222 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



White Marseilles (White Standard, White Genoa, Raby 

 Castle). — Fruit large, roundish-obovate, slightly ribbed, 

 pale-green, becoming yellowish- white when mature; flesh 

 opaline, very succulent, sweet, and rich. Ripens freely 

 against a wall, and forces well. 



CHAPTER XL 



GOOSEBERRIES. 



History — Cultivation— Soil and Situation — Plant- 

 ing — Pruning— Propagation — Enemies — List of 

 Varieties. 



The cultivated varieties of the Gooseberry are 

 all the progeny of Ribes grossularia, a native of 

 N. Africa, N. W. Himalaya, and Europe, includ- 

 ing the British Islands. The name Gooseberry 

 most probably had its origin in the use of 

 the fruits, which were made into a kind of 

 sauce to be eaten with young or green geese, 

 instead of the apple -sauce usually preferred 

 now. It is especially in Germany, Holland, 

 and England that the Gooseberry has been 

 cultivated for its fruits, from about the six- 

 teenth century. 



" The Gooseberry is not alluded to by writers 

 of the classical period. Turner mentions it in 

 l-*)7.'>, and Parkinson, in 1692, specifies eight 

 varieties. The catalogue of the Horticultural 

 Society for 1842 gives 141) varieties and the 

 lists of Lancashire nurserymen are said to in- 

 clude above 300 names. 



"The most interesting point in the history 

 of the Gooseberry is the steady increase in the 

 size of the fruit. Manchester is the metro- 

 polis of the fanciers, and prizes of from five 

 shillings to five or ten pounds are yearly 

 given for the heaviest fruit. The Gooseberry 

 Gh'owers* Register is published annually; the 

 earliest known copy is dated 1786. The 

 Register for 1845 gives an account of 171 

 Gooseberry shows held in different places dur- 

 ing that year; and this fact shows on how 

 large a scale the culture has been carried on. 

 The fruit of the wild Gooseberry weighs about 

 a quarter of an ounce, or 5 dwts.; in 1786 Goose- 

 berries were exhibited weighing 10 dwts.; in 

 1817, 26 dwts.; in 1825, 31 dwts.; in 1852, 

 37 dwts., that is between seven and eight times 

 the weight of the wild fruit," (Darwin, Animals 

 and Plants under Domestication.) 



The Gooseberry not only grows and bears 

 well in the comparatively cool climate of 

 Scotland and the north of England, but the 

 fruit is also better flavoured than in the hotter 



parts of the south. The fruit is not so good 

 when it is rapidly brought to maturity by very 

 hot weather as it is when brought forward 

 slowly by a moderate temperature. At Alford 

 the mean temperature of July is about 56° or 

 57°, and that of August about 56°; at Glasgow, 

 the mean of those months is respectively 61-25° 

 and 59-78°; at Manchester, about the same ; 

 and at Lancaster, 57*71° and 57'05°. At these 

 places the fruit acquires its full richness of 

 flavour; but near London, wdiere the mean of 

 July is about 63°, and that of August about 

 62°, it is frequently overheated in ripening; 

 the large sorts with thin skins appear as if par- 

 boiled, especially where the soil is not tender, 

 rich, well manured, and moist; likewise where 

 the trees are pruned so as not to afford sufficient 

 shade. 



Many of the large-fruited varieties are much 

 cultivated for culinary purposes, the young fruit 

 soon acquiring a size fit for pies, tarts, and 

 puddings; hence they are of great importance 

 in the neighbourhood of large towns. In this 

 way the Gooseberry, though not the first ripe, 

 is of all hardy fruits the earliest fit for use. 

 Soil and Situation. — The Gooseberry will suc- 



! ceed in any good garden soil that is sufficiently 

 loose and permeable, and rather moist than dry. 

 It does not grow Avell in stiff clayey soils that 



' become hard in hot, dry weather. To produce 

 large fruit, it should.be planted in a compost 

 of good turfy loam and rotten stable manure. 

 The best-flavoured fruit is obtained from plants 

 grown in an open situation. 



Planting . — In quarters, the planting may be 

 done in the quincunx form, and in this way if 

 the distance between the plants is to be 6 

 feet, that of the rows from each other will 

 require to be 5 feet 2 inches. These we con- 

 sider to be good medium distances, but in rich 

 soil they may be increased, and in poor ground 

 diminished. The bottom of the holes should 

 be made convex ; and in planting the roots 

 must be regularly spread out, and not deeper 



I than they were before removal. 



Pruning. — Bushes intended for open quarters, 

 if raised from cuttings, at the end of the first 

 year should have about four shoots each a foot 

 long; these should be shortened to about half 

 their length if slender, but if sturdy, to one- 

 third. From these four shortened shoots during 

 the next summer a dozen or more new shoots 

 will spring, and of these two of the best-placed 

 and most vigorous on each main branch should 

 be allowed to grow, pinching back all the others 

 to four leaves, thus concentrating the energies 



