THE GOOSEBERRY. 



561 



vol. ii., p. 972 ; and Encyc. of Trees and Shrubs, p. 473,) is a deciduous 

 shrub, a native of Piedmont and other Alpine regions, and long cultivated 

 in British gardens. The fruit is of little worth in a wild state, and the 

 shrub does not appear to have been known to the Romans, nor to have been 

 much cultivated in any part of the world except in Britain. With us it is 

 esteemed for pies and tarts next in value to the apple ; and as a luxury 

 for the tables of the poor, it is even more valuable than that fruit, since it 

 can be grown in less space, in more unfavourable circumstances, and brought 

 sooner into a state of full bearing. At the tables of the wealthy it contributes 

 to the dessert fi-om the end of July to the end of September, and longer by 

 matting up or otherwise covering the bushes. 



1212. Use. — Before being ripe it is much used for tarts, pies, sauces, and 

 creams, and when mature it is esteemed in the dessert. Unripe gooseberries 

 are preserved in bottles, and the ripe fruit in sugar. Bruised and fermented, 

 wines and brandies are made from the green fruit, and gooseberry Cham- 

 pagne is often substituted for that of the grape. In the G. M. for 1838, p. 180 

 tol82, and p. ool, will be found a variety of receipts for preparing gooseberry 

 wines and spirits, with figures of the apparatus for crushing the fruit, fer- 

 menting and distilling the liquor, &c. 



1213. Varieties. — Parkinson enumerates only eight sorts, but there are 

 now some hundreds of kinds in British nurseries, most of them raised from 

 seed in Lancashire and Cheshire, where the weight of the berry has been 

 raised from ten pennyweights, the usual weight of the old sorts of red and 

 green gooseberries, to thirty-two pennyweights and upwards, the weight of 

 the largest modern kinds that have gained prizes. The following selections 

 are by Mr. Thompson : — 



1214. A selection of gooseberries for a suburban garden. — Red gooseberries : 

 red Champagne ; red Warrington ; Keens' seedling ; W arrington ; rough 

 red, used for preserving ; red Turkey ; Rob Roy ; ironmonger. 



Yelhw gooseberries : Yellow Champagne ; early Sulphur ; Rumbullion. 

 The last much used for bottling. 



Green gooseberries : Early green Hairy ; Pitmaston Greengage ; green 

 Walnut; Parkinsons Laurel; Massey's Heart of Oak; Edwards's Jolly 

 Tar. 



White gooseberries : White Champagne ; early White ; Woodward's 

 Whitesmith ; Taylor's Bright Venus ; Cook's White Eagle ; White Honey. 

 A more extensive selection is given in p. 429. 



1215. The largest prize gooseberries in cultivation by the growers in 

 Lancashire, in 1840 and 1841, with their respective weights, were as follow: 

 Red: Young Wonderful, 82 dwts. 16grs.; London, 32 dwts. ; Companion, 

 28dwts. Yellow: Pilot, 27 dwts. 5 grs. ; Leader, 27 dwts. j Teaser, 25 dwts. 

 Green: Thumper, 28 dwts. 7grs. ; Peacock, 20 dwts. 10 grs. ; Invincible, 

 26 dwts. 4 grs. WhAte : a Seedling, 24 dwts. 12 grs. ; Eagle, 24dwts. 9 grs. ; 

 Miss Hammond, 24 dwts. 6 grs. These varieties are all great bearers and 

 of good flavour ; the flavour of Peacock is said to resemble that of the Green 

 Gage Plum.— ikf. S. G. 



1216. Gooseberries for cottage garden, — Red Champagne and red War- 

 rington ; yellow Champagne and early Sulphur ; Pitmaston Green Gage ; 

 Massey's Heart of Oak, and early green Hairy ; Woodward's Whitesmith ; 

 Taylor's Bright Venus, and Crystal. 



