FRUIT CULTURE. 



423 



th,^yfi|gi86/ 



and the aim should be to continually remove 

 the older wood, and have a sufficient num- 

 ber of these strong healthy one year old 

 shoots. It may be said of the gooseberr}', 

 as it may be of the grape vine, that the 

 special method of pruning is of less import- 

 ance than the fact that pruning must be 

 regular and vigorous. Whether the bush 

 system or tree system is followed, training 

 to spurs or to long shoots, the important 

 thing is that there should always be left a 

 good supply of bearing wood, but not a tan- 

 gled-up affair wirh a network of wood that 

 can only produce a small and inferior class 

 of fruit. The distance of planting should 

 be the same as that of currants, and the cul- 

 tivation thorough and shallow. Mulching 

 will undoubtedly pay in hot seasons. Un- 

 less the owner is prepared to give great care 

 to his plants he had better confine himself 

 to the American varieties, as the larger Eu- 



ropean kinds are particularly subject to mil- 

 dew. 



Varieties. — Downing, a vigorous and 

 productive variety, bears fruit of a whitish- 

 green color, smooth skin and good quality. 

 Pearl is very similar. Houghton, a slender 

 grower with red fruit, somewhat smaller 

 than the other varieties named. Of the Eu- 

 ropean gooseberries, Industry, a large dark 

 red, and Whitesmith, a large yellowish- 

 green, are recommended. A large number 

 of remedies have been suggested for 

 mildew of the gooseberry, but by far 

 the best is the application of potassium 

 sulphide (liver of sulphur), at the rate 

 of one ounce to two gallons of water. This 

 should be applied directly the buds swell, 

 and at least twice more at intervals of a 

 week or ten days. The currant-worm, 

 which attacks the gooseberry with equal 

 readiness, is referred to in the chapter deal- 

 ing with currants. 



Red Raspberries and Black Caps. 



These valuable fruits are so common 

 throughout Ontario that little need be said 

 as to their great value. In the canned 

 state for winter use there is no fruit which 

 retains so delightfully the freshness and 

 aroma of the ripe fruit as the red raspberry. 

 It is a veritable whiff of summer which fol- 

 lows the opening of ajar of " Cuthberts" in 

 mid-winter. There are three types of the 

 red raspberry- now in general cultivation, 

 those from the European wild raspberrj', 

 such as Antwerp and Franconia, those de- 

 veloped from the American wild raspberry, 

 such as Cuthbert, and the hybrids, such as 

 Shaffer. The European varieties are less 

 hardy and more likely to suffer from the hot 

 sun in this country. Many of the hybrids 

 are marvellously productive and vigorous, 

 but the fruit is usually soft and the color un- 

 attractive. The raspberry is a biennial as 

 far as the cane is concerned, fruit being pro- 

 duced on the cane which was grown the 



