THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 147 



oval in form, thinly sprinkled with fine hairs, shewing its descent from 

 the prickly. About the same size as the Houghton ; the ground color 

 is a very light straw color, almost white, sprinkled with minute red 

 dots. The flavor is very pleasant. 



HYBRID SEEDLING NO, 7 



is also descended from the wild prickly fruited crossed with an English 

 variety, and is also the second remove from the wild. These berries 

 are oval in shape, about the size of Smith's Improved. Well covered 

 with short prickly hairs ; color dark purpUsh red ; flavor very good. 



]\Ir. Dougall says of the Hybrid Seedlings No's 2 and 7, " I think 

 these will be the parents of a variety that will probably displace all 

 others. They are strong, upright growers. I measured a shoot that 

 grew from the bottom of one of these varieties, it is now four feet nine 

 inches high, (branched) covered with bright brown prickles. It will 

 no doubt reach nearly six feet by the end of the season, though they 

 are not getting fair play, being grown under fruit trees. None of these 

 seedling gooseberries have ever mildewed, though planted in different 

 localities. I have several others, both of the hybrids and crosses 

 between the English and Houghton, but being transplanted last fall, 

 they have but little fruit on them, and that not fully grown. I have 

 a No. 9 hybrid of the same strain as No's 2 and 7 ; the fruit is much 

 larger than either, smooth, and of a pale red, but not ripe yet, and 

 only four berries left on the bush. The catbird, robin, and Baltimore 

 oriole are very bad on gooseberries here, more especially the oriole. 

 I had to remove my bushes to a place near my house, and cannot save 

 them there." 



EFFECT OF THE HEAT AND DROUGHT ON THE EIPEN- 

 ING OF GPwAPES. 



Every season has something peculiar to itself, and the* peculiarities 

 of this season have had a marked effect upon the ripening of grapes. 

 The cool, moist weather of June had the effect of retarding the period 

 of the opening of the blossoms, especially as compared with the 

 season of 1880, and caused the setting fruit to grow very slowly. 

 Hence all of the early ripening varieties came to maturity some ten 

 days, or more, later than they did last year. But the cool and 

 showery weather of June and first part of July was followed by the 



