BOOK 1. 



NATIVE, OR NEGLECTED FRUITS. 



745 



stroy all the nuts so infested, in order that the larvae may never attain to the fly 



498 



4762. The Rev. G. Swayne having had a plantation of filberts, which for 

 the 20 years of their existence had produced very little fruit, began to suspect 

 a want of male blossoms. He therefore selected a number of catkins from the 

 common hazel, and suspended them over the scarlet blossom of his filberts 

 and the result was, that the first year he had more fruit than he had during the 

 20 preceding years. To prove that it was owing to the farina of the male * * b 



blossoms, he tried some with and some without this assistance, and found the fruit produced as the 

 male blossoms applied. He taught this mode to a neighboring farmer's wife who had a row of barren 

 trees, and she was " much delighted" with the plan ; put it in execution the next day, and the same 

 season sent her instructor 6 Ibs. of very fine filberts from four old stunted trees that had not borne one 

 for many years. (Hort. Trans, v. 316.) 



4763. Taking the crop. " The maturity of the fruit is indicated by the cup turning 

 brown, and by the nuts, which have also become brown, readily quitting the husk. 

 House a quantity for keeping ; gather them in bunches as they grow. If a portion, 

 after being properly dried, be laid in boxes, and covered with dry sand to exclude the 

 air, it will tend to preserve the kernels from shrinking ; and they will thus keep well for 

 a month or two." Braddick's mode of keeping nuts two years by closing them up air- 

 tight in emptied butter-firkins has been already mentioned. (2308.) 



SECT. V. Native, or neglected Fruits, deserving Cultivation. 



4764. Though some of our native fruits recommend themselves by their already known 

 utility, as the cranberry ; yet others, as the sorb, haw, c. are only mentioned with a 

 view of directing scientific horticulturists of leisure and means, to try what can be done 

 in improving them. We shall enumerate them in the order of stone-fruits and berries. 



4765. TJie sloe is the Prtinus spinosa, L. (Eng. Bot. 842.) Icos. Monog. L. and Rosaces, J. Ripe it 

 makes an excellent preserve ; unripe, the inspissated juice forms the German acacia, and affords an almost 

 indelible ink used to mark linens. It is used in home-made wines, to communicate the color and rough- 

 ness of red port ; and the leaves are employed to adulterate the teas of China. Knight and others consider 

 the sloe as the parent of the bullace (P. insititia), and all the varieties of the common plum (P. domestica\ 

 As a shrubbery plant the sloe is most ornamental, blossoming before all others of the prunus tribe. 



4766. The bird-cherry is the Prunus padus. (Eng. Bot. 1383.) The fruit is nauseous to most palates 

 but infused in gin or whiskey it greatly improves these spirits, and is only surpassed by an infusion of peach- 

 leaves. A few trees therefore are desirable, especially in Scotland and Ireland. 



4767. The mountain-ash is the Sorbus Aucuparia, L. Pyrus Aucuparia, E. B. (Eng. Bot. 337.) Jcos. Di- 

 Pent. L. and Rosacece, J. The berries are eaten in some parts of Scotland and Wales, and afford an 

 agreeable fermented liquor, and, by distillation, a strong spirit. Grafted on the service-tree, as is fre- 

 quently done in France, the fruit is said to become larger and more abundant. (Neill, in Hort. Tour, 364.) 



4768. The wild service (Pyrus torminalis, W.) (Eng. Bot. 298.) (^.499.), the bastard service (P. pin- 

 natifida, E. B.) (Eng. Bot. 2331.) (fig. 500.), and the whitebcam-tree (P. Aria) (Eng. Bot. 1858.), afford 

 agreeable mealy berries, with much less acid than those of the mountain-ash. These trees are most 

 ornamental in shrubberies or on lawns ; and the two last are not undeserving a place in orchards. 



500 



499 



4769. The tree-currant (Ribes spicatum, L. (Eng. Bot. 1290.) Pentand. Monog. L and Cacti, J.) affords 

 a fruit somewhat smaller and more acid than the common red currant ; but by crossing and cultivation 

 might, no doubt, be greatly improved ; and from its comparatively tree-like habits, might be a more 

 convenient fruit-shrub in respect to crops below or around it. 



4770. The common bramble, Rubusfruticosus, L. (Eng. Bot. 715.) Icos. Polys. L. and Rosaceee, J. The 

 fruit is powerfully acid and astringent, forms agreeable pies and tarts, medicinal gargles, and may also 

 be used raw. There are two single varieties, the white-fruited and smooth, and one with double 



4771. The cloud-berry, Rubus Chanuemorus, L. (Eng. Bot. 716.) (figs. 20. and 501.) " In Scotland," Neill 

 observes, " the fruit is also called roebuck-berries or knot-berries, and they are perhaps the most grateful 

 and useful kind of fruit gathered by the Scots Highlanders. On the sides and near the bases of the 

 mountains it may be collected for several months in succession. It is not cultivated without difficulty, 

 and it seldom yields its fruit in a garden." By raising from seed, and again from the seeds of plants so 

 raised, and so on for six or eight generations, perhaps at the same time crossing the flowers with those of 

 the bramble or raspberry, in all probability this plant might become a valuable accession to the kitchen- 

 garden. Its berries are ripe in September. (See a curious paper in Caled. Hort. Mem. i. 383.) In Lapland 

 and Sweden the fruit is much prized, and used for a great variety of purposes. Dr. Clarke, as we have 

 seen (249.) found it medicinal. (Scandinavia, chap, xv.) 



