Raspberry

“ They knew, of course, Burbank. Every American does, who pretends to know anything about fruits. They told me all about the large and juicy plums, the new pears, the beautiful flowers, and a number of other creations of his. But by far the best and most delicious fruit, entirely new in form, color and flavor, was, they said, a hybrid between a raspberry and a mulberry! ”

“ And the Parson, I am sorry to say, prefers to have them picked for him the elect of the garden—and served in an orthodox manner. The straw-berry has a sort of poetical precedence, and I presume that no fruit is jealous of it any more than any flower is jealous of the rose; but I remark the facility with which liking for it is transferred to the raspberry, and from the raspberry (not to make a tedious enumeration) to the melon, and from the melon to the grape, and the grape to the pear, and the pear to the apple. And we do not mar our enjoyment of each by comparisons. ”

“ Downing, our greatest American authority on fruits, says of this berry, “I regard it as the largest, finest, best flavored, and most promising red raspberry that I have yet seen.” William Parry, the great small fruit raiser of New Jersey, says, “I consider it superior to any other raspberry that I have seen; plant a remarkably strong, vigorous grower; fruit of mammoth size, measuring from two and a half to three inches around; bright red color, firm, excellent quality, and very productive.” ”

“ HE was opening tins of jam, and exercising solicitude to avoid letting any sand make a way in. The men said that they were not proud, but they had an inborn objection to spreading the dust of the Pharaohs on their bread.
Violet plum, Cape gooseberry, Passion fruit, lemon and melon, quince—his eyes quite gladdened at the infinite variety that had unexpectedly turned up out of one of the new cases. For three weeks nothing but raspberry had fallen the way of the entire battalion, and raspberry is a confection of which it is quite possible to get too much. ”

“ Around Excelsior there are very few people that cover up the King raspberry. But the King raspberry has run out; all of the old varieties have run out. We have at our experiment station the No. 4—you can get double the amount of fruit from the No. 4 than from the King. The best way to grow the King [Pg 76] raspberry or any other raspberry is to set them four feet apart and cultivate them. If you grow a matted row you are bound to get weeds and grass in there, you are bound to get them ridged up, but by planting in hills and cultivating each way you can keep your ground perfectly level. ”

“ My wife and Mousie left the table standing, and, hastening to the raspberry field, helped Winnie and Bobsey and the other Bagley child to pick the ripest berries. We all worked like beavers till the vivid flashes and great drops drove us to shelter.
Fortunately, the shower came up slowly, and we nearly stripped the cherry-trees, carrying the fruit into the house, there to be arranged for market in the neat peck-baskets with coarse bagging covers which Mr. Bogart had sent me. The little baskets of raspberries almost covered the barn floor by the time the rain began, but they were safe. ”

“ Although it has been my experience that the raspberry is never a failure, still I have found that it is a good policy not to depend entirely on the raspberry, but to extend the plantation in such a way as to have a continuous supply of fruits and vegetables in season, from the asparagus and pie plant of the early spring to the very latest variety of the grape and apple ripening just before the heavy frost of fall, when it is again time to tuck them all away for the winter. ”

“ Raspberry (Rubus Idæus) , the most valued of all the species of Rubus. The wild raspberry has scarlet fruit and is found in thickets and woods throughout the whole of Europe and northern Asia. It was early introduced into the United States, but those now grown originated in native American varieties. The black raspberry, is largely grown in New York and Ohio as a commercial industry. The red variety is widely grown in the United States, but production is small compared to that of the black raspberry. Among the more promising varieties of the blacks are Gregg, Ohio and Kansas. ”

“ In the first place, they endure the severe Northern winters, and—what is of far more consequence—their best representatives thrive in light soils, and their tough foliage does not burn under the hot sun. It thus becomes the one species of red raspberry that can be raised successfully in the South, and from it, as a hardy stock, we should seek to develop the raspberries of the future. ”

“ I have seldom seen such a display of cress sandwiches and champagne. After a bit I strolled down through the shrubberries, went through a little wooden gate and found myself amongst the raspberry canes. ”

