ill improve greatly by
culture. The strawberries that grow wild in our pastures, woods, and
clearings, are several varieties, and bear abundantly. 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. The leaves of this
plant are of a bright light green, in shape like the raspberry, to which
it bears in some respects so great a resemblance (though it is not
shrubby or thorny) that I have called it the "trailing raspberry."

I suppose our scientific botanists in Britain would consider me very
impertinent in bestowing names on the flowers and plants I meet with in
these wild woods: I can only say, I am glad to discover the Canadian or
even the Indian names if I can, and where they fail I consider myself
free to become their floral godmother, and give them names of my own
choosing.

Among our wild fruits we have plums, which, in some townships, are very
fine and abundant; these make admirable preserves, especially when
boiled in maple molasses, as is done by the American housewives. Wild
cherries, also a sort called choke cherries, from their peculiar
astringent qualities, high and low-bush cranberries, blackberries, which
are brought by the Squaws in birch baskets,--all these are found on the
plains and beaver meadows. The low-bush cranberries are brought in great
quantities by the Indians to the towns and villages. They form a
standing preserve on the tea-tables in most of the settlers' houses; but
for richness of flavour, and for beauty of appearance, I admire the
high-bush cranberries; these are little sought after, on account of the
large flat seeds, which prevent them from being used as a jam: the
jelly, however, is delightful, both in colour and flavour.

The bush on which this cranberry grows resembles the guelder rose. The
blossoms are pure white, and grow in loose umbels; they are very
ornamental, when in bloom, to the woods and swamps, skirting the lakes.
The berries are rather of a long oval, and of a brilliant scarlet, and
whe