232 The Canadian Horticulturist. 



GOOSEBERRIES FOR PROFIT. 



NY of your readers at all acquainted with our local fruit 

 markets will not deny 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, time 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 imperative, 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 moderate 

 protection from dryness and heat, the success of gooseberry culture may be 

 looked upon as assured. 



To secure these conditions, location must be skillfully 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 intersection of each line 

 makes 2,275 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 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 mode- 

 rate extent, and thinning out the crowded 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 encouraging 

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

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

 growth in its place. This renewing is very important to 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. 



