594 



FRUIT GARDEN. 



England, and even the metropolis itself, would 

 open up a ready market for all that would be 

 collected. If would-be philanthropists would di- 

 rect the attention of their poor neighbours to this 

 branch of remunerative occupation, and assist 

 them at first in finding the best market for their 

 industry, it would do far more good than half 

 the visionary schemes they entertain, amount- 

 ing, in short, to transportation for ever from their 

 fatherland, or, which is even worse, immuring 

 them within the walls of rural bastiles, and ren- 

 dering them consumers at the expense of the 

 community instead of industrious producers, 

 earning their bread in independence by the 

 force of their own moral and physical energies. 



The cranberry, unless where a natural forma- 

 tion of peaty soil abounds, can never be profit- 

 ably cultivated, yet for private consumption a 

 cranberry-bed is worth having in every first- 

 rate garden. 



Those who are fond of adding to their des- 

 serts will find several species of Vaccinium 

 well worth cultivation, and the large-fruited 

 Gaultherea shallon may also be included. 



We believe, from observation, that a hundred 

 pounds' worth of this fruit might be collected by 

 the poor yearly in Strathbran, a poor and ne- 

 glected tract extending from Dunkeld on the 

 east to Glenquoich on the west, which would 

 almost maintain the thinly-scattered population 

 still existing in that dreary tract. Were such 

 resources pointed out to these poor people (for 

 of the natural products of their locality they are 

 ignorant), it would be their own fault if our 

 shops in Edinburgh, Glasgow, &c, were not 

 supplied by them instead of importing them 

 from Russia, where the boors collect them for 

 the export merchants, who send them over to us 



in barrels in the state in which we see them in 

 all our Italian warehouses. 



The Scotch cranberry, or Blae-berry (Vacci- 

 nium vites idcea L.), is most abundantly distri- 

 buted over most of our mountain tracts. Its 

 fruit makes as good tarts as either of the cran- 

 berries above named, and is even more submis- 

 sive of cultivation. From this also important re- 

 sources could be derived, were attention bes towed 

 in pointing out its value to the peasantry who 

 live in localities where it abounds. 



European names. — Airelle, French — Heidel- 

 beer, German — Blaauwbessen, Dutch — Mirtillo, 

 Italian — Mirtilo, Spanish — Myrtillo, Portuguese 

 — Tscherniza, Russian — Borrowkiczarne, Polish. 



The common Bramble (Rubus fruticosus L.) 

 — Of this there are many acknowledged well- 

 marked varieties, some of which, by the aid of 

 cultivation, might be turned to good account; 

 and some of these we have seen, more especially 

 at Brockelsbury, Lincolnshire, some years ago, 

 trained to a south wall, by which the fruit was 

 not only considerably increased in size, but in 

 flavour also. The Cloudberry (Rubus chamce- 

 mones L.) seems to bid defiance to the cultiva- 

 tor, otherwise it is a fine fruit, and by far the 

 most grateful of all our Scotch indigenous fruits. 

 It is produced on a low creeping plant in peat- 

 bogs at considerable altitudes, and in appear- 

 ance bears a striking resemblance in form to the 

 raspberry. It has been suggested to cross this 

 plant with the latter, or even with the common 

 bramble, with a view to render it more capable 

 of cultivation. 



The European names are — Ronce, French — 

 Brombeerstrauch, German — Braamen, Dutch — 

 Rovo, Italian — Zarza, Spanish — Jaschewika, 

 Russian — Jezyny, Polish. 



