354 



FKTJITS. 



Chap. x. 



hardiest kinds, and can withstand Eussian winters, but is easily burnt 

 by the sun, so that it will not succeed in certain soils either in England 

 or the United States. 118 The Filbert Pine Strawberry "requires more 

 water than any other variety; and if the plants once suffer from drought, 

 they will do little or no good afterwards." 119 Cuthill's Black Prince- 

 Strawberry evinces a singular tendency to mildew : no less than six cases 

 have been recorded of this variety suffering severely, whilst other varieties 

 growing close by, and treated in exactly the same manner, were not at 

 all infested by this fungus. 120 The time of maturity differs much in the 

 different varieties; some belonging to the wood or alpine section produce 

 a succession of crops throughout the summer. 



Gooseberry (Rites grossularia).— No one, I believe, has hitherto doubted 

 that all the cultivated kinds are sprung from the wild plant bearing this 

 name, which is common in Central and Northern Europe ; therefore it will 

 be desirable briefly to specify all the points, though not very important, 

 which have varied. If it be admitted that these differences are due to cul- 

 ture, authors perhaps will not be so ready to assume the existence of a 

 large number of unknown wild parent-stocks for our other cultivated plants. 

 The gooseberry is not alluded to by writers of the classical period. Turner 

 mentions it in 1573, and Parkinson, in 1629, specifies eight varieties; the 

 Catalogue of the Horticultural Society for 1842 gives 149 varieties, and the 

 lists of the Lancashire nurserymen are said to include above 300 names. 121 

 In the ' Gooseberry Grower's Eegister for 1862 ' I find that 243 distinct 

 varieties have at various periods won prizes ; so that a vast number must 

 have been exhibited. No doubt the difference between many of the varieties 

 is very small ; but Mr. Thompson in classifying the fruit for the Horti- 

 cultural Society found less confusion in the nomenclature of the goose- 

 berry than of any other fruit, and he attributes this " to the great interest 

 which the prize-growers have taken in detecting sorts with wrong names," 

 and this shows that all the kinds, numerous as they are, can be recog- 

 nised with certainty. 



The bushes differ in their manner of growth, being erect, or spreading, 

 or pendulous. The periods of leafing and flowering differ both absolutely 

 and relatively to each other; thus the Whitesmith produces early flowers, 

 which from not being protected by the foliage, as it is believed, continually 

 fail to produce fruit. 122 The leaves vary in size, tint, and in depth of lobes; 

 they are smooth, downy, or hairy on the upper surface. The branches are 

 more or less downy or spinose; "the Hedgehog has probably derived 

 its name from the singular bristly condition of its shoots and fruit. 

 The branches of the wild gooseberry, I may remark, are smooth, with 

 the exception of thorns at the bases of the buds. The thorns themselves 

 are either very small, few and single, or very large and triple ; they are 



118 Eev. W. F. Kadclyffe, in ' Journal 

 of Hort.,' March 14, 1865, p. 207. 



119 Mr. H. Donbleday in ' Gardener's 

 Chron.,' 1862, p. 1101. 



120 'Gardener's Chronicle,' 1854, p. 

 254. 



121 Loudon's « Encyclop. of Garden- 

 ing,' p. 930 ; and Alph. De Candolle, 

 * Geograph. Bot.,' p. 910. , , 



122 Loudon's ' Gardener's Magazine, 

 vol, iv. 1828, p. 112. 



