GOOSEBERRY. 



GOOSEBERRY. 



table in April and May. This goose is, how- in the centre of the island, it acquires great 



ever smaller, less delicate eating, and more 

 noisy than the common gray goose. The 

 common goose begins to lay towards Candle- 

 mas, and after laying from 9 to 11 eggs, she 

 sits 30 days, and then brings out her little flock. 

 If, however, she show a wish to sit when she 

 has only laid two or three eggs, she must be 

 driven from the nest, or be shut up for a day 

 or two. She will then take to lay again. One 

 gander and five geese are the regular stock to 

 begin with: they will produce 50 goslings in a 

 season. Geese are grazing birds : they love a 

 common, but horses do not like their company 

 in a field, as they object to feed after them. 

 The herb called goose-grass they are immode- 

 rately fond of, and it is plentiful always under 

 hedges during the gosling season. Water is 

 important to geese, but they succeed in situa- 

 tions where there is no pond: a large, shallow 

 pan filled with water, sufficiently capacious to 

 admit of their washing in it, has often an- 

 swered the purpose; but a pool is most desir- 

 able. The goose-hovel should be low, well 

 thatched, and not facing into the farm-yard, 

 otherwise pigs will get through the goose- 

 aperture. It should have a door, also, for the 

 poultry-woman to enter. The nests should be 

 composed of straw, lined with hay, and the 

 birds should be fed near their home, to allure 

 them to it. If some of the goslings are hatch- 

 ed before the others, they should be removed 

 from the mother, kept warm in flannel before 

 the fire, and returned to her when the whole 

 brood are hatched. Thin barley meal and 

 water is excellent food for goslings, with chop- 

 ped goose-grass ; they soon learn to eat oats, 

 and feed themselves. Mow down hemlock, if 

 any grows near the poultry-yard : it is perni- 

 cious in its effects upon poultry. Fatten geese 

 in small parties, as they love society. They 

 should be cooped a month, fed plentifully with 

 sweet oats and clean pure water in a narrow 

 wooden trough. An experiment has lately 

 been tried of feeding geese with turnips, cut 

 u_p very fine, and put into a trough with water. 

 ~he effect was, that six geese, weighing only 

 nine pounds each when shut up, actually 

 weighed 20 pounds each, after about three 

 weeks' feeding with this food alone. Half- 

 grown or green geese are delicate eating in 

 June and July; but they need not be- cooped, 

 they must only be well fed. Goose feathers are 

 valuable, and their dung is employed as a 

 manure by agriculturists. 



GOOSEBERRY (Riies grossularia). The 

 gooseberry is indigenous to Great Britain, 

 some other European countries of cool tem- 

 perature, and also to the mountains of North 

 America. The varieties of this fruit are too 

 numerous to notice. By some botanists they 

 are referred to two species, Ribes grossularia, 

 the rough gooseberry, and R. uva-crispa, the 

 smooth gooseberry ; but others consider the 

 latter as being merely a variety of the former, 

 which is more correct, as it has been proved 

 by successive reproductions that the rough 

 will sometimes become smooth and the smooth 

 rough. The gooseberry ripens in the extreme 



perfection of flavour. In the southern coun- 

 ties, if the season be warm, it cannot bear full 

 exposure to the vertical rays of the sun : in 

 such circumstances evaporation takes place 

 from the surface faster than the subjacent 

 tissues can supply the loss, the superficial 

 cells get emptied, and the fruit dies. 



In England the gooseberry is esteemed one 

 of their most valuable fruits. In spring it fur- 

 nishes the earliest as well as the best fruit for 

 tarts and sauces : and can be preserved green 

 as well as ripe for winter use. When ripe it 

 makes an excellent jam, a delicious sweetmeat, 

 a luscious wine, and is a favourite dessert. 



The following selection is recommended for 

 small English gardens : Reds Old rough red, 

 Melling's crown bob, Farmer's roaring lion, 

 Knight's Marquis of Stafford, Champagne and 

 Capper's top sawyer: one of the best of the 

 red gooseberries is the Scotch ironmonger: it 

 is hairy, and thin-skinned. Yellows. Hard- 

 castle's gunner, Hills's golden gourd. Prophet's 

 rock wood, Hamlet's kilton, Dixon's golden 

 yellow, Gordon's viper. Greens. Edward's 

 jolly tar, Massey's heart of oak, Nixon's green 

 myrtle, early green hairy, Parkinson's laurel, 

 Wainwright's ocean. Whites. Coleworth's 

 white lion, Moore's white bear, Crompton's 

 Sheba queen, Saunders's Cheshire lass,Welling- 

 ton's glory, Woodward's whitesmith. Smooth 

 skins become tough in cooking, and should 

 not be selected for that purpose. 



The gooseberry can be raised from cuttings, 

 from suckers, or from seeds : the former is 

 generally resorted to as being the most expe- 

 ditious ; and seed ,is only sown to raise new 

 varieties. Cuttings may be planted in the fall, 

 or as early in the spring as the weather will 

 permit. 



The gooseberry is, comparatively, but little 

 cultivated in the United States, though there is 

 no doubt that in several districts of the Middle 

 and Eastern States it could be brought to as 

 great perfection as in England. It is a native 

 of the soil : and loves to climb the sides of our 

 mountain ridges, and if planted in places that 

 somewhat resemble its native habitats, it would 

 no doubt repay our care. It ought to have an 

 airy situation, a rich soil, and a dry subsoil is 

 essential, or it becomes infected with mildew. 

 If it has no natural shade, during a few hours 

 in the middle of the day, it must be shaded 

 from the extreme heat of the sun. The berries 

 acquire their finest flavour when brought to 

 maturity gradually, under a low temperature. 

 In pruning, instead of the lateral young shoots 

 being cut close in, immediately above the first 

 bud at their base, as recommended in colder 

 climates, two buds should be left, to produce 

 leaves to shade the fruit in summer. The 

 vigorous-growing varieties ought to be prefer- 

 red for planting. 



GOOSEBERRY CATERPILLAR. For the de- 

 struction of these insects fumigations of va- 

 rious kinds ; dusting with quick lime, and 

 other methods have been resorted to, but they 

 do not always answer the purpose. Wetting 

 them by means of a proper syringe, with fresh 



northern parts of Britain, if near the level of j lime-water, whilst the sun is shining strongly, 

 the sea ; and at an altitude of about 900 feet, ' is said to be a very effectual remedy. The 

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