volume 3 page 332. See also "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1865 page 271 to same effect. Also "Journal of Horticulture" September 26, 1865 page 254.) the trees with glandular leaves are liable to blister, but not in any great degree to mildew; whilst the non-glandular trees are more subject to curl, to mildew, and to the attacks of aphides. The varieties differ in the period of their maturity, in the fruit keeping well, and in hardiness,--the latter circ.u.mstance being especially attended to in the United States.
Certain varieties, such as the Bellegarde, stand forcing in hot-houses better than other varieties. The flat-peach of China is the most remarkable of all the varieties; it is so much depressed towards the summit, that the stone is here covered only by roughened skin and not by a fleshy layer.
(10/61. "Transact. Hort. Soc." volume 4 page 512.) Another Chinese variety, called the Honey-peach, is remarkable from the fruit terminating in a long sharp point; its leaves are glandless and widely dentate. (10/62. "Journal of Horticulture" September 8, 1853 page 188.) The Emperor of Russia peach is a third singular variety, having deeply double-serrated leaves; the fruit is deeply cleft with one-half projecting considerably beyond the other: it originated in America, and its seedlings inherit similar leaves.
(10/63. "Transact. Hort. Soc." volume 6 page 412.)
The peach has also produced in China a small cla.s.s of trees valued for ornament, namely the double-flowered; of these, five varieties are now known in England, varying from pure white, through rose, to intense crimson. (10/64. "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1857 page 216.) One of these varieties, called the camellia-flowered, bears flowers above 2 1/4 inches in diameter, whilst those of the fruit-bearing kinds do not at most exceed 1 1/4 inch in diameter. The flowers of the double-flowered peaches have the singular property (10/65. "Journal of Hort. Soc." volume 2 page 283.) of frequently producing double or treble fruit. Finally, there is good reason to believe that the peach is an almond profoundly modified; but whatever its origin may have been, there can be no doubt that it has yielded during the last eighteen centuries many varieties, some of them strongly characterised, belonging both to the nectarine and peach form.
APRICOT (Prunus armeniaca).
It is commonly admitted that this tree is descended from a single species, now found wild in the Caucasian region. (10/66. Alph. de Candolle "Geograph. Bot." page 879.) On this view the varieties deserve notice, because they ill.u.s.trate differences supposed by some botanists to be of specific value in the almond and plum. The best monograph on the apricot is by Mr. Thompson (10/67. "Transact. Hort. Soc." 2nd series volume 1 1835 page 56. See also "Cat. of Fruit in Garden of Hort. Soc." 3rd edition 1842.) who describes seventeen varieties. We have seen that peaches and nectarines vary in a strictly parallel manner; and in the apricot, which forms a closely allied genus, we again meet with variations a.n.a.logous to those of the peach, as well as to those of the plum. The varieties differ considerably in the shape of their leaves, which are either serrated or crenated, sometimes with ear-like appendages at their bases, and sometimes with glands on the petioles. The flowers are generally alike, but are small in the Masculine. The fruit varies much in size, shape, and in having the suture little p.r.o.nounced or absent; in the skin being smooth, or downy, as in the orange-apricot; and in the flesh clinging to the stone, as in the last-mentioned kind, or in readily separating from it, as in the Turkey- apricot. In all these differences we see the closest a.n.a.logy with the varieties of the peach and nectarine. In the stone we have more important differences, and these in the case of the plum have been esteemed of specific value: in some apricots the stone is almost spherical, in others much flattened, being either sharp in front or blunt at both ends, sometimes channelled along the back, or with a sharp ridge along both margins. In the Moorpark, and generally in the Hemskirke, the stone presents a singular character in being perforated, with a bundle of fibres pa.s.sing through the perforation from end to end. The most constant and important character, according to Thompson, is whether the kernel is bitter or sweet: yet in this respect we have a graduated difference, for the kernel is very bitter in Shipley"s apricot; in the Hemskirke less bitter than in some other kinds; slightly bitter in the Royal; and "sweet like a hazel-nut" in the Breda, Angoumois, and others. In the case of the almond, bitterness has been thought by some high authorities to indicate specific difference.
In N. America the Roman apricot endures "cold and unfavourable situations, where no other sort, except the Masculine, will succeed; and its blossoms bear quite a severe frost without injury." (10/68. Downing "The Fruits of America" 1845 page 157: with respect to the Alberge apricot in France see page 153.) According to Mr. Rivers (10/69. "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1863 page 364.), seedling apricots deviate but little from the character of their race: in France the Alberge is constantly reproduced from seed with but little variation. In Ladakh, according to Moorcroft (10/70. "Travels in the Himalayan Provinces" volume 1 1841 page 295.) ten varieties of the apricot, very different from each other, are cultivated, and all are raised from seed, excepting one, which is budded.
