GOOSEBERRY. 263 



study the local market to learn which package is the best to use. 

 This fruit is generally sold by the pound. Unlike raspberries 

 and strawberries, it will remain in good condition on the plants 

 for some little time after getting ripe, but it does not ship as well 

 if very ripe as when it is a little green. The fruit makes the 

 firmest jelly before it gets fully ripe, and on this account it is 



Fig. 120. — Currant bushes tied up for winter to prevent snow from 

 breaking them down. 



sometimes most profitable to market the crop when the berries 

 at the end of the bunches are still quite green. 



Varieties. — There are not so many varieties of the currant 

 offered in the nursery catalogues as of most other cultivated 

 fruits, but still there is much difference in the size and quality 

 of the different kinds, as well as in the hardiness and vigor of the 

 plants. For the home garden, about one dozen plants well cared 

 for will give an abundance of fruit. 



The Gooseberry. 



The gooseberry is closely related to the currant and is 

 fully as productive. The fruit, however, is not so highly es- 

 teemed in this country as in northern Europe where a differ- 



