' Rea, John Flora 3:230. 1665. 



- Mawe-.Abercrombie V'niv. Card. Bot. 1778. 