PLUMS (Prunus insit.i.tia).
(FIGURE 43. PLUM STONES, of natural size, viewed laterally. 1. Bullace Plum. 2. Shropshire Damson. 3. Blue Gage. 4. Orleans. 5. Elvas. 6. Denyers Victoria. 7. Diamond.)
Formerly the sloe, P. spinosa, was thought to be the parent of all our plums; but now this honour is very commonly accorded to P. insit.i.tia or the bullace, which is found wild in the Caucasus and N.-Western India, and is naturalised in England. (10/71. See an excellent discussion on this subject in Hewett C. Watson "Cybele Britannica" volume 4 page 80.) It is not at all improbable, in accordance with some observations made by Mr. Rivers (10/72.
"Gardener"s Chronicle" 1865 page 27.), that both these forms, which some botanists rank as a single species, may be the parents of our domesticated plums. Another supposed parent-form, the P. domestica, is said to be found wild in the region of the Caucasus. G.o.dron remarks (10/73. "De l"Espece"
tome 2 page 94. On the parentage of our plums see also Alph. De Candolle "Geograph. Bot." page 878. Also Targioni-Tozzetti "Journal Hort. Soc."
volume 9 page 164. Also Babington "Manual of Brit. Botany" 1851 page 87.) that the cultivated varieties may be divided into two main groups, which he supposes to be descended from two aboriginal stocks; namely, those with oblong fruit and stones pointed at both ends, having narrow separate petals and upright branches; and those with rounded fruit, with stones blunt at both ends, with rounded petals and spreading branches. From what we know of the variability of the flowers in the peach and of the diversified manner of growth in our various fruit-trees, it is difficult to lay much weight on these latter characters. With respect to the shape of the fruit, we have conclusive evidence that it is extremely variable: Downing (10/74. "Fruits of America" pages 276, 278, 284, 310, 314. Mr. Rivers raised ("Gardener"s Chronicle" 1863 page 27) from the Prune-peche, which bears large, round, red plums on stout, robust shoots, a seedling which bears oval, smaller fruit on shoots that are so slender as to be almost pendulous.) gives outlines of the plums of two seedlings, namely, the red and imperial gages, raised from the greengage; and the fruit of both is more elongated than that of the greengage. The latter has a very blunt broad stone, whereas the stone of the imperial gage is "oval and pointed at both ends." These trees also differ in their manner of growth: "the greengage is a very short- jointed, slow-growing tree, of spreading and rather dwarfish habit;" whilst its offspring, the imperial gage, "grows freely and rises rapidly, and has long dark shoots." The famous Washington plum bears a globular fruit, but its offspring, the emerald drop, is nearly as much elongated as the most elongated plum figured by Downing, namely, Manning"s prune. I have made a small collection of the stones of twenty-five kinds, and they graduate in shape from the bluntest into the sharpest kinds. As characters derived from seeds are generally of high systematic importance, I have thought it worth while to give drawings of the most distinct kinds in my small collection; and they may be seen to differ in a surprising manner in size, outline, thickness, prominence of the ridges, and state of surface. It deserves notice that the shape of the stone is not always strictly correlated with that of the fruit: thus the Washington plum is spherical and depressed at the pole, with a somewhat elongated stone, whilst the fruit of the Goliath is more elongated, but the stone less so, than in the Washington. Again, Denyer"s Victoria and Goliath bear fruit closely resembling each other, but their stones are widely different. On the other hand, the Harvest and Black Margate plums are very dissimilar, yet include closely similar stones.
The varieties of the plum are numerous, and differ greatly in size, shape, quality, and colour,--being bright yellow, green, almost white, blue, purple, or red. There are some curious varieties, such as the double or Siamese, and the Stoneless plum: in the latter the kernel lies in a roomy cavity surrounded only by the pulp. The climate of North America appears to be singularly favourable for the production of new and good varieties; Downing describes no less than forty, of which seven of first-rate quality have been recently introduced into England. (10/75. "Gardener"s Chronicle"
1855 page 726.) Varieties occasionally arise having an innate adaptation for certain soils, almost as strongly p.r.o.nounced as with natural species growing on the most distinct geological formations; thus in America the imperial gage, differently from almost all other kinds, "is peculiarly fitted for DRY LIGHT soils where many sorts drop their fruit," whereas on rich heavy soils the fruit is often insipid. (10/76. Downing "Fruit Trees"
page 278.) My father could never succeed in making the Wine-Sour yield even a moderate crop in a sandy orchard near Shrewsbury, whilst in some parts of the same county and in its native Yorkshire it bears abundantly: one of my relations also repeatedly tried in vain to grow this variety in a sandy district in Staffordshire.
