40 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



'•Gooseberry prize meetings" by the labourers and cottagers of the district. The 

 Gooseberry does not appear to have been known to the ancients, and it is'uncertain at 

 what time it was first cultivated in our gardens. Being, however, well suited to our 

 climate, it is probable that it was introduced at a very early date. It is first mentioned 

 in 1573 by Turner as a fruit good in cookery ; and Parkinson and Gerarde both recom- 

 mend it. John Ray writes of the Pearl Gooseberry as in cultivation in his time, though 

 it does not appear to have been much estimated. In France it was scarcely known 

 until a much later date, so that the Parisians had not an appropriate name for it, and 

 its present name refers rather to its modern use as a sauce for mackerel than any 

 original notion of its value. The domestic uses of the Gooseberry are familiar to all 

 nousekeepers and lovers of sweet things. In its green unripe state it contains a pleasant 

 amount of citric acid, which renders it a most agreeable fruit in tarts or puddings, and 

 when ripe it is equally acceptable at dessert, or in the form of jam or preserve. A 

 kind of British champagne is made from green Gooseberries, which is liked by many 

 people, and no fruit can be kept in bottles for winter use better than the green 

 Gooseberry. 



The varieties of Gooseberries in cultivation are many, numbering, we believe, about 

 seven hundred. Of these some have red fruit, some white, and some green ; some have 

 smooth fruit, and some hairy or prickly. In the selection of sorts, we quote Mr. Neill, 

 who observes : " It must be admitted, that though large Gooseberries make a fine 

 appearance on the table, they are often deficient in flavour when compared with some 

 of smaller size. Many of them have very thick strong skins, and are not eatable unless 

 very thoroughly ripened. Some of the large sorts, however, are of very good quality — 

 such as the Red Champagne and the Green Walnut." Any good garden soil on a dry 

 bottom, and well manured, will suit the Gooseberry ; that which is soft and moist 

 produces the largest fruit. The Lancashire connoisseur, when he is growing for exhi- 

 bition, is not content with watering his bush at the roots and over the top, but he 

 places a small saucer of water immediately under each gooseberry, only three or four of 

 which he leaves on a tree : this is technically called suckling. He also pinches off a 

 great part of the young wood, so as to throw all the strength he can into the fruit. 

 The caterpillars of saw-flies and of various kinds of moths do serious injury to the 

 Gooseberry-bush. We believe the best and almost only method of destroying them 

 is in the winter, by the simple operation of pouring a quantity of boiling water upon 

 them whilst they lie in clusters on the under parts of the bushes. 



Section II.— EIBESIA. Berl. 



Stems generally without spines. Peduncles elongated with 

 racemose flowers 4 or more in number. Calyx campanulate or 

 cylindrical. Young leaves plicate. 



SPECIES II— E, IBES ALPINUM. Linn. 



Plate DXIX. 



Branches unarmed. Leaves angular, cleft into 3 or 5 segments, 



sparingly hairy all over ahovc and on the veins beneath when 



young, glabrous and shining beneath when mature ; segments 



