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GROWING BUSH FRUITS 



Pick gooseberries after they reach full size, but before they 

 are fully ripe. When Americans use them more as a dessert 

 fruit, then the English method of permitting them to reach full 

 maturity before harvesting will be followed. Wear leather 

 gloves for protection from thorns. 



Strip the fruit from the bushes for the canning factory. 

 Run it through an ordinary grain fanning mill to remove 

 leaves and refuse. Some growers prefer to use a scoop similar 

 to a cranberry scoop for picking. 



For the general market and retail trade, stripping causes 

 too much injury to the berries. Grow the larger varieties and 

 pick them by holding the cane in one gloved hand and remov- 

 ing the fruit with the other, also protected by a glove excepting 

 the ends of the fingers. 



Keep gooseberries out of the sun as they scald or discolor 

 very quickly. Packages are the same as for currants, except- 

 ing that third- or half-bushel baskets are commonly used for 

 canning stock. 



Bushes Begin to Bear after the First Year's Growth and 

 Should Reach Full Bearing at Four or Five Years of Age. In 

 Northern sections on the heavier loams and under good treat- 

 ment, including regular pruning, plantations yield profitable 

 crops for ten to twenty years. In the Southern sections, and 

 on sandy soils — unfavorable conditions of soil and climate — 

 their life is much less. The grower may expect 100 to 150 

 bushels per acre from gooseberries, and higher yields in the 

 best years. Yields of currants are rather less and are often 

 more variable. 



The plants need no winter protection. However, in sec- 

 tions subject to continuous drying winds, a windbreak is de- 

 sirable. In regions of heavy snowfall, tie the canes together 

 in an erect position in the fall so that the snow may not force 

 them into a prostrate position, inconvenient for tillage and 

 picking. 