Mr. Rivers has given (10/77. "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1863 page 27. Sageret in his "Pomologie Phys." page 346 enumerates five kinds which can be propagated in France by seed: see also Downing "Fruit Trees of America"
page 305, 312, etc.) a number of interesting facts, showing how truly many varieties can be propagated by seed. He sowed the stones of twenty bushels of the greengage for the sake of raising stocks, and closely observed the seedlings; all had the smooth shoots, the prominent buds, and the glossy leaves of the greengage, but the greater number had smaller leaves and thorns." There are two kinds of damson, one the Shropshire with downy shoots, and the other the Kentish with smooth shoots, and these differ but slightly in any other respect: Mr. Rivers sowed some bushels of the Kentish damson, and all the seedlings had smooth shoots, but in some the fruit was oval, in others round or roundish, and in a few the fruit was small, and, except in being sweet, closely resembled that of the wild sloe. Mr. Rivers gives several other striking instances of inheritance: thus, he raised eighty thousand seedlings from the common German Quetsche plum, and "not one could be found varying in the least, in foliage or habit." Similar facts were observed with the Pet.i.te Mirabelle plum, yet this latter kind (as well as the Quetsche) is known to have yielded some well-established varieties; but, as Mr. Rivers remarks, they all belong to the same group with the Mirabelle.
CHERRIES (Prunus cerasus, avium, etc.).
Botanists believe that our cultivated cherries are descended from one, two, four, or even more wild stocks. (10/78. Compare Alph. De Candolle "Geograph. Bot." page 877. Bentham and Targioni-Tozzetti in "Hort. Journal"
volume 9 page 163; G.o.dron "De l"Espece" tome 2 page 92.) That there must be at least two parent species we may infer from the sterility of twenty hybrids raised by Mr. Knight from the morello fertilised by pollen of the Elton cherry; for these hybrids produced in all only five cherries, and one alone of these contained a seed. (10/79. "Transact. Hort. Soc." volume 5 1824 page 295.) Mr. Thompson (10/80. Ibid second series volume 1 1835 page 248.) has cla.s.sified the varieties in an apparently natural method in two main groups by characters taken from the flowers, fruit, and leaves; but some varieties which stand widely separate in this cla.s.sification are quite fertile when crossed; thus Knight"s Early Black cherries are the product of a cross between two such kinds.
Mr. Knight states that seedling cherries are more variable than those of any other fruit-tree. (10/81. ) In the Catalogue of the Horticultural Society for 1842 eighty varieties are enumerated. Some varieties present singular characters: thus, the flower of the Cl.u.s.ter cherry includes as many as twelve pistils, of which the majority abort; and they are said generally to produce from two to five or six cherries aggregated together and borne on a single peduncle. In the Ratafia cherry several flower- peduncles arise from a common peduncle, upwards of an inch in length. The fruit of Gascoigne"s Heart has its apex produced into a globule or drop; that of the white Hungarian Gean has almost transparent flesh. The Flemish cherry is "a very odd-looking fruit," much flattened at the summit and base, with the latter deeply furrowed, and borne on a stout, very short footstalk. In the Kentish cherry the stone adheres so firmly to the footstalk, that it could be drawn out of the flesh; and this renders the fruit well fitted for drying. The Tobacco-leaved cherry, according to Sageret and Thompson, produces gigantic leaves, more than a foot and sometimes even eighteen inches in length, and half a foot in breadth. The weeping cherry, on the other hand, is valuable only as an ornament, and, according to Downing, is "a charming little tree, with slender, weeping branches, clothed with small, almost myrtle-like foliage." There is also a peach-leaved variety.
Sageret describes a remarkable variety, LE GRIOTTIER DE LA TOUSSAINT, which bears at the same time, even as late as September, flowers and fruit of all degrees of maturity. The fruit, which is of inferior quality, is borne on long, very thin footstalks. But the extraordinary statement is made that all the leaf-bearing shoots spring from old flower-buds. Lastly, there is an important physiological distinction between those kinds of cherries which bear fruit on young or on old wood; but Sageret positively a.s.serts that a Bigarreau in his garden bore fruit on wood of both ages. (10/82.
These several statements are taken from the four following works, which may, I believe, be trusted: Thompson in "Hort. Transact." see above; Sageret "Pomologie Phys." 1830 pages 358, 364, 367, 379; "Catalogue of the Fruit in the Garden of Hort. Soc." 1842 pages 57, 60; Downing "The Fruits of America" 1845 pages 189, 195, 200.)
APPLE (Pyrus malus).
