GOOSEBERRIES. 



223 



GOOSEBERRIES. 



to cause them to break next spring and 

 form well-shaped bushes. At first, it is 

 frequently desirable to plant cuttings only 

 a few inches apart, and after the second 

 year's growth to plant them out finally 

 \ about six feet apart. Each bush would 

 then have about eight leading shoots to 

 form a head, and must be kept in shape 

 and order by yearly prunings. If large 

 fruit is required, it is not desirable to 

 shorten the shoots, except they grow too 

 vigorously and incline too much down- 

 | wards. Weak and superfluous shoots 

 should be removed, and this is best done 

 by taking them off as close as possible to 

 the old ones, and removing all bottom 

 buds, so as to prevent the formation of 

 too many young shoots. The trees may 

 be trained in many ways : sometimes the 

 form of a fan or an espalier hedge is 

 adopted, which has the advantage of 

 being easily netted if birds are trouble- 

 some. The cup and funnel shapes are 

 especially suited for the production of 

 fine fruit, as air may be admitted to the 

 centre of the trees. 



Protection of Fruit. The best plan of 

 protecting fruit from birds is by encircling 

 the bush with wire netting, and covering 

 the top with a piece of string netting, 

 which can be removed when the fruit is 

 to be gathered. The ordinary bush form 

 can be protected in the same way. 



With regard to the selection of sorts, it 

 may be as well to mention, first of all, the 

 sorts that were most in vogue and chiefly 

 in favour in the time of so good a judge as 

 the late Mr. Shirley Hibberd. The best of 

 the old varieties, he tells us, still hold their 

 ground. There are none equal to the 

 Champagne for flavour. The Red Cham- 

 pagne is of the same quality, differing only 

 in colour. The old Rough is the best for 

 preserving, and Warrington is unequalled 

 as a profitable late gooseberry. For early 

 work, take Golden Drop, Ostrich, and 



Early Green Hairy. For the latest crop 

 and for retarding, the best are Warrington, 

 white ; Viper, yellow ; Pitmaston, green ; 

 and Coe's Late Red. The most profitable 

 sorts are Keen's Seedling and Warrington, 

 red ; Globe and Husbandman, yellow ; 

 Profit and Glenton, green ; Eagle and 

 Wellington Glory, white. Pjft large ex- 

 hibition berries, the following are a few of 

 the best established sorts: Red: Com- 

 panion, Slaughterman, Conquering Hero, 

 and Dan's Mistake. Yellow : Leader, 

 Leveller, Goldfinder, Peru, Catherina. 

 Green : Thumper, Gretna Green, Rough 

 Green, General, and Turnout. White : 

 Snowdrop, Antagonist, and Lady Lei- 

 cester. The Lancashire gooseberries, 

 which are generally distinguished by 

 long, drooping branches, bear the largest 

 fruit. Seedlings have been shown at Man- 

 chester varying in weight from 20 dwt. to 

 26 dwt., and, we believe, even beyond 

 this. Such fruit, however, is generally 

 produced at the expense of the crop. 

 When fruit is to be gathered green, it is 

 most profitable to keep the bush as thick 

 in shoots as possible; for ripening fine 

 fruit, the more open the bush the better. 

 After this, as constituting the most 

 modern and complete list that we can 

 have, it will be useful to put the reader in 

 possession of the names of the choicest 

 fruits of this class compiled from the 

 " Illustrated Dictionary of Gardening," 

 edited by Mr. George Nicholson, of the 

 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The four 

 lists of red, yellow, green, and white, are 

 necessarily abbreviated, and none of the 

 fruits mentioned above are repeated, but 

 the character of each individual kind has 

 been noted as given in the authority quoted. 



i. GOOSEBERRIES WITH RED SKIN. 



Crown Bob ; bright red, of good flavour, roundisb 



oblong, hairy. 



Dr. Hogg; purplish red, long, broad, downy. 

 Hanson's Seedling ; deep red, medium, of good 



flavour, very hairy, late. 



