WILMOT'S EARLY RED GOOSEBERRY.

The custom, which has long been adopted in some counties, particularly Lancashire, of giving premiums for new varieties of the Gooseberry, has tended to bring forward an innumerable progeny; from which it is no easy task to select a few which may be recommended as possessing superior merit. The principle of rewarding according to the size and weight of an individual berry appears to be erroneous, as no positive criterion is thereby afforded, even of the average size; and those qualities which constitute the real value of the fruit, are wholly unattended to: indeed it is generally admitted, that very few of the large varieties of the Gooseberry are excellent in point of flavour, and that the Old Red Champagne and the Green Walnut are still unrivalled.

The variety here delineated was communicated by the ingenious cultivator, whose name it bears *: it was selected by the Fruit Committee of the HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, as the best red berry among many which were presented to them in 1814. The following account has been transmitted by Mr. WILMOT to the author:

"The Gooseberry which I have called my Early Red was raised about nine years since, and is now cultivated by me to a far greater extent than any other; its qualities being such as have induced me to give it a decided preference over every variety I have seen, (though my garden contains, I believe, all the best of those which have been exhibited as prize fruits in Lancashire, and an extensive collection of my own raising ;) being earlier ripe, of excellent flavour, and its produce such as, were I to relate it, would appear to border on the marvellous. The specimen selected for delineation by the Committee of the HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, was not at all beyond a fair sample, as I could have shown five thousand equally fine. It usually ripens in the middle of June, and in favourable seasons it is sometimes earlier. The fruit may be gathered at an early period, and will, I presume, be found larger and better in the month of May than any other kind. Immediately previous to ripening it is excellent for baking, as the skin is not tough, but the whole berry melts to a fine consistence."