270 VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. 



jng-, but the stems last only two years. Both the 

 red and the white varieties are natives of Britain, 

 and prefer situations that are shaded and rather moist. 

 The uses of the raspberry, both for the table and for 

 sweetmeats, are well known. Though the flavour of 

 raspberries is peculiar, it is one which is very gene- 

 rally liked ; but it is the most fleeting with which we 

 are acquainted. Even a few hours will diminish it; 

 and if the berries be kept for two or tliree days, the 

 flavour is almost entirely gone. Even on the bush, the 

 flavour does not continue above two or three days after 

 the fruit is ripe. Raspberries, indeed, to be enjoyed 

 in perfection, should be eaten from the bush. They 

 require less attendance than almost any other fruit ; 

 and if the twice-bearing kind be mixed with the others, 

 they may be continued till November. The shrubs 

 come into full bearing about three years after the 

 planting of the stools or roots, and they last good for 

 about three years more, at the end of which they 

 begin to degenerate. The common mode of propa- 

 gation is by cuttings, which should always be taken 

 from plants that are in their prime bearing condition, 

 on or about the fourth year after they ai'e planted. A 

 quantity of peat or bog-earth greatly improves both 

 the size and the flavour of raspberries. New varieties 

 may easily be obtained from the seed, the plants raised 

 from which begin to bear the second year. There 

 are thirty -five varieties of raspberry mentioned in the 

 Fruit Catalogue of the Horticultural Society; of 

 which the ditterences in quality are very considerable. 

 Gardeners in general appear to have paid too little 

 attention to these differences. 



The Strawberry — Fragaria vesca. 



No vegetable production of the colder latitudes, 

 or which can be ripened in those latitudes without 



