632 



Small Fruit Growing in Kent. [nov., 



helped to pay the expenses of summer work. The price 

 of gs. per 100 for gooseberries is a very moderate one; 12s. is 

 more usual, and sometimes 145. per 100 for market sorts. 

 The second year cultivation will probably cost about £^ per 

 acre, exclusive of rent, including 35. for pruning. The crop 

 the second year may be six half-bushels of green goose- 

 berries. Strawberries are frequently grown with goose- 

 berries for the first four or five years. 



The cost of cultivation would be as follows : — 



Annual Cost of Cultivating Gooseberries. 



£ s. d. 



(November) Pruning ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... i 5 o 



Clearing cuttings 050 



Each alternate year 20 tons dung with cartage, £6 1 is. 8d. ; wheeling on 



and spreading, 10s. ; = £j is.Sd. Half cost... ... ... ... 3 10 10 



Digging with fork ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 100 



(April to September) Hand hoeing four times ... ... ... ... 180 



Picking 2 tons green gooseberries (or 3 tons ripe) .. ... ... ... 500 



Packing 187 half bushels at is. 100 halves... ... ... ... ... 039 



Carriage, 2 tons at iSs. (3 tons at 16s. , £2 8s. od.) ... ... ... 1 12 o 



Sale expenses, 4^. per half bushel ... ... ... ... ... ... 324 



Rent, rates, and taxes ... ... ... ... .. ... ... ... 2 10 o 



Cost ...£ig 16 11 



Receipt, 2 tons green gooseberries at £ 1 2 per ton ... ... .. ...^24 o o 



Balance, to cover cost of planting, interest on capital, superintendence, &c. £4. 3 I 



The system of pruning in commercial plantations in Kent 

 is based on the principle that the younger wood bears the 

 largest and greatest number of berries, also that space 

 between the boughs is necessary for convenience in picking 

 and affording light for the production and development of 

 the fruit. The boughs are not usually spur-pruned, though 

 the tips of boughs are shortened and the older boughs cut 

 out so as to keep the bushes with young strong wood. 

 Suckers coming up from the ground or from stems are broken 

 off with the suckering iron, which discourages their growing 

 again, which would happen if pruned by knife. The boughs 

 of the bushes in some plantations spring up direct from the 

 ground, but for convenience in hoeing many growers prefer 

 to have the boughs spring out from a main stem above 

 ground. When making the cuttings for bushes to be grown 

 on a leg, all the buds which would be planted below ground 

 are cut out, and only those to be above ground are left. 

 The disadvantage of being on a leg is that if this main stem 

 is broken the bush is spoilt, whilst if the boughs spring 



