138 Fruits and Fruit- Trees. 



excellent feature of which last is that the fruit hangs per- 

 fect upon the branches until with old age it must needs 

 drop. " Lee's Prolific," large and very sweet, is a capital 

 sort. A curious variety is met with occasionally in which 

 the berries are of a golden-amber colour, interesting to 

 the botanist, but of no economic value. 



No other currants yet discovered compare in value 

 with the above-named. That inestimable spring-flowering 

 shrub, the scarlet-flowering currant, Ribes sanguineum, 

 introduced from the coasts of north-west North America, 

 in 1826 raised from seeds, rather, sent home by the 

 ill-fated David Douglas produces abundance of berries, 

 covered with greyish " bloom," but they are insipid and 

 worthless. The fruit of the Ribes mebrians, also North 

 American, is said to possess narcotic properties; and 

 several others may perhaps, by culture, be rendered valu- 

 able to mankind. So far, reputation lies with the two 

 far-famed European species. 



THE GOOSEBERRY (Ribes Grossularia). 



THE Gooseberry is a native of central and southern 

 Europe, also of western Asia, occurring in the Caucasus, 

 and under different forms, in the Himalayas. As a rule, 

 when wild, it dwells in thickets, especially where the 

 ground is rocky. In England, though often met with in 

 the recesses of sylvan dells, it is but doubtfully indigenous. 

 All the seemingly wild examples are descendants probably 



