168 HISTORY OF FRUITS. 



There is no fruit capable of more improvement, or that 

 turns to more general advantage, or is attended with 

 less expense in the cultivation, than the gooseberry; and, 

 as it forms one of the most wholesome dishes of the de- 

 jeune and the dessert, we shall point out the best mode 

 of prolonging the enjoyment of so agreeable an addition 

 to our table. The bushes which are intended to be 

 covered should be kept pruned to a size suitable to the 

 cases intended for them, which may be made similar in 

 shape to the bee-hive, either of straw, rushes, or any 

 substance that will effectually keep off the heat and light. 

 These temporary covers should be placed over the bushes 

 just as the fruit begins to turn towards ripening, but not 

 before it has acquired its full size and combined all its 

 acid, which is the first principle of saccharine matter. 

 By thus defending the fruit from the dews, the heat of the 

 sun, and the light which contributes also to ripen it 

 the complete maturity is much retarded, and gooseberries 

 may be gathered very fresh and ripe until near Christmas. 

 The same bushes should not be covered the succeeding 

 year, as it will naturally weaken the plants ; and we would 

 recommend the cover to be kept a few inches from the 

 ground, so as not entirely to exclude the air, particularly 

 towards the north. 



We have not attempted to give even the names of all 

 the varieties of this fruit, finding them so numerous : 

 one nurseryman furnished us with his list, and obliged 

 the author with a sight of 300 varieties, the largest of 

 which in weight was equal to three guineas and a half. 



" Mr. Stringer of Congleton, in Cheshire, produced at 

 a gooseberry-show there, in 1821, the prize gooseberry, 

 which measured five inches and one-eighth in circum- 

 ference, and weighed twenty-one pennyweights and twelve 

 grains." New Monthly Mag. Oct. 1, 1821. 



Gooseberries are preserved in the green state with little 