The one source of doubt felt by botanists with respect to the parentage of the apple is whether, besides P. malus, two or three other closely allied wild forms, namely, P. acerba and praec.o.x or paradisiaca, do not deserve to be ranked as distinct species. The P. praec.o.x is supposed by some authors (10/83. Mr. Lowe states in his "Flora of Madeira" quoted in "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1862 page 215 that the P. malus, with its nearly sessile fruit, ranges farther south than the long-stalked P. acerba, which is entirely absent in Madeira, the Canaries, and apparently in Portugal. This fact supports the belief that these two forms deserve to be called species. But the characters separating them are of slight importance, and of a kind known to vary in other cultivated fruit-trees.) to be the parent of the dwarf paradise stock, which, owing to the fibrous roots not penetrating deeply into the ground, is so largely used for grafting; but the paradise stocks, it is a.s.serted (10/84. See "Journ. of Hort. Tour, by Deputation of the Caledonian Hort. Soc." 1823 page 459.) cannot be propagated true by seed. The common wild crab varies considerably in England; but many of the varieties are believed to be escaped seedlings. (10/85. H.C. Watson "Cybele Britannica" volume 1 page 334.) Every one knows the great difference in the manner of growth, in the foliage, flowers, and especially in the fruit, between the almost innumerable varieties of the apple. The pips or seeds (as I know by comparison) likewise differ considerably in shape, size, and colour. The fruit is adapted for eating or for cooking in various ways, and keeps for only a few weeks or for nearly two years. Some few kinds have the fruit covered with a powdery secretion, called bloom, like that on plums; and "it is extremely remarkable that this occurs almost exclusively among varieties cultivated in Russia." (10/86. Loudon"s "Gardener"s Mag." volume 6 1830 page 83.) Another Russian apple, the white Astracan, possesses the singular property of becoming transparent, when ripe, like some sorts of crabs. The API ETOILE has five prominent ridges, hence its name; the API NOIR is nearly black: the TWIN Cl.u.s.tER PIPPIN often bears fruit joined in pairs. (10/87. See "Catalogue of Fruit in Garden of Hort. Soc." 1842 and Downing "American Fruit Trees.") The trees of the several sorts differ greatly in their periods of leafing and flowering; in my orchard the COURT PENDU PLAT produces leaves so late, that during several springs I thought that it was dead. The Tiffin apple scarcely bears a leaf when in full bloom; the Cornish crab, on the other hand, bears so many leaves at this period that the flowers can hardly be seen. (10/88. Loudon"s Gardener"s Magazine" volume 4 1828 page 112.) In some kinds the fruit ripens in mid- summer; in others, late in the autumn. These several differences in leafing, flowering, and fruiting, are not at all necessarily correlated; for, as Andrew Knight has remarked (10/89. "The Culture of the Apple" page 43. Van Mons makes the same remark on the pear "Arbres Fruitiers" tome 2 1836 page 414.), no one can judge from the early flowering of a new seedling, or from the early shedding or change of colour of the leaves, whether it will mature its fruit early in the season.
The varieties differ greatly in const.i.tution. It is notorious that our summers are not hot enough for the Newtown Pippin (10/90. Lindley"s "Horticulture" page 116. See also Knight on the Apple-Tree, in "Transact.
of Hort. Soc." volume 6 page 229.), which is the glory of the orchards near New York; and so it is with several varieties which we have imported from the Continent. On the other hand, our Court of Wick succeeds well under the severe climate of Canada. The Caville rouge de Micoud occasionally bears two crops during the same year. The Burr Knot is covered with small excrescences, which emit roots so readily that a branch with blossom-buds may be stuck in the ground, and will root and bear a few fruit even during the first year. (10/91. Transact. Hort. Soc." volume 1 1812 page 120.) Mr.
Rivers has recently described (10/92. "Journal of Horticulture" March 13, 1866 page 194.) some seedlings valuable from their roots running near the surface. One of these seedlings was remarkable from its extremely dwarfed size, "forming itself into a bush only a few inches in height." Many varieties are particularly liable to canker in certain soils. But perhaps the strangest const.i.tutional peculiarity is that the Winter Majetin is not attacked by the mealy bug or coccus; Lindley (10/93. "Transact. Hort. Soc."
volume 4 page 68. For Knight"s case see volume 6 page 547. When the coccus first appeared in this country it is said (volume 2 page 163) that it was more injurious to crab-stocks than to the apples grafted on them. The Majetin apple has been found equally free of the coccus at Melbourne in Australia ("Gardener"s Chronicle" 1871 page 1065). The wood of this tree has been there a.n.a.lysed, and it is said (but the fact seems a strange one) that its ash contained over 50 per cent of lime, while that of the crab exhibited not quite 23 per cent. In Tasmania Mr. Wade ("Transact. New Zealand Inst.i.tute" volume 4 1871 page 431) raised seedlings of the Siberian Bitter Sweet for stocks, and he found barely one per cent of them attacked by the coccus. Riley shows ("Fifth Report on Insects of Missouri" 1873 page 87) that in the United States some varieties of apples are highly attractive to the coccus and others very little so. Turning to a very different pest, namely, the caterpillar of a moth (Carpocapsa pomonella), Walsh affirms ("The American Entomologist" April 1869 page 160) that the maiden-blush "is entirely exempt from apple-worms." So, it is said, are some few other varieties; whereas others are "peculiarly subject to the attacks of this little pest.") states that in an orchard in Norfolk infested with these insects the Majetin was quite free, though the stock on which it was grafted was affected: Knight makes a similar statement with respect to a cider apple, and adds that he only once saw these insects just above the stock, but that three days afterwards they entirely disappeared; this apple, however, was raised from a cross between the Golden Harvey and the Siberian Crab; and the latter, I believe, is considered by some authors as specifically distinct.
