WHITESMITH GOOSEBERRIES. 



Sir,— An article from T. Beall, of 

 Lindsay, in October number anent large 

 and small Whitesmith goosbernes, re- 

 quires a few comments. I wish to inform 

 Mr. Beall that the sample sent by me 

 was not the largest I had as the branch 

 contained large and small, and taking pro- 

 ductiveness into account it was a sample 

 not easy to beat- Mr. Beall ought to 

 have born in mind that his sample was 

 selected berries taken from a gallon. 

 However 1 congratulate him on his 

 large gooseberries and hope he will long 

 produce more of them. I grow every 

 season specimens weighing more than 

 the weight given by him which is nearly 

 one half ounce each. The largest I ever 

 grew were this season's product, but the 

 long continued rains burst all the largest 

 ones. I have not any of the English 

 prize-taking varieties, they being worth- 

 less except for that purpose ; some of 

 the berries are of enormous size and such 

 as the London Red weigh ^;^ penny, 

 weights or about one and one half 

 ounces. We cannot reach such dimen- 

 sions as these with our present market- 

 able varieties. 



I fully endorse the proposition by Mr. 

 Beall for parties in different sections to 

 send samples for you to test and report 

 in the journal ; it would be a good stim. 

 ulant to produce the best of a much 

 relished fruit but the test I think ought 

 to be of different varieties. I am sure 

 the growers here will court competition 

 as we flatter ourselves we can grow goose- 

 berries equal to any part in Ontario, we 

 can grow them also without mildew. 

 Ever since I discovered — ten or twelve 

 years ago — how to treat them, I did not 



lose over two quarts up to this season 

 which was the worst I ever experienced, 

 every variety that would mildew did so ; 

 even the Downing had to submit. How- 

 ever I have several seedlings that were 

 mildew proof and which I consider the 

 best in my possession but even with the 

 unfavorable season my loss was only 

 about 4 quarts in 400 and I could have 

 reduced it to zero if time had permitted, 

 this showing I consider is without a 

 parallel. But I fear a worse enemy to 

 contend with is the whitegrub which 

 destroyes the bush altogether and seems 

 to be a hopeless case for any remedy. 

 This season I dug up 20 bushes to make 

 room for others, I was surprised to find 

 that all of them were affected, none had 

 fewer than four while one had as many as 

 seven all busy gnawing at the fibrous 

 roots. A few years ago I lost 30 bushes 

 bythe same pest. Mr. Brooks of this place 

 a large gooseberry grower, having about 

 1400 plants had to dig up 90 bushes that 

 were unhealthy by the same cause. Per- 

 haps an oil lamp with a large glass surface 

 lighted in the evenings to trap and burn 

 the large brown beetle — progenitor of 

 the grub — might mitigate the evil, and 

 perhaps powdered glass put thickly 

 around the bushes to prevent beetles 

 from burrowing. Our experimenters 

 have plenty future work to do. 



An article on page 391 by E. Hersee 

 of Woodstock, on selling unripe goose 

 berries expresses the opinion I have long 

 held on the subject. 



Thanking you for the space taken 

 in your excellent journal. 



F. W. Porter, Mount Forest. 



137 



