THE GOOSEBERRY. 



385 



with sugar at the dessert ; and also alone, or mixed with 

 raspberries, for jams, jellies, and wine ; and both green 

 or ripe for stewing, tarts, and pies. In cool climates, it is 

 the most easily cultivated and most useful of small fruits, 

 xtledicinally, it is like the lemon and other subacid fruits, 

 cooling and antiscorbutic. When perfectly ripe, it is use- 

 ful in some cases of diarrhoea. The jam of black currants 

 in sore throat is useful. 



The currant is propagated by cuttings, which should be 

 planted in the fall in a shady situation. It requires moist, 

 rich, deep loam, and should be trained as a bush. It bears 

 on wood of previous year's growth ; but mostly on two 

 years old wood. As soon as the fruit is o&, thin out the 

 old wood, leaving only stems of the present and last year's 

 growth. Clip off three or four inches of the former to 

 make a growth of spurs for the next crop. 



Varieties. — Red Dutch. Fruit of large size, oblate, 

 borne in large clusters, and less acid than the common red. 

 Color fine transparent red. 



White Dvbtcli. — Large yellowish white, less acid than 

 the red kinds. 



Black Naj^ks (Ribes nigra) — ^is the largest and best of 

 the black varieties ; but none of these are desirable. 



Ribes Grossularia — Gooseberry, 

 The Gooseberry like the currant is a native of Europe. 

 Green, it is used for pies, tarts and puddings — ripe, it is a 

 Tery agreeable dessert fruit. But it is even more impatient 

 of heat than the currant, and cannot be expected to thrive 

 except among our mountains. It is propagated from cut- 

 tings, likes the same soil and exposures, and is cultivated 

 in exactly the same manner as .the currant. It has in one 

 or two instances produced fruit here from imported plants? 

 but they have been very short lived, yielding only one or 

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