The famous St. Valery apple must not be pa.s.sed over; the flower has a double calyx with ten divisions, and fourteen styles surmounted by conspicuous oblique stigmas, but is dest.i.tute of stamens or corolla. The fruit is constricted round the middle, and is formed of five seed-cells, surmounted by nine other cells. (10/94. "Mem. de La Soc. Linn. de Paris"
tome 3 1825 page 164; and Seringe "Bulletin Bot." 1830 page 117.) Not being provided with stamens, the tree requires artificial fertilisation; and the girls of St. Valery annually go to "faire ses pommes," each marking her own fruit with a ribbon; and as different pollen is used the fruit differs, and we here have an instance of the direct action of foreign pollen on the mother plant. These monstrous apples include, as we have seen, fourteen seed-cells; the pigeon-apple (10/95. Gardener"s Chronicle" 1849 page 24.) on the other hand, has only four, instead of, as with all common apples, five cells; and this certainly is a remarkable difference.
In the catalogue of apples published in 1842 by the Horticultural Society, 897 varieties are enumerated; but the differences between most of them are of comparatively little interest, as they are not strictly inherited. No one can raise, for instance, from the seed of the Ribston Pippin, a tree of the same kind; and it is said that the "Sister Ribston Pippin" was a white semi-transparent, sour-fleshed apple, or rather large crab. (10/96. R.
Thompson, in "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1850 page 788.) Yet it was a mistake to suppose that with most varieties the characters are not to a certain extent inherited. In two lots of seedlings raised from two well-marked kinds, many worthless crab-like seedlings will appear, but it is now known that the two lots not only usually differ from each other, but resemble to a certain extent their parents. We see this indeed in the several sub-groups of Russetts, Sweetings, Codlins, Pearmains, Reinettes, etc. (10/97. Sageret "Pomologie Physiologique" 1830 page 263. Downing "Fruit Trees" pages 130, 134, 139, etc. Loudon"s "Gardener"s Mag." volume 8 p. 317. Alexis Jordan "De l"Origine des diverses Varietes" in "Mem. de l"Acad. Imp. de Lyon" tome 2 1852 pages 95, 114. "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1850 pages 774, 788.), which are all believed, and many are known, to be descended from other varieties bearing the same names.
PEARS (Pyrus communis).
I need say little on this fruit, which varies much in the wild state, and to an extraordinary degree when cultivated, in its fruit, flowers, and foliage. One of the most celebrated botanists in Europe, M. Decaisne, has carefully studied the many varieties (10/98. "Comptes Rendus" July 6, 1863.); although he formerly believed that they were derived from more than one species, he now thinks that all belong to one. He has arrived at this conclusion from finding in the several varieties a perfect gradation between the most extreme characters; so perfect is this gradation that he maintains it to be impossible to cla.s.sify the varieties by any natural method. M. Decaisne raised many seedlings from four distinct kinds, and has carefully recorded the variations in each. Notwithstanding this extreme degree of variability, it is now positively known that many kinds reproduce by seed the leading characters of their race. (10/99. "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1856 page 804; 1857 page 820; 1862 page 1195.)
STRAWBERRIES (Fragaria).
This fruit is remarkable on account of the number of species which have been cultivated, and from their rapid improvement within the last fifty or sixty years. Let any one compare the fruit of one of the largest varieties exhibited at our Shows with that of the wild wood strawberry, or, which will be a fairer comparison, with the somewhat larger fruit of the wild American Virginian Strawberry, and he will see what prodigies horticulture has effected. (10/100. Most of the largest cultivated strawberries are the descendants of F. grandiflora or chiloensis, and I have seen no account of these forms in their wild state. Methuen"s Scarlet (Downing "Fruits" page 527) has "immense fruit of the largest size," and belongs to the section descended from F. virginiana; and the fruit of this species, as I hear from Prof. A. Gray, is only a little larger than that of F. vesca, or our common wood-strawberry.) The number of varieties has likewise increased in a surprisingly rapid manner. Only three kinds were known in France, in 1746, where this fruit was early cultivated. In 1766 five species had been introduced, the same which are now cultivated, but only five varieties of Fragaria vesca, with some sub-varieties, had been produced. At the present day the varieties of the several species are almost innumerable. The species consist of, firstly, the wood or Alpine cultivated strawberries, descended from F. vesca, a native of Europe and of North America. There are eight wild European varieties, as ranked by d.u.c.h.esne, of F. vesca, but several of these are considered species by some botanists. Secondly, the green strawberries, descended from the European F. collina, and little cultivated in England. Thirdly, the Hautbois, from the European F. elatior.
