GOOSEBERRIES— ARE THEY PROFITABLE:' 



OOSKBERRIES are not very pro- 

 fitable in Canada. Perhaps if we 

 could grow the immense English 

 berries, they would bring us some money, 

 but they mildew so badly we cannot, 

 except in several favored sections with 

 northern exposure. Large berries bring 

 a good price, but small ones are poor 

 sale. On the 25th of June we shipped 

 20 eight-quart baskets of small goose- 

 berries to Toronto, and they were sold 

 at from loc. to 12c. a basket ; just about 

 enough to pay for the picking ! They 

 yield well, the bushes giving about 

 fifteen quarts each, but what advantage 

 is that, when the selling price does not 

 cover the expenses ? 



Fig. 1186.— Thk Downing. 

 Some years ago we made a beginning 

 in mildew-proof kinds with Houghton's 

 Seedling, a variety originating in Massa- 

 chusetts, but too small for profit. Then 

 came Downing and Smith's Improved, 

 both seedlings of Houghton, the latter 

 raised in Vermont, the former in New 

 York State. The Downing (Fig. 1186) 

 is the best of these American varieties 

 and very productive, but still not big 

 enough to be grown very extensively in 

 a commercial vvay for profit. 



Fig. — 11^:7. The Pe.^rl. 



Another variety, the Pearl, is now 

 being pushed upon the fruit growers' 

 attention by both American and Cana- 

 dian nurserymen, and sold at a compar- 

 atively high price. This berry, like the 

 Downing, is mildew proof and exceed- 

 ingly productive. But is it any larger 

 than it is when heavily loaded, and is it 

 big enough to bring a paying price in the 

 markets? We wait the reply of our 

 experimenters. 



In this connection, the following ex- 

 tract from Bulletin 114 N. Y. Experiment 

 Station will be of interest to our readers. 



For marketing green the European 

 varieties are to be preferred, as they 

 reach salable size somewhat earlier than 

 do the native varieties, and this usually 

 means a somewhat better price. During 

 the season of 1 896 the prices per quart 

 ranged from 10 cents to 3 cents, the 

 . better prices being given for the early 

 marketed green fruit and for the extra 

 large ripe fruit. 



300 



