734 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



from each plant, ail they meet at top. The advantages of this plan are, beauty of appearance, fruit not 

 splashed by rain, easily gathered, and the ground more readily cultivated. (JBbrf. Trans, vol. iv. p. 194.) 



4652. Taking the crop. " From gooseberries being useful for different purposes, both m a green and m 

 a mature state, and from the compass of time afforded by early and late sorts, they are in season and great 

 request four or five months in summer, from April till September. The early sorts, on south walls, come 

 in for gathering in small green berries, for tarts, &c. in April or early m May, and attam maturity m 

 June. From common standard bushes an abundant supply is yielded in I\Iay and June of gooseberries in a 

 green state ; and in proportion as part is reserved to ripen, a succession, in full size and maturity, is ob- 

 tained in June, July, and August. Some late kinds, either planted in shady situations, or shielded with 

 mats from the sun in their ripening state, continue good on the tree till September." 



4653. Prolonging of the crop. In addition to planting' late sorts in shady situations, the bushes, 

 •whether standards or trained, may be matted over when the fruit is ripe, and in this way some of the reds, 

 as the Warrington, and the thick-skinned yellow sorts, as the Mogul, will keep on the trees till Christmas. 



4654. Suckling. By preparing a very rich soil, and by watering, and the use of liquid manure, shading, 

 and thinning, 'the large fruit of the prize cultivator is produced. Not content with watering at root 

 and over the top, the Lancashire connoisseur, when he is growing for exhibition, places a small saucer of 

 water immediately under each gooseberry, only three or four of which he leaves on a tree. This is 

 technically called suckling. He also pinches off a great part of th-e young wood, so as to throw all the 

 strength he can into the fruit. 



4655. Accelerating maturity. Hunt tried ringing on half a gooseberry-bush, which half produced ripe 

 fruit a week sooner than the other, and twice the usual size. {Hort. Trans, iv. 565.) 



4656. Insects, diseases, &c. The caterpillars of saw-flies {Tenthredmidce, Leach) (Jig. 

 495.), of butterflies [Papillce, L.), and of moths {Pha- 

 IcencB, L.) are well known and serious enemies to goose- 4 

 berries. The larvae of the Tenthredinidce have from 

 sixteen to twenty-eight feet ; a round head ; and when 

 touched, they roll themselves together. They feed on the 

 leaves of the gooseberry, apple, and most fruit-trees, as 

 well as roses, and other shrubs and plants. "When full- 

 grown, they make sometimes in the earth, and sometimes 

 between the leaves of the plant on which they feed, a net- 

 work case, which, when complete, is strong and gummy, and in that change to a pupa 

 incompleta, which for the most part remains during the winter in the earth. Tlie per- 

 fect fly emerges early in the ensuing spring ; its serrated sting is used by the female in 

 the manner of a saw, to make incisions in the twigs or stems of plants, where it deposits 

 its eggs. The Caledonian Horticultural Society having " requested information respecting 

 the best method of preventing or destroying the caterpillar on gooseberries," received 

 various communications on the subject, and the following are extracts from such as they 

 deemed fit for publication : — 



4657. Gibbs describes the large black, tho green, and the v.hite caterpillars, with his methods of de- 

 stroying them. During the winter months, the large black kind may be observed lying in clusters on 

 the under parts, and in the crevices of the bushes ; and even at this season (Feb.) I find them in that 

 state. In the course of eight or ten days, however, if the weather be favorable, they will creep up in 

 the day-time, feed on the buds, and return to their nest during the night. Whenever leaves appear 

 upon the bushes they feed upon them till they arrive at maturity, which is generally in the month of 

 June ; after which they creep down upon the under sides of the brancljes, where they lodge till the crust 

 or shell is formed over them. In July they become moths, and lay their eggs on the under sides of the 

 leaves, and of the bark. The produce of these eggs, coming into life during the month of September, 

 feed on the leaves so long as they are green, and afterwards gather together in clusters on the under side 

 of the branches, and in crevices of the bark, where they remain all the winter, as already said. Winter 

 is the most proper time for attacking this sort with success, as their destruction is most eflfectually 

 accomplished by the simple operation of pouring a quantity of boiling hot water upon them from a watering 

 pan, while no injury is thereby done to the bushes. 



4658. The green sort are at present (Feb.) in the shelly state, lying about an inch under ground. In 

 Ajpril they come out small flies, and immediately lay their eggs on the veins and under sides of the leaves. 

 These eggs produce young caterpillars in May, v/hich feed on the leaves till June or July, when they cast 

 a blackish kind of skin, and afterwards crawl down from the bushes into the earth, where a crust or shell 

 grows over them, and in that state they continue till the following April. The only method which I have 

 hitherto found effectual in destroying these is, 1st, to dig the ground around the bushes very deep during 

 the winter season, by which means the greater part of them are destroyed, or buried too deep ever to 

 penetrate to the surface : 2diy, in April, v.'hen the flies make their appearance, to- pick off all the leaves 

 on which any eggs are observable ; this is a tedious operation, but may be done by children. If any of the 

 enemy should escape both these operations, they will be discernible as soon as they come to life, by their eating 

 holes through the leaves, and may then easily be destroyed, without the least injury to the bushes or fruit. 



4659. The white kind, otherwise called borers, are not so numerous as the other kinds, though very de- 

 structive; they bore the berry, and cause it to drop off; they preserve themselves dui-ing the winter sea- 

 son, in the chrysalis state, about an inch under ground, and become flies nearly at the same time with the 

 last mentioned kind ; they lay their eggs on the blossoms, and these eggs produce young catei-pillars in 

 May, which feed on the berries till they are full-grown, and then creep down into the earth, where they 

 remain for the winter in the shelly state. {Caled. Mem. vol. i.) 



4660. Macmurray, in autumn, pours a little cow-urine around the stem of each bush, as much as suffices 

 merely to moisten the ground. The bushes which were treated in this manner remained free of cater- 

 pillars for two years ; while those that were neglected, or intentionally passed over, in the same compart>- 

 ment, were totally destroyed by the depredations of the insects. A layer of sea-weed laid on in autumn, 

 and dug in in spring, had the same effect for one year. {Caled. Mem. vol. i. 95.) 



4661. R. Elliot says, " Take six pounds of black-currant leaves, and as many of elder-leaves, and bjil 

 them in twelve gallons of soft water ; then take fourteen pounds of hot lime, and put it in twelve gallons 

 of water ; mix them all together ; then wash the infested bushes with the hand-engine ; after that is done, 

 take a little hot lime and lay at the root of each bush or tree that has been washed, which completes the 

 operation. By these means you will completely destroy the caterpillars, without hurting the foliage of 

 the bush or tree in the least. A dull day is to be preferred to any other for washing. When the foliage 

 is all off the bushes and trees, wash them over with the hand-engine, to clean them o"f decayed leaves ; for 

 this purpose, any sort of water wiU do ; then stir up the surface of the earth all round the roots of the 

 bushes and trees, and lay a little hot lime about them to destroy the eggs. This I have never found to fail 

 of success since my first trial, six years ago. The above-mentioned proportion of leaves, lime, and water, 