Fourthly, the Scarlets, descended from F. virginiana, a native of the whole breadth of North America. Fifthly, the Chili, descended from F. chiloensis, an inhabitant of the west coast of the temperate parts both of North and South America. Lastly, the pines or Carolinas (including the old Blacks), which have been ranked by most authors under the name of F. grandiflora as a distinct species, said to inhabit Surinam; but this is a manifest error.
This form is considered by the highest authority, M. Gay, to be merely a strongly marked race of F. chiloensis. (10/101. "Le Fraisier" par le Comte L. de Lambertye 1864 page 50.) These five or six forms have been ranked by most botanists as specifically distinct; but this may be doubted, for Andrew Knight (10/102. "Transact. Hort. Soc." volume 3 1820 page 207.) who raised no less than 400 crossed strawberries, a.s.serts that the F.
virginiana, chiloensis and grandiflora "may be made to breed together indiscriminately," and he found, in accordance with the principle of a.n.a.logous variation, "that similar varieties could be obtained from the seeds of any one of them."
Since Knight"s time there is abundant and additional evidence (10/103. See an account by Prof. Decaisne, and by others in "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1862 page 335 and 1858 page 172; and Mr. Barnet"s paper in "Hort. Soc.
Transact." volume 6 1826 page 170.) of the extent to which the American forms spontaneously cross. We owe indeed to such crosses most of our choicest existing varieties. Knight did not succeed in crossing the European wood-strawberry with the American Scarlet or with the Hautbois.
Mr. Williams of Pitmaston, however, succeeded; but the hybrid offspring from the Hautbois, though fruiting well, never produced seed, with the exception of a single one, which reproduced the parent hybrid form.
(10/104. "Transact. Hort. Soc." volume 5 1824 page 294.) Major R. Trevor Clarke informs me that he crossed two members of the Pine cla.s.s (Myatt"s B.
Queen and Keen"s Seedling) with the wood and hautbois, and that in each case he raised only a single seedling; one of these fruited, but was almost barren. Mr. W. Smith, of York, has raised similar hybrids with equally poor success. (10/105. "Journal of Horticulture" December 30, 1862 page 779. See also Mr. Prince to the same effect ibid 1863 page 418.) We thus see (10/106. For additional evidence see "Journal of Horticulture" December 9, 1862 page 721.) that the European and American species can with some difficulty be crossed; but it is improbable that hybrids sufficiently fertile to be worth cultivation will ever be thus produced. This fact is surprising, as these forms structurally are not widely distinct, and are sometimes connected in the districts where they grow wild, as I hear from Professor Asa Gray, by puzzling intermediate forms.
The energetic culture of the Strawberry is of recent date, and the cultivated varieties can in most cases be cla.s.sed under some one of the above native stocks. As the American strawberries cross so freely and spontaneously, we can hardly doubt that they will ultimately become inextricably confused. We find, indeed, that horticulturists at present disagree under which cla.s.s to rank some few of the varieties; and a writer in the "Bon Jardinier" of 1840 remarks that formerly it was possible to cla.s.s all of them under some one species, but that now this is quite impossible with the American forms, the new English varieties having completely filled up the gaps between them. (10/107. "Le Fraisier" par le Comte L. de Lambertye pages 221, 230.) The blending together of two or more aboriginal forms, which there is every reason to believe has occurred with some of our anciently cultivated productions, we see now actually occurring with our strawberries.
The cultivated species offer some variations worth notice. The Black Prince, a seedling from Keen"s Imperial (this latter being a seedling of a very white strawberry, the white Carolina), is remarkable from "its peculiar dark and polished surface, and from presenting an appearance entirely unlike that of any other kind." (10/108. "Transact. Hort. Soc."
volume 6 page 200.) Although the fruit in the different varieties differs so greatly in form, size, colour, and quality, the so-called seed (which corresponds with the whole fruit in the plum) with the exception of being more or less deeply embedded in the pulp, is, according to De Jonghe (10/109. "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1858 page 173.) absolutely the same in all: and this no doubt may be accounted for by the seed being of no value, and consequently not having been subjected to selection. The strawberry is properly three-leaved, but in 1761 d.u.c.h.esne raised a single-leaved variety of the European wood-strawberry, which Linnaeus doubtfully raised to the rank of a species. Seedlings of this variety, like those of most varieties not fixed by long-continued selection, often revert to the ordinary form, or present intermediate states. (10/110. G.o.dron "De l"Espece" tome 1 page 161.) A variety raised by Mr. Myatt (10/111. "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1851 page 440.), apparently belonging to one of the American forms presents a variation of an opposite nature, for it has five leaves; G.o.dron and Lambertye also mention a five-leaved variety of F. collina.
