GATHERING THE FRUIT 367 



GATHERING AND MARKETING 



Picking gooseberries looks more attractive than it 

 is. I well remember the longing eyes with which a 

 crowd of inexperienced pickers watched the goose- 

 berry rows, when working on currants, and with 

 what eagerness they pounced upon them when at last 

 the currants were done. The fruit looked so much 

 larger than the currants, and so nice to pick! But 

 experience brought a great change. They had for- 

 gotten to reckon with the thorns, and soon longed 

 for currants again. The Downing, our best well- 

 tested variety, is one of the worst in this respect. 

 The thorns are always ready, and apparently never 

 fail to get in their work. This feature does much 

 to check increased cultivation of the gooseberry. Vig- 

 orous pruning, to keep the bushes thin and open, 

 will materially aid in the matter, and the picker 

 soon learns to avoid too careless contact. Another 

 method of circumventing the difficulty is possible, 

 from the fact that the berries are marketed when 

 green and hard. This consists in wearing thick 

 leather gloves and in stripping the berries from the 

 branches. They are then run through a fanning 

 mill to drive out the leaves. This method is 

 most satisfactory in commercial work. It will not 

 answer for ripe fruit, which is too easily crushed. 

 Pickers are paid about 1% or 1% cents per quart, 

 and will average from sixty to one hundred quarts 

 per day. 



At the present time the market calls for green 



