uncertainty as to the source from which the English name has been 

 derived. According to some authorities, Gooseberry is a corruption of 

 of Gorseberry, a name given on account of the bushes being prickly, like 

 gorse or furze. Others assert that the name was originally Grosberry, 

 derived from the specific one. Then, again, other writers say that the 

 name originated through the fruit being commonly used in England 

 as a sauce for young, or green geese. In some of the northern counties 

 of England the fruit is commonly known as the Feaberry (Fever Berry) 

 In some places this name is abbreviated to Feabes. A common name 

 for the fruit in Scotland is Grozet or Grozer. Carberry is another name 

 used in some parts of England for this fruit. In its wild state the 

 fruit of the Goosebery is very small, and has a poor appearance in 

 comparison with the cultivated varieties. Unlike most improved fruits, 

 however, the Goosebery in its wild state has a richer flavour, if anything, 

 than the improved varieties. Cultivation has greatly altered the fruit 

 in size, but has not improved its flavour. 



Edible fruits that may be classed as Gooseberries are yielded by several 

 American species, the more prominent being as follows. Ribes cynosbata 

 which is widely distributed in the United States and Canada, where it 

 is known as the Prickly-fruited Gooseberry. Ribes divaricatum which is 

 also widely dispersed, yields a small but pleasant fruit, as does also Ribes 

 hirtellum. Ribes Menziesii a species indigenous to California, has large 

 but somewhat dry berries. Ribes niveum, an Oregon species, has small 

 dark berries that have a rich vinous flavour, but are somewhat acid. 

 Ribes oxycanthoideSj indigenous to the mountain regions of California, 

 where it is found at an attitude of from six to nine thousand feet, has 

 pleasantly flavoured berries of medium size. Ribes quercetorum, a species 

 with well flavoured berries, is the Wild Gooseberry of California. Ribes 

 rotundifolia a species with small richly flavoured berries is indigenous to 

 Canada and the Northern United States. 



The Gooseberry appears to have been quite unknown to the nations of 

 antiquity, as no mention is made of it in their records. As to when it 

 was first cultivated in England there is no evidence, but it was 

 mentioned by the oldest writers upon British husbandry (Tusser and 

 Gerard). The last-named writer says that in his time Gooseberries were 

 generally used " in sauces for meats, also in broths, to which they not 

 only gave a pleasant taste but made them serviceable to those troubled 

 with the ague." Parkinson, another standard English writer, tells us that 

 in his time <; the green berries were much used when boiled as a sauce for 

 meat or fish, and more especially with mackerel/' Gordon, a prominent 

 Scotch horticulturist, writing in 1774, enumerates twenty varieties of 

 Gooseberries as being cultivated in his time. Among the sorts mentioned 

 by him are the Champagne, Ironmonger, and one or two others that still 

 hold their own in collections. 



USES. 



The Gooseberry is a useful fruit, both for dessert and culinary purposes, 

 and it is turned to good account in several other ways. As a dessert 



