THE RASPBERRY. 563 



dust, and particles of decayed leaves, in which case it should be washed 

 and dried on a sieve, or by hanging up in the fruit-room before it is 

 presented at the dessert. The currant, like the gooseberry, is attacked 

 by the larvae of moths, by a species of aphis, by a coccus, and when the 

 fruit is ripe it is sometimes devoured by earwigs. The latter may 

 be lured into bundles of bean-stalks or reeds, and shaken out of them 

 into hot-water or lime-water ; and the former may be destroyed by the 

 usual means. The red and white currant may be forced in the same 

 manner as the gooseberry, and the fruit will ripen in the same period. 



The Black Currant, 



The black currant (Ribes nigrum, L.) is a deciduous shrub common 

 in woods throughout great part of Russia and Siberia, and occasionally 

 found apparently wild in Britain. It is sometimes brought to the dessert, 

 but its use is more frequently to make jams, jellies, wines, and to 

 flavour punch, or as a gargle for sore throats. It is likewise used in 

 puddings and tarts; and in Russia, and also in Ireland, it is put 

 into spirits, as cherries are in England. The Russians also ferment 

 the juice with honey, and thus form a strong and agreeable liquor. 

 The dry leaves form an excellent substitute for green tea. The best 

 varieties are the Black Naples, Ogden's Black or Black Grape, and 

 Lee's Prolific. Cuttings strike readily, and other points of treatment 

 are the same as for the red currant, excepting that the fruit of the 

 black currant is produced chiefly on the shoots of the preceding year. 

 Therefore the pruning consists mostly in cutting out occasionally a few 

 old shoots to make room for new wood. Black currants require little 

 pruning, and should not be spurred in like the gooseberry or common 

 currant. The plant is less subject to insects than either the red cur- 

 rant or the gooseberry. It forces well, and in Russia this is practise* 

 for the sake of the young foliage. Ribes aureum has fruit resembling 

 the black currant, and, with other species of the genus, might doubtless 

 be made to contribute to the varieties, or improvement, of our goose- 

 berries and currants. 



The Raspberry. 



The raspberry (Rubus Idseus, L.) is a suffruticose deciduous plant, 

 with biennial stems, a native of Britain and other parts of Europe in 

 moist woods, and cultivated in gardens from an unknown period. 

 Even in a wild state the fruit is grateful to most palates, and it has been 

 enlarged in size and greatly improved in flavour by hybridization and 

 cultivation. The shoots which are produced from the stock during one 

 summer produce fruit the next, and afterwards die. Technically the 

 shoots are called canes, from the straight smooth cane -like appearance of 

 the shoots of some of the varieties, more especially the Barnet. The fruit 

 ranks in the dessert with the gooseberry and strawberry, but its prin- 

 cipal uses are for jams, tarts, sauces, sweetmeats, and ices ; and it is 

 employed on a large scale in preparing cordial spirituous liquors, and 

 cooling syrups. Raspberries are reckoned next in efficiency to the 

 strawberry in dissolving the tartar of the teeth ; they are likewise 

 recommended to gouty and rheumatic patients. 



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