336 Report op the Horticulturist op the 



Field and Garden Culture. 



Gooseberries are especially recommended for culture in locali- 

 ties where the season is not long enough to ripen grapes success- 

 fully. Under good culture they succeed well on a variety of soils. 

 In order to have the plants do well the land should be well 

 drained and at least fertile enough to grow a first-class crop of 

 corn till they come into bearing, after which they should be 

 liberally fertilized. It is unreasonable to expect regular crops 

 of large fine flavored fruit from bushes which stand in poor soil 

 or in tough old sod, where they struggle for existence in ground 

 that is crowded with the roots of grass, weeds, trees and shrubs, 

 yet it is not unusual to find that such bushes are depended on 

 for the family supply of gooseberries. It is much better to give 

 gooseberries clean cultivation when they are grown for home 

 use the same as when grown for market. On this account it is 

 best to plant them so that a horse cultivator may be used in 

 keeping the ground mellow and free from weeds. A heavy mulch 

 of coal ashes sufficient to keep down the weeds, is better than 

 utter neglect. 



As a commercial crop gooseberries are often grown as a second- 

 ary crop in well cultivated orchards especially when the orchards 

 are young. Abundant yields cannot be secured from gooseber- 

 ries set in this way after the orchard trees are large enough to 

 shade the bushes and fill the soil with their roots. Sometimes 

 gooseberries are set between vineyard trellises or, where the 

 vines are grown on the Kniffen system, under the trellises, alter- 

 nating with the vines. In the latter position the gooseberries 

 are liable to be spotted by the spraying mixture when the vine- 

 yard is sprayed. 



Distance apart. — When gooseberries are set in vineyards the 

 trellises should be at least ten feet apart, thus leaving the goose- 

 berries five feet from the trellis when they are planted midway 

 between the vineyard rows. The gooseberry plants should then 

 stand five feet apart in the row, although some advocate closer 

 setting. In orchards they should not be set nearer the trees 

 than six feet. In the open field if they are aro sot so that the 



