HOW TO GROW THE ENGLISH GOOSEBERRY. 



apples must be allowed to sweat. I 

 never saw any necessity whatever for 

 that. The less handling you give the 

 fruit the better It is a mistake to keep 

 our delicate apples in unheaded barrels 

 (standing on end, of course), in a barn 

 or shed, exposed to all the variable 

 changes of the atmosphere, sometimes 

 for weeks before packing them in barrels 

 for market. The fruit mellows and 



ripens much more quickly, and when 

 we begin to pack up the fruit for market 

 we find that the bottom half of the 

 barrel contains many bruised specimens 

 caused entirely by this mode of hajidling 

 the fruit. The best apples should 

 always go into new barrels. On no 

 account should No. i fruit be put into 

 old flour barrels. It is a great error and 

 short-sighted policy. 



HOW TO GROW THE ENGLISH GOOSEBERRY 



THE English gooseberry is un- 

 fortunately subject to mildew 

 in this country, and Americans 

 know little or nothing of this 

 very excellent fruit. Martin Benson, in 

 the March number of Vick's Magazine, 

 tells how he raises it successfully with- 

 out mildew, and has large crops of the 

 finest fruit. 



The soil should be rich and deep, and, 

 if possible, a slope facing the north 

 should be chosen. It should also be 

 sufficiently removed from any tree to 

 prevent the roots robbing the plants. 

 The soil should be plowed as deeply as 

 possible, and it is also of great advan- 

 tage to subsoil it. This will give a deep 

 bed of loose soil, which will retain 

 moisture much better and keep cooler 

 than when plowed as ordinarily. The 

 plants should be set six feet apart each 

 way. After or before the plants are set 

 I prepare posts each eight or ten feet 

 long of some lasting timber ; these are 

 set in the ground two feet deep, and ten 



or twelve feet apart each way, among 

 the gooseberry bushes ; pieces of timber 

 are nailed from post to post, and on 

 these are nailed slats or laths enough to 

 make a half shade. This will furnish 

 all the protection needed from the hot 

 sun, and at the same time permit of a 

 free circulation of air. After this is 

 done I mulch the entire surface of the 

 ground to the depth of a foot with straw 

 or other litter, placing it up close around 

 the plants. This mulch must be placed 

 on thick enough to keep down all weed 

 growth, and each fall an additional 

 amount should be placed over the old. 

 If the soil is rich to begin with, and the 

 mulching is attended to properly, it will 

 be years before the plants require fer- 

 tilizing, but if needed it can easily be 

 applied by using coarse, strawy manure 

 for the mulching material. The soil, if 

 mulched as directed, will always remain 

 cool and moist, and fruit of the greatest 

 excellence, and in the greatest quanti- 

 ties, will be produced. 



Peaches are reported a short crop 

 except in California, Arkansas, Wash- 

 ington and Oregon, and Southern On- 

 tario. Apples are less than half a crop 

 except in tlie far west. Ckapes will be 

 a fair crop throughout the Unked States, 

 ani very R(»od in Ontario. 



The Pb.\rl Gooseberry grows a 

 little larger than our engraving under 

 favorable conditions. Mr. Herbert 

 Kerman sends us some samples on the 

 26 July measuring nearly "b of an inch 

 in diameter. 



306 



