GOOSEBERRY 



as some of the oldest Sanskrit 

 writings mention it, and an ancient 

 Egyptian painting represents the 

 cramming of a goose by hand. In 

 Great Britain it has long been bred 

 on a large scale, the common land 

 being utilised for the purpose. 

 Before steel pens were invented, 

 goose quills were in great demand, 

 but now are little used. The down 

 is, however, still a valuable article 

 of commerce. 



The domestic goose has been 

 greatly developed in size by selec- 

 tive breeding. Its ancestor, the 

 grey lag, weighs about 8 lb., but a 

 fine specimen of a good modern 

 strain may scale 25 lb. As a pro- 

 ducer of eggs the goose is unimpor- 

 tant, there being hardly any 

 market for them. Of the various 

 domestic strains, the Embden and 

 the Toulouse are those usually 

 kept. The former is the Michael- 

 mas goose, while the latter is the 

 favourite bird for Christmas, as it 

 attains great weight. A tailor's 

 goose is a flat iron used by tailors 

 and so named from a resemblance 

 of the handle to the neck of a 

 goose. See Brent Goose ; Poultry 

 Farming. 



Gooseberry. Fruit of a shrub 

 of the natural order Grossulariaceae 

 and genus Ribes. R. qrossularia is 

 the parent species, but varieties are 

 numerous. The bushes should be 

 planted in autumn or early spring, 

 about 5 ft. apart every way, in 

 ordinary soil, and in a sunny posi- 

 tion. They should be freely pruned 

 in July, all weak shoots being cut 

 back. After fruiting, well-rotted 

 manure should be applied to the 

 surface of the ground in autumn, 

 while, as a summer stimulant, weak 

 solutions of sulphate of soda may 

 be applied at intervals. Goose- 

 berries are best propagated by 

 autumn-struck cuttings, or by 

 seeds from ripe fruit sown just 

 underneath the surface of the 

 soil. 



Young bush plants should have a 

 clear stem of 6 ins. to 12 ins. in 

 height from which the buds have 



Gooseberry. Leaves and berries of 

 the parent species. Inset, flower 



3604 



been removed, to prevent the 

 growth of suckers. Supposing the 

 heads to consist of from three to six 

 shoots, the ends of these should be 

 shortened a little, soon after 

 planting. The following season 

 young shoots will be freely pro- 

 duced, and two should be allowed 

 to grow from each original shoot to 

 form the main branches of the 

 head, the remainder being cut 

 back. From nine to twelve main 

 branches are sufficient to form the 

 head, and they should be regulated 

 so as to be about an equal distance 

 apart, and allowed to grow 12 ins. 

 each year until the bush is as large 

 as desired. The head having been 

 formed, no further training is re- 

 quired. See Fruit Farming. 



Gooseberry Caterpillar. 

 Name applied vaguely to the 

 larvae of the magpie moth (Abraxas 

 grossulariata) and a saw fly (Ne- 

 matus ribesii). Both feed on the 

 leaves of the gooseberry and do 

 great damage in spring and early 

 summer. 



The sawfly larvae make their 

 appearance soon after the leaves 

 have expanded in the spring and,, 

 if not cleared off, soon destroy all 

 the foliage. The caterpillars of the 

 moth result from eggs laid in July 

 or August, but as they go into 

 hibernation before becoming full- 

 grown, these also put in an early 

 appearance. As both these insects 

 are warningly coloured, in white, 

 yellow, orange and black, birds do 

 not molest them. Dusting the 

 bushes with a mixture of soot and 

 lime, or with powdered tobacco or 

 hellebore, is recommended, but the 

 safer method is to pick off the larvae 

 by hand. In any case, dusting with 

 hellebore or tobacco should not be 

 resorted to after the fruit is formed, 

 or these will become poisonous. 



Goosefoots (Cfienopodium). 

 Genus of annual and perennial 

 herbs. Of the natural order Cheno- 

 podiaceae, they are natives of all 

 climates, mostly occurring on sea- 

 shores or in cultivated land. Mostly 

 weeds, some species are, or have 

 been, used as pot-herbs, such as 

 Good King Henry (C. bonus-henri- 

 cus), used as a substitute for aspa- 

 ragus and spinach. G. ambrosioides 

 of tropical America is the so-called 

 Mexican-tea, whose essential oil 

 causes it to be used as a tonic and 

 anti-spasmodic medicine. C. quinoa 

 is cultivated in Chile and Peru, its 

 3 eds being employed as food and 

 medicinally. 



Goose Land (Russ. Gusinaia 

 Zemlia). South-western division of 

 Novaia Zemlia. Situated on the W 

 coast of the south island, it pro- 

 jects into the Arctic Ocean be- 

 tween N. and S. Goose capes. It is 

 also known as Wil lough by 's Land. 



GOPHER 



Goose Step, as executed by the 

 Prussian Guard 



Goose Step. Popular name for a 

 military exercise called the balance 

 step. The body is balanced upon 

 one leg, while the other is ad- 

 vanced without a jerk, the knee 

 straight, the toe pointed out, and 

 the shoulders square to the front. 

 The advanced leg is then planted 

 firmly on the ground, and the 

 weight of the body thrown upon it, 

 while the other leg is advanced in 

 like manner, both knees being kept 

 straight. This march is in slow 

 time, i.e. 75 paces to the minute. 

 This pace is practised for ceremonial 

 parades, e.g. trooping the colour on 

 the king's birthday. In the early 

 days of the Great' War, when the 

 Germans were over-running Bel- 

 gium and France, their troops fre- 

 quently entered conquered towns 

 of importance with the goose-step 

 march. See Drill. 



Gopeng Beds. Series of pale 

 grey clays and boulder clays, deve- 

 loped in Kinta district, Malay 

 Peninsula, and probably of Permo- 

 Carboniferous age (q.v. ). They con- 

 tain tin ore, and are associated 

 with granite, phyllite, quartz.ite, 

 and crystalline limestone. 



Gopher (Geomys}. Genus of 

 small rodents belonging to the 

 squirrel family. The European 

 gopher is known as the suslik, and 

 is common in Central and Eastern 

 Europe and Siberia. Its fossil 

 remains have been found in the 

 Thames valley. It somewhat re- 

 sembles a squirrel without the 

 tufted ears and long tail, and 

 lives in burrows in which it hiber- 

 nates during winter. It feeds 



Gopher. The European spe 

 also called the Suslik 



