I have treated the currant very fully, not only because it is the more popular fruit in this country, but also because the greater part of my suggestions under that heading applies equally to this branch of the Ribes tribe. Possessing the same general characteristics, it should be treated on the same principles that were seen to be applicable to the currant. It flourishes best in the same cool exposures, and is the better for partial shade. Even in the south of England the more tender-skinned varieties often scald in the sun. However, I would recommend the shade of a fence or a northern hillside, rather than overhanging branches of trees. A rich soil, especially one that is deep and moist but not wet, is equally requisite, and the rigorous annual pruning is even more essential. As the wood becomes old and black, it should be cut out altogether. Fruit buds and spurs are produced on wood two or more years old, and cutting back causes these, but they must not be allowed to become too crowded. To no fruit are air and light more essential.

We have in this country two very distinct classes of gooseberries-the first of foreign origin, and the second consisting of our native species. Gray thus describes Ribes Grossularia , garden or English gooseberry: "Cultivated from Europe for the well-known fruit; thorny and prickly, with small, obtuse, three to five lobed leaves, green flowers, one to three on short pedicels, bell-shaped calyx, and large berry."

This native of northern Europe and the forests of the British Islands has been developed into the superb varieties which have been famous so long in England, but which we are able to grow with very partial success. It remembers its birthplace even more strongly than the currant, and the almost invariable mildew of our gardens is the sign of its homesickness. The cool, moist climate of England just suits it, and it is the pride of the gardens of Lancashire to surpass the world in the development of large specimens. Mr. Downing writes:

"We are indebted to the Lancashire weavers, who seem to have taken it up as a hobby, for nearly all the surprisingly large sorts of modern date. Their annual shows exhibit this fruit in its greatest perfection, and a gooseberry book is published in Manchester every year, giving a list of all the prize sorts, etc."

The extraordinary pains taken is suggested by the following quotation from the "Encyclopaedia of Gardening":

"To effect this increased size, every stimulant is applied that their ingenuity can suggest. They not only annually manure the soil richly, but also surround the plants with trenches of manure for the extremities of the roots to strike into, and form round the stem of each plant a basin, to be mulched, or manured, or watered, as may become necessary. When a root has extended too far from the stem, it is uncovered, and all the strongest leaders are shortened back nearly one-half of their length, and covered with fresh, marly loam, well manured. The effect of this pruning is to increase the number of fibres and spongioles, which form rapidly on the shortened roots, and strike out in all directions among the fresh, newly stirred loam, in search of nutriment."

This is carrying culture to an extreme rarely, if ever, seen in America. The annual referred to above recorded one hundred and fifty- five gooseberry exhibitions in 1863.

The number of varieties is almost endless, and more than seven hundred prize sorts are named in Lindley's "Guide to the Orchard"; but not one of them, I fear, can be grown in this country, except under favorable conditions and with extra care. Even after supplying such conditions, they will often mildew in spite of our best efforts. Again, in some localities, and for obscure causes, they will thrive and continue for years quite free from this chief enemy of the foreign gooseberry. Repeated applications of the flowers of sulphur over the bushes, from the time the fruit sets until it is ripe, are probably the best preventive. Thorough mulching, rigorous pruning, and high culture are also to be recommended. Those who garden for pleasure would do well to try some of these fine foreigners.

The following are some that Mr. Downing and others have recommended:

I. Red Varieties: British Crown, Top Sawyer, Roaring Lion, Lancashire
Lad, Crown Bob.

II. White: Cheshire Lass, White Lion, Whitesmith, White Honey.

III. Green: Laurel, Heart of Oak, Jolly Angler, Jolly Tar.

IV. Yellow: Golden Fleece, Bunker Hill, Conqueror, etc.

If but two or three foreign berries are to be chosen, I would recommend Crown Bob, Bearing Lion, and Whitesmith.

I am sorry to say that seedlings of these foreign varieties have the same tendency to mildew shown by their parents. The Late Emerald was originated in the old garden at Newburgh, and is a sad example of this fact. For many years it thrived in its birthplace without a trace of mildew, but on my own place it has behaved so badly that I do not recommend it. Were it not for this fault, I should grow no other variety.

In view of this inveterate evil, mildew, which is so seldom escaped and so difficult to overcome, we must turn to the second great class, our native species, since they are adapted to our climate. Of these there are several species, of which the following are the most prominent:

Ribes speciosum , showy, flowering gooseberry of California, cultivated for ornament, especially in England, and likely to succeed in the southern Middle States. It is trained like a climber; has small, shining leaves, very handsome flowers resembling those of a fuchsia, berry prickly, and few-seeded.

