The Canadian Horticultmi^ 



Vol. XXXVI 



APRIL, 1913 



No. 



The Culture of Old Country Gooseberries 



IT was in eighteen hundred and ninety- 

 five that I first thought of growing 

 gooseberries in Canada, but as I 

 was told by everyone to whom I spoke 

 concerning the matter that I would 

 l>e troubled with mildew and would per- 

 haps be unable to grow them, I started 

 on a small scale.' I sent to Scotland and 

 obtained twelve plants. I met with 

 such success with these that three or 

 four years later I purchased about one 

 hundred and ninety more plants from the 

 same company. I received these plants 

 late in the fall, and so was forced to 

 wait till spring before planting them out. 

 Nevertheless, I did not lose one. My 

 method of keeping them over the win- 

 ter was by putting them in the cellar 

 and covering the roots with soil. Since 

 this time I have grown my own plants 

 for increase. 



My patch is on a southerly slojje ; the 

 soil being a heavy clay loam, which is 

 naturally well drained. The last two 

 features are essential to success. I once 

 tried to grow some berries on light soil, 

 but had poor results, being troubled with 

 mildew. Good drainage is necessary 

 for almost every crop, and gooseberries 

 are no exception. 



I plant the bushes so that the rows 

 are five feet apart, and the bushes three 



Wm. Dick, Echo Place, Brant County 



feet apart in the rows. I plant the bush 

 as follows : 



A hole is dug, and a considerable 

 amount of well rotted manure is placed 

 at the bottom. Soil is then spread over 

 this, upon which the roots and root 

 fibres are carefully spread out in a 

 natural position. .Soil is now spread over 

 the roots and another layer of the man- 

 ure put on and finally the hole is filled 

 with earth. This method ha.s given me 

 the best results. 



After the patch has been set out, I 

 do not think that too much cultivating 

 can be done from spring till fall. If the 

 bushes are arranged as described, most 

 of the cultivating can be done with a 

 horse, so that the work is materially 

 lessened . 



PRUNING 

 It is best to do all the pruning in the 

 fall. All the old wood should be remov- 

 ed except when the new growth has not 

 been sufficient to warrant this. I con- 

 sider that it is best to prune so that four 

 shoots are left, each one coming direct- 

 ly out from the roots, thus giving the 

 bush type of plant. This form, I think, 

 is better than the tree type, in which the 

 shoots are allowed to come from a single 

 stalk, which alone comes from the roots. 

 In the former all the old wood can be 



removed while in the latter the old stalk 

 has necessarily to be left. The advan- 

 tage of this is readily seen when it is 

 remembered that the largest and best 

 berries grow on, and are produced by, 

 the new wood. 



Fall is the best time to carry on the 

 work of propagation. The method 

 which has given me the best results is 

 as follows: The year's growth, which it 

 is desired to use for this purpose, is laid 

 down upon the ground, covered with 

 manure and then with soil. This causes 

 roots to grow where a bud would other- 

 wise have appeared. These roots are 

 now cut off with a fair length of the 

 wood, and the whole is then planted. 

 If the propagation work is carried on 

 late in the fall no shoots appear until 

 spring, which does not give as good re- 

 sults as doing the work early in the 

 autumn. 



Let me again emphasize that I believe 

 it absolutely necessary that gooseberries 

 should be grown on heavy, well-drained 

 soil. Following the methods I have out- 

 lined, I have met with gratifying suc- 

 cess and have never been troubled with 

 mildew. The berries have been not only 

 delicious in flavor, but have also been 

 of such a quality as to stand shipping. 

 This is indicated bv the fact that I have 







)jy|i>-*««»*- 





f Spring'* Welcome Harbinger* of the Gladtome Summer. Fine Tulip Beds in the Normal School Ground*. Toronto, Ont. 