“ If you look attentively at a ripe raspberry, you will find that it is composed of many separate little balls of fleshy and juicy substance, each entirely covered by a thin, membraneous skin, which separates it wholly from its neighbour, and from the cone. Each of these contains a single seed, and from each a little dry thread, which is the withered style, projects. ”

“ Raspberry or Fresh Fruit.—One quart of raspberries, one quart of cream, three quarters of a pound or a pound of sugar, a few ripe currants and gooseberries, or currants and ripe cherries may be added, instead of all raspberries, which is much approved by some, and the juice of two lemons ”

“ Fruits.—Of native fruits, we possess raspberries equal in flavour and not otherwise distinguishable from the English. They grow plentifully on the alluvial banks of Hunter's river, and supply a yearly Christmas feast to the birds. Oar native currants are strongly acidulous, like the cranberry, and make an excellent preserve when mixed with the raspberry. They grow on low shrubs not higher than the whortleberry bush. Our cherries are destitute both of pleasant taste and flavour, and have the stone adhering to their outside. ”

“ When fresh fruit cannot be obtained, it is best made of raspberry jelly, instead of jam.—Another way. Boil an ounce of isinglass shavings in three pints of cream and new milk mixed, for fifteen minutes, or till the shavings be melted. Strain it through a hair sieve into a bason; when cool, add about half a pint of raspberry juice or syrup, to the milk and cream. Stir it till it is well incorporated; sweeten, and add a glass of brandy. Whisk it about till three parts cold, and then put it into a mould till it is quite cold. In summer, use the fresh juice; in winter, syrup of raspberries. ”

“ The vinegar can be extemporised by diluting Raspberry jelly with hot vinegar, or by mixing syrup of the fruit with vinegar.
In Germany a conserve of Raspberries which has astringent effects is concocted with two parts of sugar to one of juice expressed from the fruit. Besides containing citric and malic acids, the Raspberry affords a volatile oil of aromatic flavour, with crystallisable sugar, pectin, colouring matter, mucus, some mineral salts, and water.
Gerard says: "The fruit is good to be given to them that have weake, and queasie stomackes." ”

“ They make excellent preserves, and I mean to introduce beds of them into my garden. There is a pretty little wooded islet on our lake, that is called Strawberry island, another Raspberry island; they abound in a variety of fruits—wild grapes, raspberries, strawberries, black and red currants, a wild gooseberry, and a beautiful little trailing plant that bears white flowers like the raspberry, and a darkish purple fruit consisting of a few grains of a pleasant brisk acid, somewhat like in flavour to our dewberry, only not quite so sweet. ”

“ Raspberry Jelly.—Put the raspberries in an enamelled preserving-pan over the fire, or in a stone jar in the oven, having first carefully picked out any that are mouldy; squeeze through a piece of cheese cloth, doubled. To each qt. raspberry juice add 1⁄2 pint red currant juice extracted in the same manner; to each pint allow 3⁄4 lb. lump sugar; boil 1⁄2 hour moderately; skim, and stir frequently. Use a wooden spoon for mashing the fruit, and a silver one for skimming; iron spoils the colour.
Red Currant Jelly.— (a) To 3 lb. red currants, which should be fresh and not over ripe, mix 1 lb. ”

“ Woman always did, from the first, make a muss in a garden.
I inherited with my garden a large patch of raspberries. Splendid berry the raspberry, when the strawberry has gone. This patch has grown into such a defiant attitude, that you could not get within several feet of it. Its stalks were enormous in size, and cast out long, prickly arms in all directions; but the bushes were pretty much all dead. I have walked into them a good deal with a pruning-knife; but it is very much like fighting original sin. The variety is one that I can recommend. ”

“ Along the river banks and bordering the meadows are 245 found the wild rose, and where the soil is rich, dry and mellow, the wild sunflower grows luxuriantly. Of wild fruits, the red raspberry and strawberry are the only ones worthy of mention, and these are only found in limited quantities. A thornless red raspberry grows upon the mountains, but its blossoms are apt to be nipped by frosts and the plant is not a prolific bearer. ”

