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CASSELL'S POPULAR GARDENING. 



subject to this mode of culture. The older cultiva- 

 tors, who went in for monster Gooseberries, believed 

 in keeping the roots at home by triennial or frequent 

 root-pruning, and providing some rich food, such as 

 night-soil, for them within a yard of the stems. 



The practice was to bare the roots and note their 

 character and ramifications. Those that hud wan- 

 dered too far, or dug down too deeply, were cut off, 

 lifted up, or brought back within a distance of from 

 one, two to three feet of the stem, and re-planted 

 in fresh and rich composts. In addition to this, a 

 trench, a foot or eighteen inches wide, and as much 

 or more deep, was made all round the root-run of 

 the bush, and this was filled with rich compost, 

 and occasionally rank manures, such as cow-dung, 

 night-soil, and even carrion, if any were available. 

 Nothing was considered too rich or strong for the 

 Gooseberries. No doubt, in this way, they suffered 

 at times from an excess of manure ; but when the 

 composts were mixed with judgment and applied 

 with skill, wonderfully fine growths and enormous 

 Gooseberries frequently resulted. 



Neither is the practice of applying carrion to 

 fruit-trees and bushes yet abolished. Only last 

 summer the writer was favoured with samples of 

 some extraordinarily fine Apples from a farmer. On 

 inquiry as to the cause of their unusual size, the 

 answer was, " Everything that dies on the farm goes 

 to the fruit-trees and bushes, and this tree had a 

 dead horse cut up and buried round it two years 

 ago." Without commending these practices, such 

 facts may possess a special interest to some readers. 

 If at a loss to dispose of a dead fowl, rat, or mice 

 in quantity, the Gooseberry-bushes might grow finer 

 berries were they to bury such small fry over their 

 roots. Certain it is that the root-runs proper, and the 

 trenches formed around them, were speedily filled 

 with fresh roots in a few months after such root- 

 liftings, prunings, and feedings as here described. 



Another great advantage of these periodical prun- 

 ings was that the cultivator always knew where to 

 find his Gooseberry - roots, as they were seldom 

 allowed to stray more than a yard or a trifle more 

 from the stem. Hence, when special feedings or 

 waterings were resorted to, it was easy to supply 

 both food and drink in the right place, and so that 

 the roots were sure to find it, and make the best 

 of it at once. 



As to other pruning, it necessarily has two objects 

 in view — the formation of the bush, and the growth 

 of the finest fruit. The first point is the height of 

 stem. Most prefer from four to six inches of clear 

 stem, some a foot or more as the least that should 

 be allowed. On dwarf cuttings one leading shoot 

 should be trained up the first season, to form the 

 stem, which should be run up straight to the desired 



height. Pruned in the autumn, at least three buds 

 should be left on its crown. These form the basis of 

 the future bush, whether it is to be open-centred, a 

 pyramid, standard, or what not. The shoots produced 

 from these buds should be shortened back to about 

 six inches next autumn, and from each of these a 

 couple of shoots will be led the following season. 

 These may be tied to a hoop, to keep the centre 

 quite open, or mould it into the form of a vase. 

 These leaders may be laid in at the rate of six or 

 more inches a year, and other shoots may be taken 

 from them to fill up the bushes as the area of the 

 circle widens. All other shoots should be close- 

 spurred in the autumn, that is, cut back to within an 

 inch or an inch and a half of their base. In hot, dry 

 localities, however, the spurs may be left longer, so as 

 to provide more shade for the fruit. In these, too, 

 the pyramidal is the better form for Gooseberries. 



The formation of pyramidal Gooseberries proceeds 

 on the same lines as that of Apples or Pears. A 

 central leader is tied up to a stout stake and led up 

 from the front. From this all the side shoots are 

 led off horizontally or at an angle of wide diver- 

 gence from it. The length of leader left, and the 

 number of side shoots started from it in one year, 

 must be largely determined by the vigour of the 

 plants, and the quality of the soil. The lengths may 

 vary from six inches to eighteen, and the number of 

 shoots from three to six, nine, or even a dozen. On 

 an average, a nine-inch length of leader, and from 

 three to five side shoots, will enable the bush to 

 make rapid progress without becoming bare or thin 

 at any part. These formal pyramids also look most 

 artistic when their base is lifted a foot or so off 

 the ground. Pruned into this form at starting, and 

 kept in good shape aftei'wards, Gooseberry pyramids 

 are as artistic as they are prolific and satisfactory. 

 There is, however, a much more free-and-easy 

 method of moulding Gooseberry-bushes into rough 

 pyramids. Several shoots may be led up from the 

 root- stock, keeping one, however, well ahead of all 

 the others for a centre. By pruning annually with 

 a view to the maintenance of the pyramidal form, 

 the shape may be preserved with a minimum of 

 pruning, and an enormous yield of fruit. But this, 

 as pruning necessarily does, leads us on to- 

 Training. — Now, as already stated, the Goose- 

 berry may be moulded into all the forms assumed by 

 other fruit-trees albeit in miniature. There is one 

 very striking form seldom adopted, but one of the 

 most beautiful of all, that is a dwarf standard, with 

 the stem a yard or more high. This is a most useful 

 form for town gardens, and is admirably adapted for 

 such varieties as the Ironmonger and Warrington, 

 that droop back to earth again, thus forming weep- 



