184 



GROSSULARIE^E. I. RIDES. 



] 2 inches in length, according to strength and situation ; those 

 of moderate extent and regular growth will require very little 

 shortening, and many none at all. Observe, too close cutting or 

 general shortening, occasions a great superfluity of wood in 

 summer ; for the multiplied laterals thus forced from the eyes 

 of the shortened branches, increase to a thicket, so as to retard 

 the growth, and prevent the full ripening of the fruit; on which 

 account it is an important part of pruning to keep the middle of 

 the head open and clear, and to let the occasional shortening of 

 the shoot be sparing and moderate. Between the bearing 

 branches keep a regular distance of at least 6 inches at the ex- 

 tremities, which will render them fertile bearers of good fruit. 

 Some persons, not pruning the gooseberry bush on right prin- 

 ciples, are apt to leave the shoots excessively close and tufted, 

 while they shorten the whole promiscuously ; others sometimes 

 clip them with garden shears to close round heads ; in conse- 

 quence of being pruned in these methods, the bushes shoot 

 crowdeclly, full of young wood in summer, from which the fruit 

 is always very small, and does not ripen freely with full flavour." 

 Forsyth says, " Many of the Lancashire sorts are apt to grow hori- 

 zontally, and the branches frequently trail on the ground, which 

 renders them liable to be broken by high winds, especially when 

 they are loaded with fruit. In that case I would recommend 2 

 or 3 hoops to be put round them, to which the branches may 

 be tied to support them, and prevent their being broken by the 

 wind." S. Jeeves has tried training gooseberries on an arched 

 trellis in the manner of a berceau or arbour-walk. For this 

 purpose he plants in rows, 5^ feet apart, and the plants 3 feet 

 distant in the row. He chooses the strongest growing kinds, 

 and trains 4 branches at 9 inches distance from each plant, till 

 they meet at the top. The advantages of this plan are beauty 

 of appearance, fruit not splashed by rain, easily gathered, and 

 the ground more readily cultivated. 



Insects and diseases, &c. The caterpillars of saw-flies (Ten- 

 thredinidse, Leach), of butterflies (Papilia, Lin.), and of moths 

 (Phalsena, Lin.), are well known as serious enemies to goose- 

 berries. The larvBe of the Tenthredinidse have from 16 to 20 

 feet, a round head, when touched they will roll themselves to- 

 gether. They feed on the leaves of the gooseberry, apple, and 

 most fruit trees, as well as on roses, and other shrubs and plants. 

 When full grown they make, sometimes in the earth, and some- 

 times between the leaves of the plants on which they feed, a 

 net-work case, which, when complete, is strong and gummy, and 

 in that change to the pupa incomplete, which for the most part 

 remains during the winter in the earth. The perfect fly 

 emerges early in the ensuing spring ; its serrated sting is used 

 by the female in the manner of a saw, to make incisions in the 

 twigs or stems of plants, where it deposits its eggs. The Cale- 

 donian Horticultural Society having requested information re- 

 specting the best method of preventing or destroying the cater- 

 pillar on gooseberries, received various communications on the 

 subject, and the following are extracts from such as they deemed 

 fit for publication. 



J. Gibb describes the large black, the green, and the white 

 caterpillar, with his methods of destroying them: 



" During the winter months the large black kind may be ob- 

 served lying in clusters on the under parts, and in the crevices 

 of the bushes ; and even at this season (Feb.) I find them in 

 that state. In the course of 8 or 10 days, however, if the 

 weather be favourable, they will creep up in the day time, feed 

 on the buds, and return to their nest during the night. When- 

 ever leaves appear upon the bushes they feed upon them till 

 they arrive at maturity, which is generally in the month of June; 

 after which they creep down upon the under sides of the 

 branches, where they lodge till the crust or shell is formed over 

 them. In July they become moths, and lay their eggs on the under 



side of the leaves and bark. The produce of these eggs, coming 

 into life during the month of September, feed on the leaves so 

 long as they are green, and afterwards gather together in clusters 

 on the under side of the branches, and in the crevices of the 

 bark, where they remain all the winter, as already said. Winter 

 is the most proper time for attacking this sort with success, as 

 their destruction is most effectually accomplished by the simple 

 operation of pouring a quantity of boiling-hot water upon them 

 from a watering-pan, while no injury is thereby done to the 

 bushes. 



" The green sort are at present (February) in the shelly state, 

 lying about an inch under ground. In April they come out 

 small flies, and immediately lay their eggs on the veins and 

 under sides of the leaves. These eggs produce young cater- 

 pillars in May, which feed on the leaves till June or July, when 

 they cast a blackish kind of skin, and afterwards crawl down 

 from the bushes into the earth, where a crust or shell grows 

 over them, and in that state they continue till the following April. 

 The only method which I have hitherto found effectual for 

 destroying these is, 1st, to dig the ground around the bushes 

 very deep during the winter season, by which means the greater 

 part of them are destroyed, or buried too deep ever to penetrate 

 to the surface ; 2ndly, in April, when the flies make their ap- 

 pearance, to pick off all the leaves on which any eggs are ob- 

 servable ; this is a tedious operation, but may be done by chil- 

 dren. If any of the enemy should escape both these operations, 

 they will be discernible as soon as they come into life, by their 

 eating holes through the leaves, and may then easily be de- 

 stroyed, without the least injury to the bushes or fruit. 



" The white kind, otherwise called borers, are not so nume- 

 rous as the other kinds, though very destructive ; they bore the 

 berry, and cause it to drop off; they preserve themselves during 

 the winter season in the chrysalis state, about an inch under 

 ground, and become flies nearly at the same time with the last 

 mentioned kind ; they lay their eggs on the blossoms, and these 

 eggs produce young caterpillars in May, which feed on the ber- 

 ries till they are full grown, and then creep down into the earth, 

 where they remain for the winter in the shelly state." Caled. 

 mem. vol. 1. 



Macmurray, in autumn, pours a little cow urine around the 

 stem of each bush, as much as suffices merely to moisten the 

 ground. The bushes which were treated in this manner re- 

 mained free of caterpillars for two years ; while those that were 

 neglected or intentionally passed over, in the same compart- 

 ment, were totally destroyed by the depredations of the in- 

 sects. A layer of sea-weed laid on in autumn, and dug in in the 

 spring had the ^same effect for one year. Caled. mem. vol. 1. 

 p. 95. 



R. Elliot says, " take 6 pounds of black currant leaves, and 

 as many of elder leaves, and boil them in 12 gallons of soft 

 water; then take 14 pounds of hot lime, and put it in 12 gal- 

 lons of water ; mix them altogether ; then wash the infested 

 bushes with the hand engine ; after that is done, take a little 

 hot lime, and lay it at the root of each bush that has been washed, 

 which completes the operation. By these means you com- 

 pletely destroy the caterpillars, without hurting the foliage. A 

 dull clay is to be preferred to any other for washing. When the 

 foliage is all off the bushes, wash them over with the hand en- 

 gine to clean them of decayed leaves ; for this purpose any sort 

 of water will do ; then stir up the surface of the earth all round 

 the roots of the bushes, and lay a little hot lime about them to 

 destroy the eggs. This I have never found to fail of success 

 since the first trial, 6 years ago. The above mentioned propor- 

 tion of leaves, lime, and water, will serve for 2 acres of ground 

 or more, covered with bushes or trees in the ordinary manner, 

 and will cost very little money indeed. The same proportion is 





