Trained European Gooseberries for America- By h. s. Adams, 



THESE FINE FRUITS ARE EATEN RIPE OUT OF HAND LIKE PLUMS — THE 

 BUSHES CAN BE TRAINED AGAINST A WALL SO AS TO SAVE SPACE 



Con- 



A MERICANS who happen to be in 

 ■^ England at just the right time are 

 prone to go into ecstasies over the goose- 

 berries of the old country — "big as a 

 pigeon's egg." Almost invariably there 

 follows a sigh. "Gooseberries like that are 

 not for us," they say. Just as if there 

 were no such thing as trying! 



Gooseberries "like that" can be grown 

 in the United States. It is not contended 

 for a moment that the finest fruit is as 

 easy a matter here as in England and 

 Scotland, where the gooseberry appears to 

 find a more congenial climate. Neverthe- 

 less, the best results may be approximated 

 in this country if a proper amount of pains 

 be taken. According to R. B. Whyte the 

 three essentials are shade, clay, and plenty 

 of moisture. 



As a matter of fact, gooseberries quite 

 near enough to being "big as a pigeon's 

 egg" have been grown right within the 

 limits of the city of New York. An Eng- 

 lishman in exile wanted some home goose- 

 berries. He set about it and got them from 

 his own garden, and that is all there is to 

 that story. 



The gooseberries that I have in mind 

 are as large as some bird eggs — say an 

 inch in length. But I was not more im- 

 pressed by their size than by the ease 

 with which they were grown. It was just 

 as if it had all been a dream, this talk about 

 worth-while gooseberries being something 

 that American gardens must pine for in 

 vain. Still more was I impressed by the 

 fact that a considerable crop of first class 

 fruit was made possible without any 

 sacrifice of space whatever. 



It was simply a matter of taking ad- 

 vantage of a practice common enough 

 abroad, but rare here — the training of 

 "small fruits" other than grapes on either 

 a flat trellis or against a wall. In this case 

 the extremely simple expedient of using 

 gooseberries, trained flat on a low fence of 

 strung wires, as a means of hedging in the 

 vegetable and reserve flower gardens was 

 adopted. Set in the regular manner, the 

 gooseberries would have taken up too much 

 room. They would also have shut out 

 more sunlight and the fruit would not have 

 been so fine. As it is, the bushes, trained 

 espalier fashion, are merely a thin wall of 

 green occupying no space that would be 

 missed; the foliage is sparse enough to 

 let light and air through and, finally, the 

 fruit has a chance to attain the very 

 height of excellence. 



Nor is this gooseberry hedge, which is 

 scarcely more than a yard high, in any way 

 unattractive. On the contrary, the thin 

 wall of green is quite pretty even when not 

 dotted with the fruit. When the big 

 gooseberries, full of juice and with the 

 light shining through them, are ripe the 



hedge is one of the most attractive features 

 of the gardens. 



The trained bushes happen to have been 

 secured abroad, where they are plentiful 

 enough in England, Scotland and Ger- 

 many. Imported stock may be purchased 

 in this country, however. Any up-to- 

 date nursery can supply you. The bushes 

 should be set from three to four feet apart, 

 and so tied to the wires as to utilize all 

 available space. It is better, as in these 

 gardens, to define ends and corners by the 

 use of a bush trained to "standard' ' shape. 

 Or, at regular intervals, standards may be 

 employed to vary the sky-line. In spring 

 and in summer the side shoots need 

 pruning. 



Insects may pester the gooseberry, but 

 such damage is easily avoided. Nor is 

 this fruit subject to much disease. The 

 bushes referred to have no troubles of that 

 sort. Every spring they are sprayed with 

 an insecticide that is manufactured spec- 

 ially to ward off the ravages of the dreaded 

 San Jose scale. In the spring, also, hellebore 

 or slugshot is blown over the bushes 

 with a small bellows to keep off the worms. 



As for winter-killing, that ought to be 

 disposed of by the statement that these 

 hedges have stood ten winters in central 

 Connecticut without any casualties. 



This matter of durability is of great 

 importance, as it must be regarded in the 

 light of an offsetting factor in considering 

 the comparatively high first cost. Goose- 

 berries, of all small fruits, are the most 

 expensive. Ordinary kinds, in plain bush 

 form, cost up to $2 a dozen and the choicer 

 varieties $3.50 to $4. Standards and other 



trained forms run from 89 to $15, and per- 

 haps even higher. But, with suitable 

 care, the crop, taking a period of ten years 

 or more, will be worth in the aggregate 

 the amount of money invested plus a fair 

 rate of interest. Besides, there is that 

 which may not be reckoned in dollars and 

 cents — the joy of growing in one's own 

 garden quality fruit that cannot be found 

 in the market place. 



Three varieties that have stood every 

 test in these Connecticut hedges are Smith's 

 Improved, large, sweet, light green in color 

 and the earliest, beginning to ripen at the 

 end of June; Industry, deep red, excellent in 

 quality, and highly prolific; and Pearl, a 

 white kind that in flavor and abundance has 

 quite as much to recommend it. Don't let 

 this fall planting season pass by without add- 

 ing a few gooseberries to your garden! 



A word about eating gooseberries. The 

 large ones, when "dead ripe," are delicious 

 eaten out of hand and are especially good 

 for the table because of their additional 

 decorative value. The unripe fruit is no 

 less desirable for pies, more especially the 

 "deep dish" English style, with no under 

 crust. Then there are tarts, jam, 

 preserves and, last but by no means least, 

 the delectable "gooseberry fool" of the 

 English and Scotch housewife. One Scotch 

 woman on American soil gilds the lily by 

 serving frozen gooseberry fool and, as the 

 writer can testify, it is very delicious on 

 a hot summer's day. This dish, by the way, 

 is not as foolish as it sounds; it appears 

 to get its name from the French verb 

 fouler, to crush, the gooseberries being 

 scalded and then crushed with cream. 



W 



Gooseberries trained espalier serve as an ornamental screen to a vegetable garden. The fruit is more 

 easily picked and the vines readily treated for insects. Standards are inserted about every twenty feet 



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