OUR AFFILIATED SOCIETIES. 



^41 



ing the spray upwards as well as from above and 

 laterally all parts of the bush was reached. 



Our bushes were pruned severely last fall but in 

 addition to this all suckers and over half of the new 

 wood has been cut away this spring. This was 

 done to let in the air. 



Mildew made its appearance on the 6th of June 

 upon the fruit. The foliage has been but little 

 affected during the se ison and went ahead rapidly 

 for six days by which time half the fruit was 

 affected. 



I am satisfied that the p>ersistent spraying not 

 only checked the spread of the disease at this time 

 but killed that upon the berries as their growth 

 was not checked. The pure English varieties again 

 were less affected than the seedlings, this may be 

 owning to the smallness of the seedlings Chaut- 

 uaqua, Queen, Crosby's seedling, Golden Prolific, 

 and Large Golden Prolific suffered most. For vig- 

 or and productiveness nothing approaches White- 

 smith and Autocrat though White.smith is the 

 better fruit. Ontario promises well and Columbian 

 and Dominion are vigorous. 



The American varieties. Red Jacket, Pearl, Down- 

 ing. Champion and Smith's Improvea were not 

 sprayed and gave a large crop of clean fruit. 



Now to sum up. the foreign gooseberry is super- 

 ior to the American varieties in size and in size 

 only, and Red Jacket is large enough for all prac- 

 tical purposes when preserved ripe, as they 

 should be, for there is no more reason in canning 

 the gooseberry green than there would be in doing 

 the plum or cherry in the same condition. The 

 thick skin of the large berry are against them. 

 Again the big berry is sweet, in some cases inspired 

 while Red Jacket has a fruit\- acid taste peculiarly 

 pleasant. We can or rather preserve the Red 

 Jacket for our own use and no other. Xo berrj^ 

 compares with Red Jacket in appearance when 

 picked just as they are turning to ripen. At this 

 stage they are a pinkish transparent color, very 

 beautiful. To sum up, this variety is the most 

 vigorous, hardy, prolific, beautiful thin skined 

 variety on our grounds. In size it is well up to 

 Whitesmith when equally loaded with fruit. 



If I were planting extensively I should certainly 

 set Red Jacket for main crop and Champion for 

 picking green for sauce, etc., at a season where 

 there is a dearth of material for this purpose. 

 Champion is full grown two weeks before any 

 other variety except Smith's Improved and it is too 

 uncertain a cropper. If a foreign is desired then 

 Whitesmith is more vigorous — my bushes of 

 this variety are as large as Downings — and more 

 prolific than any other foreign variety tested here 

 except Autocrat. 



I am certain that when the Red Jacket is fully 

 tested and compared with others it will take first 



place as a cooking berry but will also put the 

 gooseberry where it rightfully belongs, at the head 

 of preserving fruits especially for the poor man. 

 I say the man with limited means because there is 

 less waste in this fruit than almost any other and 

 it can be grown cheaper. Our Red Jackets this 

 year gave 7^ quarts to the bush all around. To 

 those who preter a sweet fruit then the Downing 

 or Pearl fills the tree. 



As far as profit is concerned even supposing 

 spraying will control mildews, and it will not, when 

 the cost of spraying, material and labor is counted, 

 it will pay better to grow Red Jacket and Champ- 

 ion at 6 cents than the foreign at 10 cents. Green 

 Chisel still maintains the first place as a pure 

 English variety. 



Nantyr. Stanley Spillett. 



Tomatoes on the Channel Islands. 



Sir, — Enclosed find a slip 1 cut from the South- 

 ern Times, published at Weymouth (my home 45 

 years ago). I thought it might be of interest to 

 some of our readers to know the amount of to»ra- 

 toes now grown on the Channel Islands. 



When I left Weymouth in 1856, tomatoes were 

 then an almost unknown luxury, but it is very 

 evident that they are now largely grown, and must 

 ripen much earlier there, than with us. 



Yours truly, Chas. Jas. Fox. 



The Fruit Trains.— One of the sights of the 

 Great Western line this summer has been the pass- 

 ing of the fruit trains from Weymouth. With an 

 engine at the front going at topmost speed, and 

 another pushing at the rear to help it along, the 

 trains go through the small stations at a terrific 

 rate, highly suggestive of the importance of the 

 business on which they are bent. To the growers 

 of the luscious products it is the essence of the trade 

 that the fruit should be got to its destination within 

 a few hours of its being picked, and the railways 

 are not slow in providing the prosperous growers 

 of the Channel Islands all the facilities they need. 

 That they are doing well there is no reason to doubt, 

 which perhaps is more than can be said- of the 

 people who rely on the pleasure traffic. The othcial 

 returns show that so far this season over half a 

 million packages of fruits, vegetables and flowers 

 were despatched, and a large proportion of them 

 were shipped by the Weymouth route Tomatoes 

 are grown on an enormous scale, and it is stated 

 the output this year was over a quarter of a million 

 baskets, averaging fifteen pounds each. What this 

 means to the Great Western anyone who paj's a 

 visit to the landing stage on a busy afternoon can 

 see. 



