THE 



liftiitl 



VOL. VIII.] 



DECEMBER 1885. 



[No. 12. 



THE i:ndustry gooseberry. 



We have at present but a meagTe 

 supply of desii'able gooseberries adapt- 

 ed to onr climate. Tlie EnoHsli varie- 

 ties will succeed in but few localities^ 

 and oi;r American species have not 

 yet been brought up to the standard in 

 size and quality. It is to be hoped 

 that some of our experimenters will be 

 so fortunate as to raise seedlings from 

 our native varieties which will not be 

 subject to mildew, whose fruit will 

 compare favorably in size and flavor 

 with the European sorts. 



The Industry, of which our colored 

 plate is a good I'epresentation, is a 

 foreign variety which Messrs. Ell- 

 wanger & Barry have found to do well 

 on their grounds, it having fruited 

 with them for four seasons without 

 shewing any signs of mildew. In a 

 letter written in reply to our inquiry 

 as to its behaviour this season they say 

 that it has during the past season of 

 1885 fully sustained its character for 

 health, vigor, and productiveness, but 

 cannot say that it has not shown any 

 sign of mildew. The season was bad, 

 wet, with sudden changes of tempera- 

 ture, and a little mildew was observed 

 in some cases, but was scarcely notice- 

 able, and did no harm. Even the 



American sorts were affected. Mr. 

 Thos. Beall. of Lindsay, says that the 

 Industry Gooseberry was very seri- 

 ously affected witli mildew this sea- 

 son on his grounds. We have had 

 it for only one season and find it 

 to be a very vigorous grower. In 

 the summer of 1884 we saw it in 

 the grounds of these gentlemen, and 

 were very favorably impressed with 

 the quality and size of the fruit. They 

 have also fovmd it to be immensely 

 productive. Should this variety prove 

 on general cultivation to be able to 

 maintain its vigorous and healthy char- 

 actei', we shall have much reason to 

 thank these gentlemen for bringing it 

 to the notice of fruit growers. 



During the past summer our small 

 sized American gooseberries brought 

 very satisfactory prices, yet the few 

 Whitesmiths that found their way to 

 market brought nearly twice as much, 

 on account of their superior size. Could 

 we have varieties as large as the In- 

 dustiy and as productive as our native 

 sorts, which can be depended upon 

 from year to year, the grower would 

 find their cultivation exceedingly re- 

 munerative. We are moving even now 

 in this direction. 



