490 



CALIFORNIA FRUITS: HOW TO GROW THEM 



Propagation, Pruning, etc. The gooseberry is grown from ci 

 tings, very much as already described for the currant. The coi 

 mon and the best method is to start the cuttings early in the win- 

 ter, though some have succeeded with cuttings taken in the spring 

 just as the new growth is starting out. Disbudding the lower part 

 of the cutting if it is desired to train in tree form is also practiced 

 with the gooseberry, but a smaller percentage of cuttings is found 

 to grow after disbudding. 



Gooseberries are planted out and cultivated as already described 

 for currants, and the requirements of the plant in soil, moisture, 

 and manuring are much the same. 



If the gooseberry is to be grown in tree form, constant attention 

 to removal of suckers is necessary ; if in bush form, it will only be 

 necessary to remove too old wood and thin out the new shoots. 

 Suckers should be removed clean from the stem, so as to eradicate 

 the latent buds, and pulling off with a gloved hand, when the suck- 

 ers become woody enough to withstand breaking, is advised. As 

 with the currant, the borer is a constant menace to the life of a 

 gooseberry plant confined to a single stem. 



Diseases and Pests. The gooseberry is subject to insect depre- 

 dation both in wood and fruit and leaf. The prevailing trouble, 

 however, and that which causes the failure of so many foreign 

 kinds, is the mildew. To escape this nothing is usually done ex- 

 cept to select varieties not subject to the disease, but susceptible 

 varieties can be protected by spraying just as the leaves are open- 

 ing and once a month afterwards with potassium sulphide half an 

 ounce to the gallon of water. This does not stain nor poison the 

 fruit. The cooler and moister the air the less the mildew. 



Varieties of the Gooseberry. The American varieties, Down- 

 ing and Houghton's Seedling, chiefly the latter, constituted for a 

 long time the main varieties marketed in San Francisco. Early ex- 

 periments with collections of English varieties showed that m( 

 of them were failures because of mildew; still a few of the gre< 

 and white sorts, notably the Whitesmith, have succeeded, 

 proportion of large berries now being marketed is much great 

 than formerly, and the superior price warrants especial effort 

 produce them. 



A large English variety, which was brought to California man} 

 years ago by the late John W. Dwindle, is now the most wid< 

 distributed large kind. Its true name was lost and it has been pr< 

 agated under various names, viz., Dwindle, Kelsey, New Frencl 

 but the name Berkeley, adopted by W. P. Hammon, in his wid<!> 

 distribution of it in 1884, now prevails. It is large and handsome! 

 very prolific, ripens early, and is usually free from mildew. 



The Champion, an Oregon seedling grown by Seth Lewelling 

 is medium sized, very smooth, and thick fleshed, the seeds beim 



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