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THE RIBES FAMILY — THE PRINOS, OR WINTER BERRY. 
of the kinds patronized in gardens. The 
Ribes speciosum was, we believe, introduced 
by the Horticultural Society, and many hun- 
dreds of plants were distributed from the nur- 
series, before any of the purchasers saw a 
bloom : indeed, the flower is so inconspicuous, 
that, probably had the nurserymen shown any 
in bloom, the sale would have been stopped at 
once ; whereas, while the botanists were laud- 
ing it to the skies, and the bloom was care- 
fully kept from sight, the sale was rapid, and 
for a long time constant. The Ribes specio- 
sum is a variety or species with the charac- 
teristics of the gooseberry-tree ; the leaves 
smaller; the plant weaker; the bloom red but 
small, and greatly disappointing to those whose 
notions of its grandeur were derived from the 
sellers themselves. Nevertheless, as there were, 
when it was well grown, as many flowers as 
leaves, it was a favourite with many to the 
last, and even now forms a pretty member of 
the Ribes family. 
Ribes sanguineum is after the habit of the 
currant, and, it must be confessed, one of the 
prettiest of the flowering shrubs. The branches 
of flowers hang like currants. The leaves are 
like the currant but smaller, and it forms a 
bush of the same appearance, but not so strong 
in the wood. Of this there are many seedling 
varieties; they have already been produced 
from white to dark crimson almost every shade, 
and form a rich and varied group. 
Ribeas aurea is a more elegant shrub, but by 
no means so prolific of bloom : still, the pale 
yellow flowers hanging in loose bunches with 
longer footstalks, make a pretty appearance 
among the flowering shrubs. The leaves of 
this are also like the currant, but much 
smaller and more elegant. It is a looser 
growing shrub ; and except grouped with 
others, where the yellow flowers form a con- 
trast, is not so conspicuous as to make any 
figure of consequence. By selecting some of 
the most striking of the varieties of sanguineum, 
such as white, pink, dark rose, and crimson ; 
then the yellow one and Ribes speciosum; and 
grouping them tastefully, much may be done 
towards rendering them highly ornamental. 
They all strike freely from cuttings and layers. 
They may be cut off or laid down any time, 
from the fall of the leaf to the period of grow- 
ing again : so also, the cuttings may be put 
in at a proper distance in nursery-beds, six 
inches apart in the rows, and a foot from row 
to row. The layers may remain on the trees 
until the autumn, when they may be cut off, 
if well rooted, and be planted either in beds to 
increase in size, or at once in the borders or 
places where they are to remain. When the 
cuttings have remained in the first bed until 
the autumn, they may be placed anywhere, 
either in a fresh bed, wider apart, or in bor- 
ders where they are to bloom ; but it is better 
to keep them one more year in a bed. In the 
spring, before the buds are swelled, they may 
be cut down to within three or four eyes of 
the ground, if they are single stems, or each 
branch to within two eyes of the main stem 
if they are in branches ; and, in this case, all 
weakly and thin shoots must be taken clean 
away. In selecting cuttings to be put in the 
open border, treat them the same as the com- 
mon currant-bush, for they are quite as hardy, 
though as they bloom very early in the spring, 
a sharp frost has more effect upon their open- 
ing flowers, than is consistent with their ten- 
der and brilliant bloom. This, however, does 
not affect the cuttings, which should be cut 
off about six inches long, so that one branch 
might be made into half a dozen cuttings, if 
it were a strong one : these should be half in 
the ground and half out, and the earth well 
pressed against their sides, otherwise they 
would dry up and wither. The pruning of 
these shrubs may be left entirely to the grower's 
fancy : they may be made close dwarf-bushes, 
by cutting all the shoots down, every year, to 
three or four eyes; but as they do not fear the 
knife, the cultivator may almost shape them as 
he likes. The Ribes speciosum wants cutting 
like the gooseberry-bush, leaving the pendent 
branches here and there the full length, for the 
bloom will extend the whole length of the 
shoot as thick as the leaves themselves. This 
plant was at first treated as a more tender 
exotic than it is, and the cuttings were care- 
fully struck under a hand-glass. This may be 
done now or not, just as the cultivator chooses; 
but we never found any difficulty in striking 
them, as we should the common gooseberry. . 
THE PRINOS, OR WINTER BERRY. 
These are small shrubs, botanically allied to 
the Holly, and, for the most part, interesting in 
cultivation. There are some species deci- 
duous,* and others are evergreen. 
Prinos ambiguus, (the ambiguous Winter 
Berry.) — A deciduous shrub, growing four 
or five feet high; found in sandy wet woods 
and swampy places from New Jersey to Caro- 
lina. The leaves are oval, tapering to both 
ends, quite smooth, and saw-edged. The 
flowers are small and white, borne in July 
and August, and succeeded by smooth round 
small red berries. It is sometimes called 
Cassine caroliniana. 
Prinos atomarius, (the atom - bearing 
Winter Berry.) — This is a small evergreen 
under-shrub, with oval, coriaceous leaves, 
wedge-shaped at the base, and acuminate at 
the tip, and bearing on the under side nume- 
* That is, shedding their leaves in winter. 
