THE GOOSEBERRY. 



499 



Fruit small, roundish obovate. Skin pale greenish yellow. Pulp 

 red. Flavor at once delicate and rich. This is a very favorite variety, 

 according to Loudon, " the richest fig known in Britain." 



Pregussata. 



A sort lately introduced from the Ionian Isles into England. It is 

 tolerably hardy, quite productive, and succeeds admirably under glass. 



Fruit of medium size, roundish, a good deal flattened. Skin purplish 

 brown in the shade, dark brown in the sun. Pulp deep red, with a 

 luscious, high flavor. Seeds unusually small. Ripens gradually, in 

 succession. 



White Ischia. 

 Green Ischia. 



A very small Fig, but one of the hardiest of the light-colored ones. 



Fruit about an inch in diameter, roundish obovate. Skin pale yel- 

 lowish green, very thin, and, when fully ripe, the darker-colored pulp 

 appears through it. Pulp purplish, and high flavored. A moderate 

 grower and good bearer. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE GOOSEBERRY. 



Ribes Grossulana, Arb. Brit. Grossulacece, of botanists. 

 Groseillier, of the French ; Stachelbeerstrauch, German ; Uva Spino, Italian ; 

 Grosella, Spanish. 



The Gooseberry of our gardens is a native of the north of Europe, 

 our native species not having much improved by garden culture. This 

 low prickly shrub, which in its wild state bears small round or oval 

 fruit, about half an inch in diameter, and weighing one-fourth of an 

 ounce, has been so greatly improved by the system of successive repro- 

 duction from the seed, and high culture by British gardeners, that it 

 now bears fruit nearly or quite two inches in diameter, and weighing an 

 ounce and a half. Lancashire, in England, is the meridian of the goose- 

 berry, and to the Lancashire weavers, who seem to have taken it as a 

 hobby, we are indebted for nearly all the surprisingly large sorts of mod- 

 ern date. Their annual shows exhibit this fruit in its greatest perfec- 

 tion, and a Gooseberry Book is published at Manchester every year, 

 giving a list of all the prize sorts, etc. Indeed the climate of England 

 seems, from its moistness and coolness, more perfectly fitted than any 

 other to the growth of this fruit. Under our more clear and hot suns, 

 however, the best varieties of English sorts do not succeed well, suffering 

 from mildew of the fruit and foliage in nearly every location. A few 

 varieties of the English sorts, and some few sorts of American origin, 

 succeed, and their growth near large cities is considered quite profitable. 



