GOOSEBERRY 



2536 



GOPHER 



fortress and discovered that the enemy had 

 climbed the steep rock and were about to 

 storm the place. Then the other Romans, 

 awakened by the clamor of the frightened 

 birds, hurried from their sleeping places to 

 the spot where the brave consul was defending 

 the walls, and in the battle which followed 

 completely routed the Gauls. 



The Christmas goose is often mentioned in 

 English stories; lovers of Dickens' Christmas 

 Carol will recall its prominence in that favorite 

 among Christmas tales. One of the old, fa- 

 miliar fables is the story of a goose that laid 

 each day a golden egg. How its greedy master 

 killed it and cut it open, hoping to find in its 

 body untold wealth and found nothing, is often 

 told to impress the lesson that greediness never 

 wins us anything. E.T.S. 



Consult Elliott's Wild Fowl of the United States 

 and British Possessions; Shaw's Wild Fowl. Re- 

 lating to domestic varieties, consult Farmers' 

 Bulletin 6-}, United States Department of Agri- 

 culture, "Ducks and Geese." 



GOOSEBERRY, goos'beri, an extensively- 

 cultivated oval berry, popular for jelly, jam, 

 marmalade and pies. It belongs to the same 

 genus as the currant and requires practically 

 the same conditions and care. In color it 

 may be white, 

 yellow, green or 

 red, and may be 

 prickly, hairy or 

 smooth. 



The- shrub 

 which bears 

 gooseberries is 

 strong - growing 

 and upright, with 

 very spiny 

 branches, deeply- 

 lobed leaves and 

 greenish - yellow 

 flowers. It is na- 

 tive to Europe 

 and Asia and has GOOSEBERRIES 



been highly cultivated and prized in England. 

 Early pioneers carried varieties of European 

 gooseberries to America, but they soon per- 

 ished from disease, and the climate did not 

 seem suited to them. In the middle of the 

 nineteenth century, however, the pale red 

 Houghton seedling was produced from a wild 

 North American variety of gooseberry, and 

 that was followed by the large, handsome, pale 

 green Downing. Both species resist mildew 

 and are now widely cultivated. In the United 



States gooseberries of many varieties are grown 

 in the North-Central, Middle Atlantic and 

 Mountain divisions, Illinois and Missouri being 

 the leading states in production ; these two fur- 

 nish about $85,000 worth yearly. Gooseberries 

 are also grown in Canada; it is estimated that 

 in Ontario the yield brings from $100 to $500 

 an acre. 



The origin of the name gooseberry is dis- 

 puted, some authorities attributing it to the 

 rough, bristly surface of the wild berries, a 

 quality of goose flesh or goose skin, others 

 saying it is a modification of the word gorse, 

 meaning prickly. 



There are a number of ornamental species 

 of gooseberry, remarkable for their beautiful 

 white flowers, or handsome leaves and fruits. 



GOOSEFOOT, or CHENOPODIUM, kcnopo' 

 dium, a genus of plants so called from the 

 shape of the leaves. There are about fifty 

 species, most of them useful natives of Europe 

 and temperate regions in Asia, a few found 

 as troublesome weeds in America. One species, 

 however, known as wormseed, is valued in 

 America for oil extracted from the seed and 

 used as a remedy for worms. Another species, 

 known as quinoa, furnishes an important arti- 

 cle of food in South America. 



These plants, with leaves plain or tooth- 

 edged, and small greenish flowers in clusters, 

 are found native in waste places and by road- 

 sides in Europe and Asia. There, the leaves 

 of some are used as a substitute for spinach. 

 Young shoots of others are used as asparagus. 



GOPHER, go' fur, a name given by the early 

 French settlers of North America to various 

 little digging, gnawing animals whose burrows 

 honeycombed the soil. The true gopher, found 

 in Western North America, is a reddish-brown, 

 molelike animal about ten inches long. It 

 is remarkable for having fur-lined pouches on 

 the sides of its face and neck, extending in 

 some species from mouth to shoulders. These 

 pouches are used for carrying dirt from their 

 burrows and to carry their food of grass, roots, 

 nuts, buds and farm vegetables. The front 

 feet of gophers are well fitted for digging, for 

 they have large claws. Gophers are seldom 

 seen, for they go about at night, but little 

 mounds of earth here and there show their 

 presence in the earth. 



A species of gopher found in Gulf states is 

 called salamander. The common striped go- 

 pher, or prairie squirrel, of the Western plains 

 is quite a different animal, more closely allied 

 to chipmunks. It does considerable damage 



