Gooseberries. 231 



knowledge, I will describe it : The bush is of stiff, erect habit, two to three feet 

 high, a stocky grower and an abundant bearer. The berries vary from one-half to one 

 and one-quarter inches in diameter, are covered with innumerable thorns, scarcely 

 less savage in the green state than those on an ordinary wild bush of this country. 

 When cooked, the prickles soften down to the same consistence as the skin, which 

 is rather thick. When ripe, they are easily peeled, ai;d well repay the trouble, the 

 spines being then much less obdurate than when green. The mature fruit is of a 

 deep, dull, coppery red color, and in flavor is equal, if not superior, to any of the 

 red varieties which I have eaten in England. I have often wondered whether 

 cultivation might not remove the spines from the berries, or, that failing, whether 

 a seedling could not be raised from them which would give us a berry far more 

 reliable than any good gooseberry we now have. The scorching sun of the long, 

 dry season of California seemed to have no effect on the foliage, and in five years' 

 experience I never found a mildewed berry. 



"The berry is round, like the red English berries, instead of ellipsoid, like 

 their white or golden ones. 



" There is also another variety, hairy instead of spiny, about the size of your 

 picture of the Downing ; bush not so free a grower, rarely reaching two feet, and 

 the berry, to my taste, much inferior. Tastes, however, differ, and it may be the 

 more promising fruit. 



" Both varieties are common throughout the eastern end of El Dorado, 

 Placer, and Nevada counties." 



The first-named, or thorny gooseberry, probably belongs to the Ribes 

 Cynosbati, and the latter to the R. Rotundifolium. The writer is correct 

 in thinking that, if such gooseberries are growing wild, cultivation and 

 selection could secure vast improvements. When we remember that 

 English gardeners started with a native species inferior to ours, we are led 

 to believe that effort and skill like theirs will here be rewarded by kinds as 

 superb, and as perfectly adapted to our climate. 



