296 THE GOOSEBERRY. 



For the gooseberry, regular and pretty liberal pruning is ab- 

 solutely necessary. Of course no suckers should be allowed 

 to grow. In November the winter pruning should be perform- 

 ed. The leaves now being off it is easy to see what proportion 

 of the new as well as old wood may be taken away ; and we will 

 here remark that it is quite impossible to obtain fine gooseber- 

 ries here, or any where, without a very thorough thinning out 

 of the branches. As a general rule, it may safely be said that 

 one half of the head, including old and young branches (more 

 especially the former, as the best fruit is borne on the young 

 wood,) should now be taken out, leaving a proper distribution of 

 shoots throughout the bush, the head being sufficiently thinned 

 to admit freely the light and air. An additional pruning is, 

 in England, performed in June, which consists in stopping 

 the growth of long shoots by pinching out the extremities, and 

 thinning out superfluous branches ; but if the annual pruning 

 is properly performed, this will not be found necessary, except 

 to obtain fruit of extraordinary size. 



The crop should always be well thinned when the berries are 

 about a quarter grown. The gooseberry is scarcely subject to 

 any disease or insect in this country. The mildew, which 

 attacks the half grown fruit, is the great pest of those who are 

 unacquainted with its culture. In order to prevent this, it is only 

 necessary 1st, to root up and destroy all inferior kinds subject 

 to mildew ; 2nd, to procure from any of the nurseries some of 

 the best and hardiest Lancashire varieties ; 3rd, to keep them 

 well manured, and very thoroughly pruned every year. 



We do not think this fruit shrub can be said to bear well for 

 more than a half dozen years successively. After that the fruit 

 becomes inferior and requires more care in cultivation. A suc- 

 cession of young plants should, therefore, be kept up by striking 

 some cuttings every season. 



VARIETIES. The number of these is almost endless, new 

 ones being produced by the prize growers every year. The last 

 edition of the London Horticultural Society's Catalogue enume- 

 rates 149 sorts considered worthy of notice, and Lindley's Guide 

 to the Orchard, gives a list of more than seven hundred prize 

 sorts. It is almost needless to say that many of these very 

 closely resemble each other, and that a small number of them, 

 will comprise all the most valuable. 



The sorts bearing fruit of medium size are generally more 

 highly flavoured than the very large ones. We have selected a 

 sufficient number of the most valuable for all practical purposes. 



/. Red Gooseberries. 



BOARDMAN'S BRITISH CROWN. Fruit very large, roundish, 

 hairy, handsome and gocd. Branches spreading. 



