THE GOOSEBERRY 421 



out, but not so much as to leave the top too open. If the plant is 

 to grow as a bush, the only winter pruning will consist in removing 

 dead wood, or wood attacked by borers, and thinning the new shoots 

 as may seem desirable, and cutting bark half or more of the new 

 growth. Summer pinching of the new growth is desirable, as it 

 causes the fruit to set closely and tends to a thick growth of foliage 

 also, and this is necessary, for the bark is liable to sunburn, and 

 the best fruit is that which is well sheltered by the leaves. Another 

 advantage of the bush form is the less likelihood of killing by borers, 

 which is imminent when the growth depends upon a single stem. 

 Well cared for bushes will bear profitably until about ten years old. 

 Replanting should be made on new ground. 



Bearing. The currant bears a quantity of excellent fruit the 

 second year from the cutting, and reaches its fullest product about 

 the fifth to the eighth year, when the yield in the Hayward region 

 is said to range from one and a half to three tons to the acre. 



Varieties. The Cherry currant is the prevailing variety, and 

 Fay's Prolific stands next, although the old sorts, the Red and White 

 Dutch, the Red and White Grape, etc., are grown in some localities. 

 Pomona is one of the best of the newer red varieties and the old 

 Fertile de Palluau is reported as doing better than others in hot, in- 

 terior situations. Black currants are but little grown, the market 

 demand for them being very light. Black Naples is best of its kind 

 in California. 



THE GOOSEBERRY 



The gooseberry is another fruit with very circumscribed area in 

 this State. In localities which favor it, the fruit is often found very 

 profitable, but the demand does not warrant any great increase of 

 product. Though the gooseberry thrives in some situations which 

 do not suit the currant, they may both be described as averse to the 

 hot and dry parts of the State. Still, for home use or local sale one 

 can grow certain varieties of gooseberries successfully, by protect- 

 ing them from too great exposure to the sun, and by keeping the 

 soil sufficiently rich and moist. The choice of varieties is of the 

 greatest importance, as will be mentioned presently. At present the 

 chief supplies of the gooseberry, as of the currant, are produced 

 in the country adjacent to San Francisco Bay, though thriving and 

 profitable plantations are found elsewhere near the coast, as at Green- 

 field, Monterey County; here and there in the interior, and at con- 

 siderable elevations on the slope of the Sierra Nevada. 



'Propagation, Pruning, etc. The gooseberry is grown from cut- 

 tings, very much as already described for the currant. The common 

 and the best method is to start the cuttings early in the winter, 

 though some have succeeded with cuttings taken in the spring just 

 as the new growth is starting out. Disbudding the lower part of 

 the cutting if it is desired to train in tree form is also practised 

 with the gooseberry, but a smaller percentage of cuttings is found 

 to grow after disbudding. 



