SUCCESS WITH SMALL FRUITS— GOOSEBERRIES 



17 



The Downing Gooseberry — spray reduced size 



GOOSEBERRIES 



The Gooseberry has attained a greater commercial importance 

 of late years than formerly, and in many sections has become a 

 very profitable fruit. It is always sold in the green state, though 

 the ripe fruit is very acceptable to most people. Like the cur- 

 rant, the Gooseberry thrives best in a cool climate and a moist 

 clay soil. When grown in a warm sandy soil, it will be found 

 that the coal-ash mulch advised for the currant will be a great 

 advantage. The Gooseberry is worthless in the South, and seldom 

 fruits well south of Maryland, except in the mountain sections. 

 p • Amateur growers often train the Goose- 



and T^inimr berry, like the currant, to a single stem, but 

 * commercially the bush form is the only profit- 

 able way to grow them. Little pruning is needed, and that 

 mainly to remove the stunted shoots and to keep up a supply of 

 vigorous new shoots from the base. They may be set from 5 to 

 6 feet apart each way, and cultivated both ways. The richer 

 the soil the more distance apart, of course, as the growth will be 

 stronger in the strong soil. Spraying regularly with Bordeaux 

 mixture is important to keep down the mildew from the fruit. 

 The varieties grown in this country have mainly been produced 

 from the native species. The English Gooseberry is much larger, 

 but far more inclined to disease, than the native species, though 

 some of the English sorts have been grown with success, and 

 now with spraying it is probable that most of them can be grown. 



It is important as one means for preventing mildew that the 

 head of the bush be kept open and not allowed to get crowded 

 with shoots, as in a crowded state the mildew is always worse. 



