THE GOOSEBERRY SHOW •^'j 



berries grown for their monstrosity, as weight, not 

 flavour, carried the day. The cultivation of these 

 fruits was even more amusing than their exhibition. 

 A tree was planted about two years previously, care- 

 fully manured and pruned, and when the eventful 

 year arrived, powerful manures were applied, and 

 the fruit thinned out till there were seldom more 

 than three or four berries left on the bush ; and it 

 may therefore be well understood that when a 

 'Gunner,' a ' Peacock,' or a ' London ' was busted, 

 how great would be the disappointment. The 

 weighing of the berries singly was watched with the 

 greatest anxiety and the keenest scrutiny, as the 

 prizes were awarded entirely by weight, and the 

 four colours, red, green, yellow, and white, each 

 received the coveted prizes, whilst there was a 

 premier prize of a copper tea-kettle for the grower 

 of the heaviest single berry in the show ; these 

 always weighed over 20 dwts., and I once remember 

 a red ' London ' reaching 27 dwts. ! The chairman, 

 Dr. Lee, with some of his ' teetotal ' and ' anti- 

 tobacco ' friends, drank the after-dinner toasts in 

 water, which was much lauded, as a very delicious 

 beverage, by the doctor, as the limpid, sparkling 

 drink came from a well-known spring, specially 

 protected with a stone covering, on which was 

 carved in Greek characters "Ap<a-Tov ju,£v u^fop, Water 

 is best. Yet it is sad to tell that, despite the presence 

 of the ' faddists,' the company in general smoked 

 pipes of tobacco till they were blackened, and instead 

 of washing down the taste of the weed with pure 



