68 TRANSACTIONS OF THE ILLINOIS 



in the following spring. I should prefer warm days in the month 

 of March, unless the Tree Cricket, Buffalo Beetle and insects of 

 that class have been at work depositing their eggs within the 

 branches of the plant, then I should prefer to cut back in the fall, 

 as the dying of the pith in the severed wood destroys the vitality of 

 the eggs. If left until spring, many little pieces containing eggs 

 will fall where it will not be convenient to gather them up to burn, 

 and being shaded, will retain moisture sufficient to save the vitality 

 of the egg until the season of hatching. 



Cutting out the dead wood, or stocks that have fruited, as a 

 rule, this should be done as soon as possible after the fruit is gath- 

 ered, as the winds lash the growing wood against the dry, hard 

 thorns, doing injury to the new wood, often destroying terminal 

 buds, causing little branches to start when not wanted. It is not 

 necessary to remove the old wood from the field to protect against 

 an increase of injurious insects, as no eggs contained in it can live 

 longer than the time it takes for the pith to dry. It rarely happens 

 that an insect deposits an egg in fruiting wood. As the old brush 

 makes the best of mulch for the plants, if pressed down among them 

 it is probably more than time lost to remove and burn them. 



The following on the same subject was read by the writer: 



KASPBEKRIES, BLACKBERRIES, CURRANTS AND 



GOOSEBERRIES. 



BY HOWARD DOAN. 



Mr. President: 



According to the programme of this meeting, I have been ap- 

 pointed to prepare a paper on gooseberries, currants, raspberries and 

 blackberries. I shall briefly give a few remarks on the varieties 

 most suited to our section. 



Gooseberries generally bear abundantly in this section; the 

 variety most planted being the Houghton and Downing; the de- 

 mand is a very limited one for a marketable crop. 



Currants are not as much used now as in former years. I de- 

 pend on the Red Dutch for main crop as being most productive. 

 The Cherry and White Grape varieties succeed well. Fay's Prolific 

 will come into bearing next season, so cannot report as to yield. 

 Currants require a clean culture and an occasional mulch of 

 manure. 



Raspberries were an abundant crop the past season, the red 

 varieties being unusually full and })rices correspondingly low. I 

 plant the following varieties of red: Turner, Marlborough, Brandy- 

 wine and Cuthbert, the last two varieties on -account of their firm- 

 ness, being well suited for shipping. The Cuthbert raspberry, last 