R. rotundifolium , more common in the West, is often downy-leaved; peduncles slender; the slender stamens and two-parted style longer than the narrow calyx; berry smooth.

R. cynosbati is found in the rocky woods of the North, is downy- leaved, with slender peduncle, stamens and undivided style not exceeding the broad calyx; large berry, usually prickly.

R. lacustre , Lake or Swamp Gooseberry, with the prickly stems of the gooseberry, but with a raceme of flowers like those of a currant; found in the cold bogs and wet woods of the North; small, bristly berries, of unpleasant flavor.

Last, but by no means the least, is the Ribes hirtellum , "commonest in our Eastern States, seldom downy, with very short thorns or none, very short peduncles, stamens and two-cleft style scarcely longer than the bell-shaped calyx; and the smooth berry is purple, small and sweet." (Gray.) This is the parent of the most widely known of our native varieties, the Houghton Seedling, named from its originator, Abel Houghton, of Lynn, Massachusetts. The bush is a vigorous grower, that will thrive, with decent culture, on any moderately good soil, and is very rarely injured by mildew. At the same time it improves greatly under high culture and pruning. The bush has a slender and even weeping habit of growth, and can be propagated readily by cuttings. From the Houghton have been grown two seedlings that now are justly the most popular.

The first and best of these is the Downing, originated by Mr. Charles Downing of Newburgh. It is an "upright, vigorous-growing plant, very productive. Fruit somewhat larger than the Houghton, roundish-oval, whitish-green, with the rib veins distinct. Skin smooth. Flesh rather soft, juicy." I consider this the best and most profitable variety that can be generally grown in this country. In flavor, it is excellent. I have had good success with this whenever I have given it fair culture. It does not propagate readily from cuttings, and therefore I increase it usually by layering.

The second seedling is Smith's Improved, a comparatively new variety that is winning favor. It more closely resembles the Houghton in its habit of growth than the Downing, and yet is more vigorous and upright than its parent. The fruit is considerably larger than the Houghton, oval, light green, with a bloom, moderately firm, sweet and good.

Mountain Seedling, originating with the Shakers at Lebanon, New York, is the largest of the American varieties, but for some reason it does not gain in popularity.

Cluster, or American Red, is a variety of unknown origin. The ancestral bush may have been found in the woods. The fruit is scarcely as large as that of the Houghton, is darker in color when fully ripe, hangs long on the bush, and is sweet and good. Mr. P. Barry says that it never mildews. Therefore, it should be made one of the parents of new varieties, for in this direction lies the future of this fruit in America.

In support of this opinion, I am led to quote the following letter, recently received:

"I write to call your attention to a native variety of gooseberry, of which you make no mention in your 'Scribner Papers,' growing in great abundance in the Sierra Nevada, at an elevation of from 2,000 to 3,000 feet, often in the most exposed places, generally on northern slopes. Thinking it may not have come to your knowledge, I will describe it. The bush is of stiff, erect habit, two to three feet high, a stocky grower and an abundant bearer. The berries vary from one-half to one and one-quarter inches in diameter, are covered with innumerable thorns, scarcely less savage in the green state than those on an ordinary wild bush of this country. When cooked, the prickles soften down to the same consistence as the skin, which is rather thick. When ripe, they are easily peeled, and well repay the trouble, the spines being then much less obdurate than when green. The mature fruit is of a deep, dull, coppery red color, and in flavor is equal, if not superior, to any of the red varieties which I have eaten in England. I have often wondered whether cultivation might not remove the spines from the berries, or, that failing, whether a seedling could not be raised from them which would give us a berry far more reliable than any good gooseberry we now have. The scorching sun of the long, dry season of California seemed to have no effect on the foliage, and is five years' experience I never found a mildewed berry.

"The berry is round , like the red English berries, instead of ellipsoid, like their white or golden ones.

"There is also another variety, hairy instead of spiny, about the size of your picture of the Downing; bush not so free a grower, rarely reaching two feet, and the berry, to my taste, much inferior. Tastes, however, differ, and it may be the more promising fruit.

"Both varieties are common throughout the eastern end of El Dorado,
Placer, and Nevada counties."

The first-named, or thorny gooseberry, probably belongs to the Ribes cynosbati , and the latter to the R. rotundifolium . The writer is correct in thinking that, if such gooseberries are growing wild, cultivation and selection could secure vast improvements. When we remember that English gardeners started with a native species inferior to ours, we are led to believe that effort and skill like theirs will here be rewarded by kinds as superb, and as perfectly adapted to our climate. 6Ik7BmAFC5nZYRkES6H5p+Mn28/BwIAs0xhlbUhGbw0nLnBtPtuWYQlKNa55AfzU