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gooseberries as these usually are cool and moist. The soil should have abundant plant 

 food easily made available. A good application of well rotted manure thoroughly 

 worked into the soil will do much to bring about these favourable conditions. The 

 soil should be well prepared and made mellow as for a crop of roots. As gooseberries 

 start to grow early in the spring it is usually preferable to plant in the autumn, and 

 as the leaves drop early they may be planted in September and will be in good condi- 

 tion when winter comes. Well rooted cuttings or layers may be used as plants. They 

 should be set in rows about six feet apart and four feet apart in the rows. 



Cultivation should be very thorough so as to retain moisture and keep the soil 

 cool, and as the gooseberry roots near the surface, cultivation should be shallow; 

 mulching with straw is sometimes advisable to keep the soil cool. 



As the gooseberry makes much more wood than it is desirable to leave, severe 

 pruning is necessary. English varieties are usually trained to a single stem, but this 

 is not necessary, although the freer circulation of air when trained in this way helps 

 to prevent the spread of mildew. 



The usual custom in America is to grow the gooseberry in bush form. The bush 

 should at first be brought into a good shape by leaving a few of the strongest shoots 

 regularly distributed to make an open head. Five or six of these shoots are quite 

 sufficient to leave at first. As the bush gets older, new shoots are allowed to grow to 

 take the place of the older ones, as the pruning should be done with a view to having 

 only vigorous bearing wood. Fruit is borne on year-old wood and from spurs on older 

 wood. It is usually not desirable to have any wood more than three years old. The 

 best time to prune is in the autumn or winter. The weakest young shoots should be 

 cut ofE at the ground, also all the strong young shoots not required for fruiting or to 

 take the place of older branches to be cut away. The side shoots from older branches 

 should be headed back or cut out altogether so as to maintain a fairly open head, 

 making it as easy as possible to pick the fruit and yet leaving sufficient wood to 

 produce a good crop and to shade the fruit from the sun, as in a hot dry time goose- 

 berries are liable to be injured by scalding. When branches are more than three 

 years of age they should be removed to make way for younger wood. It is advisable 

 to cut out all branches which touch the ground as there will then be a better circula- 

 tion of air, and the fruit will be kept o£E the ground. Gooseberries will often begin to 

 bear the second year after planting, but there will not be a full crop until the fourth 

 season. If the soil is kept in good condition by an annual application of well rotted 

 barnyard manure in the autumn, harrowed in the following spring, and if the bushes 

 are kept sprayed and well pruned, the plantation will not need to be renewed for many 

 years. 



Yield of Gooseberries, 



The American gooseberry is a productive fruit and averages a good crop if well 

 cared for. It is, however, very important to have good foliage to protect the fruit 

 from the sun, and unfortunately many let the currant worm destroy a large propor- 

 tion of the foliage, and if the weather is hot the fruit suffers. Six bushes of Pearl 

 gooseberry havs averaged in five years at the rate of 12,402 lbs. per acre per year, or 

 at 40 lbs. to the bushel, over 310 bushels per acre. The highest individual yield was 



