Jane 4, 1868. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTIOULTDRE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



401 



J^ 



^■^h/C^ THE CLOUDBERRY. 

 Q ^Z^^ / MONG those of our native fruits which have 

 H-'"l'.'-''i ""^ y'^^ been brought under and improved by 

 cultivation, this is undoubtedly one of the 

 most interesting. Its popular name of Cloud- 

 berry, suggestive as it is of mist-envelopccl 

 mountain tops, is yet hardly descriptive of 

 the situations in which it is most usually 

 to be found, as these are generally at alti- 

 tudes considerably lower than cloudland, on 

 upland moors, or round the bases of our 

 Highland bens. Sometimes it occurs in scattered plants 

 nestling here and there among the Heather, but more 

 frequently in patches of from a few square yards to an 

 acre in extent. It is, however, far from being a common 

 plant in this countr}', to which circumstance may, perhaps, 

 be attributed much of the interest it excites, as, through- 

 out the Higlilands, it is very uncquall}' distributed, while 

 in the southern counties I am not aware that it is to be 

 found at all. 



My first acquaintance with it, otherwise than from dried 

 specimens, and equally diy descriptions in botanical works, 

 took place in Banfi'shire some years ago. It was during 

 one of those rare intervals when with some misgivings we 

 busy plodders tear ourselves away from, and try to forget 

 for the time being, all those thousand-and-one httle cares 

 and schemes, which, were they not more than counter- 

 balanced by the love of gardening for its own sake, would 

 soon make our path through life a worse than Abyssinian 

 liighway. to enjoy for once a holiday, if a week of un- 

 limited rambling through out-of-the-way places may be so 

 called. Overlooking the extensive grounds and gardens of 

 Cullen House, one of the seats of the Earl of Sealleld, 

 stands the Bin of Cullen, a high conical hill, from the top 

 of which a splendid view can be had of the Moray Firth 

 and the north-eastern seaboard, as far north as the Noss 

 of Wick, and the jagged peaks of Caithness. Having been 

 informed that round the sides of this hill the Cloudberry 

 was to be found in great abundance, we set out from the 

 gardens, and after traversing a mile of deer forest, began 

 tlie ascent. It is no INIont Blanc, certainly, being only 

 1000 feet or so in height, yet, to some of us at least, there 

 was as much freshness and novelty in the feat as though 

 we had aU been members of the Alpine Club, and were 

 just about •' to do " that great Swiss celebrity in the most 

 approved style. As we ascended, the Scotch Pines became 

 mere pigmies, and at last assumed an almost prostrate 

 form, cowering down and leaning over to the inland side 

 from the efi'ects of the sea blasts. Failing to iind the 

 object of our search we made for the summit, where we 

 spent an hour of iminterrupted pleasm'e in surveying the 

 wondrously wild yet beautiful scenery which lay around 

 and below us. Here we were almost within sight of the 

 " ultima Thule " of the British Islands. Away to the 

 south some two hundred miles lay a spot of ground 

 crammed as full with objects demaniUng attention as 

 Pandora's box was with ills to mankind, yet thoughts of 

 these had no power to reach us here, but in thek place 



No. 875.— Vol. XTV, New Series 



was time to gaze our fill at an expanse of land and sea 

 which made one feel little to look at. 



Descending by the opposite side, and picking up by the 

 way some specimens of alpine plants strange to us, we at 

 last came upon the little lUibus — no solitary patch of it, 

 but a track covering one side of a slight ravine for 50 or 

 0(1 yards. This was towards the end of August, and the 

 fruit was mostly gone, evidently eaten by grouse or other 

 moor fowls ; but it was- apparent that tlie crop had been 

 most plentiful, and sufficient was left for us to find that 

 the berries have a peculiarly rich, vinous, and slightly 

 acidulous taste. The plant itself is herbaceous, and 

 seldom attains a height of more than !) or 10 inches. The 

 leaves, large in proportion, arc simple, lobed, and serrated 

 round the edges. The flower is whitish, and the fruit of 

 a rich orange red, and composed of a variable number of 

 drupes, fewer and more irregularly clustered together than 

 in the Raspberry or Bramble, In the Gaelic language it is 

 called Cori-liatit-iiieon, the signification of which I am un- 

 able to give. It is highly prized by the Highlanders, and 

 large quantities are gathered during the season both for 

 home use, being made into preserves, and for sending south. 

 To the sportsman and his gillies, when enjoying their 

 toilsome pastime under a broiling sun, it is also a welcome 

 sight, and I have more than once been questioned by 

 gentlemen, who were iu-st made aware of its unique 

 flavour during the shooting season, as to the possibility of 

 bringing it under cultivation. So far as I am aware, how- 

 ever, no attempt has ever been made to do so, at least, 

 none on a scale and with that degree of systematic per- 

 sistency necessary to secure success ; yet it seems highly 

 probable that if it were crossed with some other herbaceous 

 species of grosser habit (and there are several such), a 

 variety more easily cviltivated might be obtained. As it is, 

 when transported from its native soil and r.ir, it only lives ; 

 it will not p'ow, unless it be to grow " small by degrees 

 and beautifidly less ;" for within the last few years I have 

 several times met with it in gardens, but was always told 

 it would not fruit. 



The Cloudberry is said to attain a much larger size and 

 finer flavour in Lapland and tlie northern parts of Norway 

 and Sweden, but in notices of it given by travellers in 

 these regions it seems to be not unfrcqueutly confounded 

 with Rubus arcticus, which is a species of nearly similar 

 habit, but with purplish fruit, and of even more agreeable 

 taste. This again is given in moL t works on botany as a 

 native of Scotland, and the Island of Mull is invariably 

 quoted as one of its stations. There it is no longer to be 

 found, nor is it, according to some of oiu" best botanists, to 

 be met with anywhere else hi Scotland ; so that either 

 some abnormal form of R. charaajmorus must have been 

 mistaken for it, or it must have become extinct. — Ayr- 

 shire Gardener. 



THE CULTURE AND PROBAGATION OF 

 THE PELARGONIUM. 

 A i-EW remarks on this subject founded upon experience 

 may be useful to a numerous class of your readers ; fcr 

 No. 1027.- Vol. XXXK., Old Series. 



