f 1 c
li
t o ; ¡í
g ro u n d , ac co rd in g to th e ir len g th ; th e y .
to s o foT c ig e .'w ith b ra n c h e s o u t from th e b o ttom . T o ra is e th is tr e e from s e e d - sow
o i t e b e to o r N o v em b e r, o r la te r in m ild w e a th e r, o r soon in th e sp rin g , e ith e r to r a h edge , m
d ó d Ì i t o f e r e t » p f i u " i r e to rem k iu ; o r iu a b e d o r b o rd e r for p la n tin g o u t w h en o f ono o r tw o y e a rs ’
mid d ie aid im l S'Sep tom b e r, a n d in O c to b e r, a n i sh o u ld th e n b e g a th e red m b u n c h e s . (A ie r e fom im .)
S d b s e o t . 4. Goo.scJerri/.—Kibes Grossulària and H, U 'va ^-isp a L. {Eng. Bot. 1292.
2057 V Pent. Monoq. L. <and Grossulariacea; Lindl. Groseille a maquereau, Lr. ;
Stac 'heibeerstmnck, Gcr. ; Kruishes, Du. ; Uva-spino, Ital. ; and Grosella, Span.
4545. The qooseherry in Piedmont, where it is found wild, and the ben-ies eatable,
but astringent and neglected, is called griselle. Some derive om- name go¿eb¿ry trom
<rorscberrv, or the resemblance of the bush to gorsc ; others, as Professor Mait^i, from
its being used as a sauce with young or green geese. Gerard says, it is called tcabeiry
fíeverbei-rv) in Cliesliirc, and it bas the same name in ■Worcestershire, Lancashire, and
Yorkshire! In Norfolk this term is abbreviated to feabes, or, as they pronounce it,
tbapcs. Carbcrry is another British name for this fruit. In Scotland it is sometimes
called cTOzer, or grozct, doubtless a corruption of the French name groseille. ihe gooseben
y bush is a natii-e of several parts of Europe, and abounds in the Vallais in copscwoods,
where it produces a small, green, hairy, high-flavoured fruit. In England it is natural^ed
in various places on old walls, ruins, and in the woods and hedges about Darlington it is
cultivated in greater perfection in Lancashire than in any other part of Bntmn ; and next
to Lancashire, the climate and treatment of the Lothians seem to suit this iruit. in
Spain and Italy the fruit is scarcely known. In France it is neglected and little esteemed
In somc parts of Germany and Holland the moderate temperature and the humidity ot
climate seem to suit tlic fruit ; but in no countiy is its size and beauty to be compared
with that produced in Lancashire, or from the Lancashire vaneties cultivated with care
in the more temperate and humid districts of Britain. Happily this wholesome an^d
rueful fruit is to be found iu almost every cottage garden in Britain ; and it ought to be
considered a part of every gardener’s duty to encourage the introduction of Ks most usetul
varieties in these humble enclosures. During tlie hot summer months, when the goose-
berrv ripens, there is no other fmit so generally withm the reach qf all classes of the
population. In Lancashire, and some parts of the adjoining counties, almost every cottapr
who has a garden, cultivates the gooseberry, with a view to prizes given at what arc called
gooseberry-prize meetings : of these there is annually published an a^iount, v/:th the
names and weight of the successful sorts, in what is called the Manchester Gooseba~nj
Book, or Gooseberry Growers’ Register. The prizes vary from 10s. to 5/. or 101. ; the
second, third, to the sixth and tenth degi-ecs of merit, receiving often proportionate prizes.
There are meetings held in spring to » make up,” as the tei-m is, the sorts the persons,
and the conditions of exhibition ; and in August to weigh and taste tlie fruit, and
determine the prizes. Ahout the middle of the eighteenth century, the cultore ot the
gooseberry in Lancashire appears to have been in its infancy ; for the heaviest hemes
recorded to have been produced about that time seldom exceeded 10 dwts., and even
at the begmning of the present century prize gooseberries weighing 10 dwts. were not
uncommon. In the Gooseberry Book for 1819 is an account of 136 meetings ; the
largest bcn-y produced was the Top-sawyer seedling, a red frmt, weighing 26 dwts.
17 grs. Forty-six reti, thirty-three yellow, forty-seven green, and forty-one white sorts
were exhibited ; and fourteen newly-named seedlings, which had been distinguished at
former meetings, were mentioned as “ going out,” or about to be sold to prqpaptors.
In 1825 the largest gooscbeny grown in England weighed 32 dwts. ; m 1832 the largest
was a gi-cen one, called Bumper, which weighed 30 dwts. 18 grs. In 1833 the largest
was the IVonderful, a red gooseberry, which weighed 27 dwts. 15 grs. _ In 1835, the
largest gooseberry seems to havo heen a yellow one, Leader, wluch weighed 24 dwts.
