5° The Canadian Horticulturist. 



GOOSEBERRIES FOR PROFIT. 



THINK it is a fact that will not be questioned by any of your 

 readers at all acquainted with our local fruit markets, that the 

 supply of gooseberries is by no means equal to the demand ; and 

 that for those who can command a suitable soil and location, a 

 sure and liberal profit can be realized, at a very moderate 

 outlay of money, lime and labor, by their cultivation. 

 The soil best suited to gooseberry growing has been found to be thoroughly 

 drained, rich, and deeply-worked clay loam. These qualities of soil are imper- 

 ative, as the plant is very impatient either of excessive dryness or heat. This is 

 the only cause why success with it is at all uncertain. Therefore, with a moder- 

 ate amount of protection from dryness and heat, the success of gooseberry 

 culture may be looked upon as assured. 



To secure these conditions, location must be skilfully used. The plants 

 should be two years old, strong and well rooted, and, if carefully planted, 

 their after growth will be rapid. The ground should be well prepared and 

 marked off in lines four feet apart each way. Thus planting at the inttr- 

 section of each line makes 2,725 plants to the acre, and will give satisfaction to 

 the workers and pickers, and form a fine plantation after the first year's growth. 

 The ground must be kept stirred by means of a one-horse cultivator, between 

 the rows both ways, and not a weed allowed to be seen. Thus treated, the 

 young bushes make extraordinary growth of wood and the set of fruit buds will 

 be astonishing, repaying all the care bestowed on them. Of course in gooseberry 

 growing, as in every other kind of fruit culture, if one would wish to reap the 

 highest results, increasing vigilance and constant application must be certainly 

 and freely given. 



The annual pruning consists of shortening the summer's growth to a 

 moderate extent, and thinning out the crowding shoots. This operation is best 

 done (though very often neglected) in the early summer, as the growth of wood 

 and fruit buds, on that which is left, will be so much better and more encourag- 

 ing to the grower. After the wood has borne fruit for three or four yeais, and 

 becomes somewhat old and feeble, cut it entirely out, and encourage young 

 growth in its place. This renewing is very important in all pruning for fruitful- 

 ness. I have known a gooseberry plantation to remain profitable for twenty 

 years and over, by proper attention to pruning and cultivation, but at the same 

 time I am no advocate for this kind of thing ; as I believe the best results come 

 from young and vigorous plants, as in other fruits, and would advise changing 

 the plantation after ten years' service, as young plants are produced so cheaply, 

 that there is no economy in running a plantation after its prime is passed. 



The ordinary enemies of the gooseberry are insects, mildews and blights. 

 The most common insects are the caterpillar of the gooseberry sawfly {Nematus 