The Red Bush Alpine strawberry (one of the F. vesca section) does not produce stolons or runners, and this remarkable deviation of structure is reproduced truly by seed. Another sub-variety, the White Bush Alpine, is similarly characterised, but when propagated by seed it often degenerates and produces plants with runners. (10/112. F. Gloede in "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1862 page 1053.) A strawberry of the American Pine section is also said to make but few runners. (10/113. Downing "Fruits" page 532.)
Much has been written on the s.e.xes of strawberries; the true Hautbois properly bears the male and female organs on separate plants (10/114.
Barnet in "Hort. Transact." volume 6 page 210.), and was consequently named by d.u.c.h.esne dioica; but it frequently produces hermaphrodites; and Lindley (10/115. "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1847 page 539.), by propagating such plants by runners, at the same time destroying the males, soon raised a self- prolific stock. The other species often showed a tendency towards an imperfect separation of the s.e.xes, as I have noticed with plants forced in a hot-house. Several English varieties, which in this country are free from any such tendency, when cultivated in rich soils under the climate of North America (10/116. For the several statements with respect to the American strawberries see Downing "Fruits" page 524; "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1843 page 188; 1847 page 539; 1861 page 717.) commonly produce plants with separate s.e.xes. Thus a whole acre of Keen"s Seedlings in the United States has been observed to be almost sterile from the absence of male flowers; but the more general rule is, that the male plants overrun the females.
Some members of the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, especially appointed to investigate this subject, report that "few varieties have the flowers perfect in both s.e.xual organs," etc. The most successful cultivators in Ohio plant for every seven rows of "pistillata," or female plants, one row of hermaphrodites, which afford pollen for both kinds; but the hermaphrodites, owing to their expenditure in the production of pollen, bear less fruit than the female plants.
The varieties differ in const.i.tution. Some of our best English kinds, such as Keen"s Seedlings, are too tender for certain parts of North America, where other English and many American varieties succeed perfectly. That splendid fruit, the British Queen, can be cultivated but in few places either in England or France: but this apparently depends more on the nature of the soil than on the climate; a famous gardener says that "no mortal could grow the British Queen at Shrubland Park unless the whole nature of the soil was altered." (10/117. Mr. D. Beaton in "Cottage Gardener" 1860 page 86. See also "Cottage Gardener" 1855 page 88 and many other authorities. For the Continent see F. Gloede in "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1862 page 1053.) La Constantine is one of the hardiest kinds, and can withstand Russian winters, but it is easily burnt by the sun, so that it will not succeed in certain soils either in England or the United States. (10/118.
Rev. W.F. Radclyffe in "Journal of Hort." March 14, 1865 page 207.) The Filbert Pine Strawberry "requires more water than any other variety; and if the plants once suffer from drought, they will do little or no good afterwards." (10/119. Mr. H. Doubleday in "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1862 page 1101.) Cuthill"s Black Prince Strawberry evinces a singular tendency to mildew; no less than six cases have been recorded of this variety suffering severely, whilst other varieties growing close by, and treated in exactly the same manner, were not at all infested by this fungus. (10/120.
"Gardener"s Chronicle" 1854 page 254.) The time of maturity differs much in the different varieties: some belonging to the wood or alpine section produce a succession of crops throughout the summer.
GOOSEBERRY (Ribes grossularia).
No one, I believe, has. .h.i.therto doubted that all the cultivated kinds are sprung from the wild plant bearing this name, which is common in Central and Northern Europe; therefore it will be desirable briefly to specify all the points, though not very important, which have varied. If it be admitted that these differences are due to culture, authors perhaps will not be so ready to a.s.sume the existence of a large number of unknown wild parent- stocks for our other cultivated plants. The gooseberry is not alluded to by writers of the cla.s.sical period. Turner mentions it in 1573, and Parkinson specifies eight varieties in 1629; the Catalogue of the Horticultural Society for 1842 gives 149 varieties, and the lists of the Lancashire nurserymen are said to include above 300 names. (10/121. Loudon"s "Encyclop. of Gardening" page 930; and Alph. De Candolle "Geograph. Bot."
page 910.) In the "Gooseberry Grower"s Register" for 1862 I find that 243 distinct varieties have won prizes at various periods, so that a vast number must have been exhibited. No doubt the difference between many of the varieties is very small; but Mr. Thompson in cla.s.sifying the fruit for the Horticultural Society found less confusion in the nomenclature of the gooseberry than of any other fruit, and he attributes this "to the great interest which the prize-growers have taken in detecting sorts with wrong names," and this shows that all the kinds, numerous as they are, can be recognised with certainty.
