FALLING OF GOOSEBERRIES. 



469 



next year is sure to be small, for the reason 

 that fruit buds are formed more than a year 

 ahead of the time of their fruitfulness. If 

 the tree is scabby this year the buds will 

 be poorly developed or not developed at all. 



No matter how good its condition next year, 

 it will not, in a single season, develop buds 

 and bear fruits on those buds. Spraying is 

 the only remedy, and that must be continued 

 for a number of years. — Farmers' Review. 



THE FALLING OF GOOSEBEEEIES 



R. CAMERON 



NIAGARA FALLS SOUTH 



WITH Others I am pleased to note 

 the willingness of Mr. S. Spilletto 

 give and receive information on 

 gooseberry culture ; and therefore I will 

 give my view of the subject. I attribute the 

 falling to the drouth and heat, coupled with 

 over luxuriant growth of suckers. If a bush 

 produces from one hundred to one hundred 

 and fifty suckers, as Mr. Spillet says they 

 do, I think such cases most extraordinary 

 and I would dig out and burn such bushes, 

 and begin afresh. If the cuttings are made 

 properly they should not produce suckers at 

 all. All the buds, in that portion of the 

 cutting which is supposed to go under 

 ground, should be cut off and only three or 

 four buds near the top should be left to form 

 branches from which branchlets will grow, 

 until the desired number is secured. All the 

 rest should be cut off when pruning. It is 

 not necessary to prune the bushes more than 

 once a year, viz., about the middle of March. 

 If the bushes are trimmed on the spur 

 system, allowing the light and air to pass 

 freely through the plants, the foliage will be 

 healthier, will produce more substance and 

 the plants will be more vigorous — two 

 powerful factors in preventing mildew and 

 the ravages of caterpillars. By this method 

 the weight of fruit will not be less than in 

 the way generally adopted, the berries will 

 be much larger in size, and there will be no 

 drop to the fruit before it is matured. Here 

 I may say that if mildew does show, which 

 seldom happens when the bushes are grown 



in this manner, especially if upon clay or 

 clay loam, I would have some fresh slacked 

 lime thrown over and through the bushes, 

 whitening the soil under the plants ; this 

 will be found to prevent the ravages of the 

 caterpillars as well as to prevent the mildew. 

 I have grown the English varieties of the 

 gooseberry in this way to five and one half 

 inches in circumference. The English goose- 

 berries will never be grown successfully in 

 this country, particularly upon light soils, 

 and those varieties that will give any satis- 

 factory returns will be found to be the thick 

 skinned ones, such as White Smith. In- 

 dustry, Crown Bob, Warrington, etc. The 

 clay soil bakes on the surface, and quickly 

 dries down to the roots of the plants if not 

 stirred frequently, and this dryness will 

 cause the fruit to drop ; but in such cases, if 

 the surface of the soil under the bushes be 

 covered with coal ashes or a similar material, 

 it will keep the surface open and moist so 

 that the heat and air v;ill pass freely through 

 the soil, a very essential factor for the well 

 being of any plant, and particularly of the 

 gooseberry, which must have its roots kept 

 cool and moist. 



The gooseberry is a gross feeder, and 

 thrives best by being fed with a bountiful 

 supply of barn-yard manure water ; mulching 

 the plants with ashes, as stated above, will 

 permit the soil to receive the liquid manure 

 freely and save stirring the soil, in after 

 feeding or after rains, to prevent baking. 



