Growing the Gooseberry. 397 
and moist. The choice of varieties is of the greatest importance, 
as will be mentioned presently. At present the chief supplies 
of the gooseberry, as of the currant, are produced in the coun- 
try adjacent to San Francisco Bay, though thriving and profit- 
able plantations are found elsewhere near the coast, here and 
there in the interior, and at considerable elevations on the slope 
of the Sierra Nevada. 
Propagation, Pruning, etc—The gooseberry is grown from 
cuttings, very much as already described for the currant. The 
common and the best method is to start the cuttings early in 
the winter, though some have succeeded with cuttings taken 
in the spring just as the new growth is starting out. Disbud- 
ding the lower part of the cutting if it is desired to train in tree 
form is also practised with the gooseberry, but a smaller per- 
centage of cuttings is found to grow after disbudding. 
Gooseberries are planted out and cultivated as already de- 
scribed 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 he necessary to remove too old wood and to 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 suckers become woody enough to with- 
stand 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 
depredation 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 done 
except to select varieties not subject to the disease. 
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 experiments with collections of English varieties showed 
that most of them were failures because oi mildew; still a few of 
the green and white sorts, notably the Whitesmith, have suc- 
ceeded. The proportion of large berries now being marketed 
is much greater than formerly,.and the superior price warrants 
especial effort to produce them. 
A large English variety, which was brought to California 
many years ago by the late John W. Dwinelle, is now the 
most widely distributed iarge kind. Its true name was lost and 
it has been propagated under various names, viz., Dwinelle, 
Kelsey, New French; but the name Berkeley, adopted by W. P. 