17 grs. The Gooseberry Growers’ Register is, of course, almost indispensable to those
who exhibit at gooseberry shows, or who wish to grow large gooseben-ies, as it contains
the weights of the largest gooseberries and the numher of prizes which each has won.
In the review given iu the Gard. Chron. of the Gooseberry Growers’ Register for 1848,
the following table is given of the names of four gooseberries “ of each colour standing
highest on the lists ; together with the number of prizes each of them has obtained, and
the weight of the heaviest berries.”
No. of
I’rizcs.
Weight of the
heaviest berry.
No. of
Prizes.
Weight of the
heaviest berry.
R e d .
I.ondon 256
du-ls.
31
grs.
19
G r e en.
Thumper 280
diets, grs.
3 0 9
Companion - _ 225 28 3 Peacock 102 24 15
Wonderful - 12D 30 18 Turnout 100 23 19
Lion - 114 25 4 Overall 94 24 0
Y ellow.
Cathcrina 219 30 15
W h it e .
Freedom 186 28 1
Leader 180 24 20 Eagle
Lady Leicester
Tally Ho
151 22 19
Drill - - 123 25 12 96 24 13
P ilot - 90 2« 0 - 74 22 21
4546. Use. T h e fruit was formerly in little esteem; but it has received so much improvement, that it
is now considered very valuable for turts, pies, sauces, and creams, before being ripe, and when a t maturity
it forms a rich dessert fruit for three months ; and is preserved in sugar for th e same purpose, and in
water for the kitchen. Unripe gooseberries can be preserved in bottles without water during winter:
the bottles being filled with berries are close corked and well sealed, they are then placed in a cool cellar
till wanted. By plunging the bottles into boiling water for a few minutes (heating them gradually, to
prevent cracking), then corking and hermetically sealing them when the steam has expelled the air, the
berries will keep better. Wines and even brandies are made from gooseberries.
4.547. Varie tie s. T h e gooseberry is mentioned by Tusser in 1573. Parkinson enumerates eight
varieties : the small, great, and long common, three red, one blue, and one green. Ray mentions only
the pearl-gooseberry, but Ilea has th e blue, several sorts of yellow, the white Holland, and the green.
Miller only says, there are several varieties obtained from seed, most of them named from the persons
who raised th em ; but as there are frequently new ones obtained, it is needless to enumerate them. The
present lists of London nurserymen contain from 80 to 100 names; but those of some of the Lancashire
growers above 300. Forsyth, m 1800, mentions ten sorts as common ; and adds a list of forty-three new
sorts grown in Manchester. Our catalogue has been prepared by Mr. Thompson, who observes, that
less confusion with regard to nomenclature has been found to exist among the varieties of gooseberries
than among those of any other class of fruits, of equal extent, in the Collections of the Horticultural
Society; which can only be accounted for by the great interest which the prize-growers have taken in
detecting sorts which may come before them with wrong names. In the Tra n sa c tio n s o f the H o r ticu ltu ra l
Society, 2d series, vol. i. p. 218-, there is an account of seventy sorts, selected from those fruited in the
Society’s Garden, and which were reckoned to possess good flavour; many of the large kinds having
been rejected, their size not compensating for their coarseness. The account is prefaced by a mode of
arrangement which it may be proper to notice. According to it, the varieties are formed (as in Lancashire
and generally elsewhere) into fo u r divisions, according to the colour of the fruit, being either
R e d , Yellow, Gre en, or White. Each of these is farther subdivided into three, from the surface being
either hispid, dow n y , or sm o o th ; thus forming twelve subdivisions in the whole, as exhibited in the following
Table, which contains a very good selection of both small and large sorts as far as fiavour is
concerned.
CLASS I F R U IT RED.
Div. 1. Surface hisrid.
Rough red
Small dark rough red
Scotch best jam
Red champagne
Rod Turkey (of somo)
Ironmonger (of many)
Dr. Davies’s upright
Countess of Errol
Raspberry
Keens’s secdlingWarrington
Red W’arrington
Warrington
As ton
Aston seedling
Bratherton’slordofthemanor
Hartshorn’s Lancashire lad
Leigh's rifleman
Allcock’s Duke of York
Grange’s atlmirable
Yateses royal Anne
Lomas’s victory
Boardman’s British crown
Milling’s crown bob
Large red oval
Red rose
Bratherton’s Huntsman
Dir. 3. Downy.
Miss Bold
Berry’s farmer’s glory
Dir. 5. Smooth.
Red Turkey
Wilmot’s early red
F arrow’s roaring lion
Rider’s scented lemon
CLASS II. — F R U IT YELLOW.
Div. 4. Surface hispid. Div. 5. Downy. Div. 6. Smooth.
23.
•24.
25
■26.
Yellow champagne
Hairy amber
Early sulphur
Golden ball
Golden bull
Moss’s seedling
Hebburn yellow Aston
Dixon's golden yellow
27. Rumbullion 28. Yellow ball
' f ‘ i ' 1