336 



HISTORY OP THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM. 



The Cornish Bird-Cherry (p. rubra) very 

 much resembles the padus. 



The Sloe fprunm spinosaj, is also indigenous 

 in Britain, and is frequently met with in a wild 



Tho Sloe. 



state in Scotland. It is a low shrubby tree, 

 with elliptical lanceolate leaves, pubescent be- 

 neath; the branches armed with hard strong 

 spines ; the blossom resembling the prune, and 

 the fruit round, of a deep black colour, and ex- 

 tremely austere astringent taste. Some have 

 supposed the sloe the original of the cultivated 

 plum. It is used as stocks on which to engraft 

 the plum and some other species. 



The Laukel (prunus lauro-cerasus). This is 

 one of the most generally prized evergreens. It 

 was brought from Constantinople to Holland in 

 1576. The first we read of in England was one 

 at Highgate, in the garden of Mr James Cole, a 

 London merchant, who, as Parkinson informs 

 us, was in the practice of covering the plant in 

 winter with a blanket. In less than half a cen- 

 tury after this, we are told by Ray, that the 

 laurel became a common shrub in English gar- 

 dens. It is now universally a conspicuous ob- 

 ject in almost every shrubbery. The leaves con- 

 tain a considerable quantity of prussic acid, and 

 from this circumstance have been used to give 

 an agreeable flavour to various articles of food. 

 Much caution, however, ought to be employed 

 not to use the juice of these leaves in excess, 

 otherwise they will prove a virulent poison. The 

 laurel water, distilled from the recent leaves, 

 contains all the active principle of the prussic 

 acid. Tliis has been used criminally for pro- 

 ducing death; and several cases of accidental 

 poisoning have arisen from cordials flavoured 

 with the infused leaves of the laurel. The laurel 

 bears a small red berry, which is also poisonous. 



The Portuguese Laurel (p. Lusitania) is 

 also a highly admired evergreen shi-ub. It was 

 l)rought to England from Portugal, though it 

 does not appear to be a native of that country. 

 It probably is indigenous to Madeira, or some 

 more southern islands, 



RuBUs, a family of the rogacece, includes the 



raspberry, bramble, cloud berry, and several 

 other species. Many of them are only biennial 

 woody plants, producing suckers or stolones 

 from the roots, which ripen and drop their leaves 

 one year, and resume their foliage, produce blos- 

 soms, shoots, flower, and fruit, and die the next. 

 Of this kind are the raspberry and bramble. 



Raspberrt (rvhus idceus). This well known 

 plant is indigenous to Britain; but has been 

 greatly improved, both in size and flavour, by 

 cultivation. There are several varieties, as the 

 common, red, and yellow, the double-flowered, 

 and a variety that bears twice a year, in July 

 and September. 



This plant obtains its common name from the 

 rough and bristly appearance of the fruit. The 

 French call the raspberry Bonce d" Mont Ida, 

 (in common T^a.r\s.nce, Framboise), considering it 

 a native of that classic ground, for which they 

 have the authority of Pliny. The root is per- 

 enniol and spreading, but the stems last only 

 two years. Both the red and the yellow varie- 

 ties prefer situations that are shaded and rather 

 moist. The uses of the raspberry, both for the 

 table and for sweetmeats, are well known. 

 Though the flavour of raspberries is peculiar, it 

 is one which is very generally liked ; but it is 

 the most fleeting with which we are acquainted. 

 Even a few hours will diminish it ; and if the 

 berries be kept for two or three days, the flavour 

 is almost entirely gone. Even on the bush, the 

 flavour does not continue above two or three days 

 after the fruit is ripe. Raspben-ies, indeed, to be 

 enjoyed in perfection, should be eaten from the 

 bush. They require less attendance than almost 

 any other fruit; and if the twice-bearing kind 

 be mixed with the others, they may be continued 

 till November, The shrubs come into full bear- 

 ing about three years after the planting of the 

 stools or roots, and they last good for about three 

 years more, at the end of which they begin to 

 degenerate. The common mode of propagation 

 is by cuttings, which should always be taken 

 from plants that are in their prime bearing con- 

 dition, on or about the fourth year after they 

 are planted. A quantity of peat or bog-earth 

 greatly improves both the size and the flavour 

 of raspberries. New varieties may easily be ob- 

 tained from the seed, the plants raised from 

 which begin to bear the second year. There are 

 thirty-five varieties of raspberry mentioned in 

 the Fruit Catalogue of the Horticultural Society, 

 of which the differences in quality are very con- 

 siderable. 



When a plantation is made of several rows to- 

 gether, it may be placed in the open garden, as 

 the plants will shade one another to a sufficient 

 degree. Frequent renewal is necessary, to pre- 

 vent the stools getting large and matted, when 

 they send up only weak suckers. No more 

 suckers should be left at the stools than are in- 



