FLOWERING SHRUBS 



proper treatment, be made valuable and serviceable to man. 

 Of the Wild Gooseberry there are several kinds, the best and 

 most palatable being the smooth-skinned, small purple 

 Gooseberry, Ribes oxyacanthoides ; this is the least thorny 

 of the genus, and by cultivation can be rendered a nice and 

 serviceable fruit for preserving and other table uses. 



This shrub grows in low ground or on the borders of 

 beaver meadows and damp thickets, and seems to be found 

 in every part of the Dominion. The bush is low, not more 

 than from three to four feet in height, or less, with not very 

 prickly stems, and with smooth berries, generally in pairs; 

 the calyx of the flower is purplish and the fruit when ripe is 

 of a dark purple color; the leaves are smooth and shining, 

 and pale beneath. 



THORNBERRY PRICKLY GOOSEBERRY Ribes Cynosbati (L.). 



The fruit of this Wild Gooseberry is perfectly rough and 

 spiny and is troublesome to gather, but in old times it was 

 sought for by the settlers in the backwoods as a welcome 

 addition to their scanty fare. By scalding and rubbing the 

 berries in a coarse cloth much of the roughness was removed ; 

 in their green state the berries were used in the form of pies 

 and puddings, or, when softened, mixed with sugar and milk. 

 When ripe they were made into preserves, but the harshness 

 of the bristly skin was not very easily overcome, especially 

 if the fruit was over-ripe. Still it was one of the cheap 

 luxuries that found a welcome place at the shanty table. 

 This is a tall bush from four to six feet in height, growing 

 in dry rocky woods, and bearing a profusion of greenish 

 bells, in the month of May, from one to three on each slender 

 pedicel. 



Another of our native Gooseberries, not so wholesome nor 

 TSO useful, is the 



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