Pruning the Gooseberry. 115 



a parent, we sec no reason why we may not in a few years 

 possess native kinds, equalling the foreign ones in size and 

 excellence, and, at the same time, possessing all the hardy 

 and easily cultivated properties of the variety we have just 

 named. We have already quite a number of seedlings, and 

 shall look forward to their fruiting with much interest. 



The pruning of the gooseberry is one of the most impor- 

 tant points in its cultivation. Naturally possessing a diffuse 

 and bushy habit, the first object is to get rid of the redun- 

 dancy of shoots, which a healthy bush annually produces, 

 rendering it but a mass of wood and foliage, obstructing the 

 light, preventing a free circulation of air, and appropriating 

 food which should go to the fruit. The best growers of the 

 gooseberry attach great importance to the method of pruning, 

 and are particular in their directions on this head : indeed, 

 we have no doubt, that in localities where the gooseberry is 

 free from the mildew, in our climate, the inferior size of 

 the fruit is mostly to be attributed to the improper mode of 

 pruning. 



In order therefore, that cultivators may have the benefit of 

 good advice, we present them with Mr. Thompson's views 

 on pruning the gooseberry, illustrated so plainly by the 

 engraving, (Jig. 6,) that any judicious cultivator cannot fail to 

 be greatly benefitted by their perusal. The article is from 

 the Gardeners Chronicle. 



The Gooseberry. — Left to its natural growth, the Goose- 

 berry becomes an almost impenetrable thicket, not at all 

 adapted for producing such fine fruit as is produced by plants 

 properly cultivated and pruned. The natural habit of the 

 Gooseberry is that of a bush, with a strong tendency to ren- 

 ovate itself by suckers, and the more vigorous these are, the 

 more liable are the old branches to fall into decrepitude and 

 decay. To prevent this confusion, arising from a supera- 

 bundance of shoots and suckers, the pruning-knife must be 

 employed, and that, too, at an early stage of the individual 

 existence of the plant. 



In the accompanying engraving, it will be seen that the 