“ They survive in virtue of the attention paid to them by birds and small animals. Just as the wild strawberry which I picked in the hedgerow the other day procures the dispersion of its hard and indigestible fruitlets by getting them eaten together with the pulpy receptacle, so does the raspberry procure the dispersion of its soft and sugary fruitlets by getting them eaten all by themselves. ”

“ Of indigenous fruits there are none worth notice, for that produced by the ebony scarcely deserves the name; a large, but almost tasteless raspberry is however now found every where by the road side, and citrons of two kinds grow in the woods. ”

“ With the main points of raspberry culture given, there is no reason why any one with ordinary intelligence can not solve the details and meet with success.
Raspberries have a little advantage over strawberries with the man who is not greatly enthused over small fruit culture. When once established the plantings do not have to be renewed annually but with ordinary care will last several years, in fact they will stand more Junegrass sod and weeds and general neglect and still produce results than anything else I know of unless it is apple trees. ”

“ Next we were shown a variety of everbearing raspberry from which we indulged in ripe fruit of good size and flavor and which it is hoped will be as valuable as the everbearing strawberry. Of the thousands of everbearing seedlings selections had been made of about 100 which were fine looking plants, well cultivated and free from disease. ”

“ On the other hand, several genera have edible fruits; but it is curious that the part of a plant which becomes fleshy, and thus tempting to animals, differs considerably in the different genera. In the blackberry, for instance, and in the raspberry, the carpels constitute the edible portion. When we eat a raspberry we strip them off and leave the receptacle behind; while in the strawberry the receptacle constitutes the edible portion; the carpels are small, hard, and closely surround the seeds. In these genera the sepals are situated below the fruit. ”

“ Raspberry Custard.—Take 1⁄2 pint ripe raspberries or raspberry jam, press through a sieve to clear it of seeds, mix with the juice 1 pint milk in which 1 dessertspoonful corn-flour has been stirred, free from lumps; beat a large egg thoroughly, mix it with the other ingredients, and set the whole in a clean white saucepan to boil; stir constantly, or it will be lumpy.
Ravioli.—Make a firm paste with flour, eggs, and a little water. ”

“ While the strawberry fruitlets retain throughout their dry outer coating, in those of the raspberry the external covering becomes fleshy and red, but the inner seed has, notwithstanding, a still harder shell than the tiny nuts of the strawberry. Now, this is the secret of nine fruits out of ten. They are really nuts, which clothe themselves in an outer tunic of sweet and beautifully coloured pulp. The pulp, as it were, the plant gives in, as an inducement to the friendly bird to swallow its seed ”

“ A blackberry is the same, with a little cluster of pulpy pistils on the outside. A raspberry is the [287] little cluster of pistils without the core; so that the blackberry is really the connecting-link between the strawberry and the raspberry. ”

“ Raspberry Sauce, No. 2.— Set a saucepan on the stove with 11⁄2 cups raspberry juice, 1⁄2 cup water, the juice and peel of 1 lemon, sugar to taste, 1 teaspoonful cornstarch and the yolks of 3 eggs; beat constantly with an egg beater until it comes to a boil; quickly remove it from the fire; beat for a few minutes longer; beat the whites of the 3 eggs to a stiff froth and stir them into the sauce. ”

“ There are doubtless many among the inhabitants of our towns and cities who have never gathered or seen the strawberry in its wild state; and many, very many more who are wholly unacquainted with the peculiar and interesting structure of this fruit and its allies—the raspberry, blackberry, dewberry, and their congeners. ”

“ Rasp′berry-bush, the shrub which yields the raspberry.—Raspberry borer, the larvæ of one of the clear-winged sphinxes; Raspberry vinegar, a drink of raspberry juice, vinegar, and sugar.
Rastrum, ras′trum, n. a music-pen. [Rase.]
Rat, rat, n. an animal of the genus Mus, larger and more destructive than the mouse: a renegade, turncoat: a workman who accepts lower than the authorised wages, who declines to join in a strike, or who takes a striker's work: a roll of anything used to puff out the hair which is turned over it.—v.i. ”