The bushes differ in their manner of growth, being erect, or spreading, or pendulous. The periods of leafing and flowering differ both absolutely and relatively to each other; thus the Whitesmith produces early flowers, which from not being protected by the foliage, as it is believed, continually fail to produce fruit. (10/122. Loudon"s "Gardener"s Magazine" volume 4 1828 page 112.) The leaves vary in size, tint, and in depth of lobes; they are smooth, downy, or hairy on the upper surface. The branches are more or less downy or spinose; "the Hedgehog has probably derived its name from the singular bristly condition of its shoots and fruit." The branches of the wild gooseberry, I may remark, are smooth, with the exception of thorns at the bases of the buds. The thorns themselves are either very small, few and single, or very large and triple; they are sometimes reflexed and much dilated at their bases. In the different varieties the fruit varies in abundance, in the period of maturity, in hanging until shrivelled, and greatly in size, "some sorts having their fruit large during a very early period of growth, whilst others are small, until nearly ripe." The fruit varies also much in colour, being red, yellow, green, and white--the pulp of one dark-red gooseberry being tinged with yellow; in flavour; in being smooth or downy,--few, however, of the Red gooseberries, whilst many of the so-called Whites, are downy; or in being so spinose that one kind is called Henderson"s Porcupine. Two kinds acquire when mature a powdery bloom on their fruit. The fruit varies in the thickness and veining of the skin, and, lastly, in shape, being spherical, oblong, oval, or obovate. (10/123.
The fullest account of the gooseberry is given by Mr. Thompson in "Transact. Hort. Soc." volume 1 2nd series 1835 page 218 from which most of the foregoing facts are taken.)
I cultivated fifty-four varieties, and, considering how greatly the fruit differs, it was curious how closely similar the flowers were in all these kinds. In only a few I detected a trace of difference in the size or colour of the corolla. The calyx differed in a rather greater degree, for in some kinds it was much redder than in others; and in one smooth white gooseberry it was unusually red. The calyx also differed in the basal part being smooth or woolly, or covered with glandular hairs. It deserves notice, as being contrary to what might have been expected from the law of correlation, that a smooth red gooseberry had a remarkably hairy calyx. The flowers of the Sportsman are furnished with very large coloured bracteae; and this is the most singular deviation of structure which I have observed.
These same flowers also varied much in the number of the petals, and occasionally in the number of the stamens and pistils; so that they were semi-monstrous in structure, yet they produced plenty of fruit. Mr.
Thompson remarks that in the Pastime gooseberry "extra bracts are often attached to the sides of the fruit." (10/124. "Catalogue of Fruits of Hort.
Soc. Garden" 3rd edition 1842.)
The most interesting point in the history of the gooseberry is the steady increase in the size of the fruit. Manchester is the metropolis of the fanciers, and prizes from five shillings to five or ten pounds are yearly given for the heaviest fruit. The "Gooseberry Growers Register" is published annually; the earliest known copy is dated 1786, but it is certain that meetings for the adjudication of prizes were held some years previously. (10/125. Mr. Clarkson of Manchester on the Culture of the Gooseberry in Loudon"s "Gardener"s Magazine" volume 4 1828 page 482.) The "Register" for 1845 gives an account of 171 Gooseberry Shows, held in different places during that year; and this fact shows on how large a scale the culture has been carried on. The fruit of the wild gooseberry is said (10/126. Downing "Fruits of America" page 213.) to weigh about a quarter of an ounce or 5 dwts., that is, 120 grains; about the year 1786 gooseberries were exhibited weighing 10 dwts., so that the weight was then doubled; in 1817 26 dwts. 17 grs. was attained; there was no advance till 1825, when 31 dwts. 16 grs. was reached; in 1830 "Teazer" weighed 32 dwts. 13 grs.; in 1841 "Wonderful" weighed 32 dwts. 16 grs.; in 1844 "London" weighed 35 dwts. 12 grs., and in the following year 36 dwts. 16 grs.; and in 1852 in Staffordshire, the fruit of the same variety reached the astonishing weight of 37 dwts. 7 grs. (10/127. "Gardener"s Chronicle" 1844 page 811 where a table is given; and 1845 page 819. For the extreme weights gained see "Journal of Horticulture" July 26, 1864 page 61.) or 896 grs.; that is, between seven or eight times the weight of the wild fruit. I find that a small apple, 6 1/2 inches in circ.u.mference, has exactly this same weight.