i88i.] FRUIT -CULTURE. 549 



three 2-feet ones, and occupies no more space. Some kinds may be got to 

 that height without much trouble. But there are others again, and these 

 some of our best sorts, which will not grow upwards at all. The branches of 

 such kinds should be tied to hoops supported by strong stakes. Summer 

 pinching should be practised in the case of the Gooseberry just as much as 

 in the case of other fruit-trees — indeed more so, for they are more prolilic 

 of shoots, and therefore every one which is not needed should be i)inched to 

 one or two leaves as soon as it has grown 6 or 7 inches. At the same time, 

 the very strong shoots which often spring from the centre of the bushes shoiild 

 be twisted out. When the shoots are this length, the points are often attacked 

 by green-fly in such numbers that they can grow no further, and the general 

 health of the bushes suiters. Their excrement also fouls the fruit. When 

 pinching is done, large numbers of shoots with the infesting insect are re- 

 moved, and the remainder is therefore more easily dealt with. The best plan 

 that we have tried for getting rid of them is to crush the point of each shoot 

 between the linger and thumb when we are pinching the shoots. As we go 

 over the bushes two or three times in this way, we manage to rid the bushes 

 effectually of this troublesome insect. 



There is another yet more troublesome insect which may be got rid of in 

 the same way : it is the destructive Gooseberry caterpillar. Just at the time 

 the shoots need pinching, the caterpillars are hatching, and whole broods are 

 confined to one leaf. A quick eye will detect these leaves, and the young 

 caterpillars may be destroyed at once before doing any damage. "When the 

 attack is moderate (and it will only be moderate in isolated gardens when 

 they are systematically kept down), this is the quickest and most satis- 

 factory method we know of for getting rid of the pest. And when they 

 do come in hosts, it is much easier to get at them when the shoots are pinched, 

 and therefore thin, than when the growths are crowded. When the pest 

 comes in swarms, the best cure is to slightly dust the bushes when they are 

 wet with Hellebore-powder, or the powder may be mixed with water and 

 sprinkled on to the bushes while they are dry with a whitewash brush. 

 Perseverance in the use of Hellebore will soon destroy them. Stragglers late 

 in the season, when the fruit is ripe or ripening, may be got rid of by hand- 

 picking. 



On good soils. Gooseberry-bushes which are well treated to begin with, 

 will thrive for twelve or fifteen years without much more in the way of 

 manure. It always pays, however, to be liberal with them, and an occasional 

 dressing of manure pointed into the surface at the annual digging — not always 

 practised by cottagers, but recommended here — will prove of benefit. When 

 urine can be obtained, one pailful spread over the roots after the ground has 

 been dug over in winter, will keep up a vigorous fertility. U applied 

 fresh, it kills the aphis which winters on the roots, and does no harm to the 

 bushes. The soil absorbs all the manurial properties of the urine, so no 

 fear need be entertained of the rains washing its virtues away before it 

 can benefit the bushes. Only the growing roots can extract its virtues from 

 the soil. This fact should be generally known, as the opjiosite notion pre- 

 vails. 



Undernoted are a few of the best kinds for general cultivation, and also 

 some of the largest exhibition Lancashire kinds. For general vse. — * Early 

 Sulphur, *Langley Park Green, * Pitmaston Greengage, Honey bloke, * Crown 

 Bob, Hedgehog, * Warrington, Ironmonger, Whitesmith ; and for jam, * Scotch 

 Hed. For cxJti hit ion.— The. following are the heaviest: W^hitej — ^ Antagonist, 



