1882.] 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



lOl 



GOOSEBERRY CULTURE. 



To an American, one of the most remark- 

 able sights in Covent Garden Market, Lon- 

 don, is the immense quantity and superior 

 excellence of the Gooseberry, when in the 

 height of its season. Our American markets, 

 on the contrary, are very deficient in even a 

 fair supply of this fruit, as the poor little tart- 

 berries offered for sale are of no account for 

 the table, and very little for cooking, unless 

 one purchases his sugar by the barrel. It 

 seems as if here was one of the most praise- 

 worthy fields for the hy- 

 bridizer to test his skill, 

 — to raise a variety com- 

 bining the size and qual- 

 ity of that noted English 

 fruit, the " Crown Bob," 

 and the hardiness and 

 freedom from mildew of 

 the American seedling. 



Although several years 

 have passed since Mr. 

 Charles Downing intro- 

 duced his fine seedling, 

 which has since been 

 named in his honor the 

 Downing, it is compara- 

 tively little known as yet, 

 notwithstanding its mer- 

 its are of a high order. 

 We know of one grower, 

 who has already a large 

 plantation of this variety, 

 that last season netted a 

 nice little percentage on 

 his investment, and from 

 which he expects the pres- 

 ent summer a large pay- 

 ing crop. Even the com 

 mon American Cluster will 

 pay a fair profit when 

 grown under a generous 

 system of cultivation and 

 not totally neglected, as 

 is too often the case. 



As regards propagation, 

 in the case of the last- 

 named variety, all that is 

 necessary is to cut the 

 young shoots after matur- 

 ity into suitable lengths, 

 say six inches long, tie 

 them into bundles, and 

 bury in sand until spring, 

 keeping them in a cool 

 cellar. This is prefer- 

 able to burying them out- 

 doors, for the reason that 

 the frost will occasion- 

 ally raise them out of the 

 soil or induce rot. In 

 planting, all that is neces- 

 sary is to open a trench 

 sufficiently deep to al- 

 low the cutting to stand 

 erect, and have its topmost bud level with 

 the surface. The only secret about the whole 

 work is to tamp the soil firm at the bottom, 

 and negligence in this respect causes more 

 failures than all else. 



Unfortunately, the Downing does not emit 

 roots easily from cuttings, so that to procure 

 a supply of young plants we are obliged to 

 resort to layers. This, however, is not a 

 tedious operation, as the many young shoots 

 on the outer edge of old clumps are simply 

 pegged down to the ground, and all but the 

 tips covered with soil, and tamped hard. In 



one season, or at most two, they will be suf- 

 ficiently rooted to remove from the parent 

 plant and set out into rows. 



It is absolutely useless to even suggest a 

 remedy for that bane of English Gooseberry 

 culture in this country — the Mildew. Occa- 

 sionally we enjoy a propitious season and 

 gather a few fine berries, but the exception 

 does not pay for the trouble. The fact is, 

 our climate does not suit them, and, although 

 applications of potash, lime, salt, etc., may 

 for a short time, and with young plants, 



fruit, the producer of a first-class article can 

 always dispose of it, even when the market 

 is glutted. 



The bushes should be severely thinned out 

 each spring, and luxuriant shoots headed 

 back, to preserve a compact, well-balanced 

 head, otherwise they are very prone to grow 

 dense and form much unnecessary wood. 



As to the cost of starting a plantation of 

 this fruit, an acre of plants, set 4 by 4 feet 

 apart, which is none too much, we will 

 need 2,722 sets, worth to-day about as fol- 

 lows, at the lowest 

 wholesale rates : Ameri- 

 can Seedling — at $30 

 per 1,000, and Downing, 

 $45 or $50 per 1,000 — 

 fluctuating, of course, ac- 

 cording to the demand 

 and supply. For the first 

 year or two the interven- 

 ing ground can be cropped 

 with Cabbages, Potatoes, 

 or Tomatoes, and the yield 

 will abundantly repay for 

 the cultivation of the 

 Gooseberries. 



In conclusion, we would 

 suggest to those who 

 imagine the Gooseberry 

 fit only for making tarts, 

 that they have certainly 

 never tasted a well-ripen- 

 ed, mature fruit, juicy and 

 deliciously flavored, such 

 as can be and have been 

 grown under a generous 

 system of cultivation. 

 The expense is trilling 

 and the reward sure. 



Josiah Hoopes. 



THE DOWNING GOOSEBERRY. 



prove useful, still it is only a delusive hope, 

 after all. 



Gooseberries delight in a deep, rich soil 

 and thorough cultivation. They demand an 

 annual application of manure and 'to be kept 

 free from weeds. If the fruit is thinned, the 

 remaining crop will be greatly increased in 

 size and quality, and of course command a 

 more remunerative price in market. To the 

 prevailing slip-shod system of culture we 

 attribute the absence of good fruit offered 

 for sale and the consequent apathy of pur- 

 chasers; and in this, as in all other kinds of 



MANCHESTER VERSUS 

 HOVEY, 



"Why, the Manchester 

 is of better flavor than 

 the Hovey!" That was 

 a most unfortunate re- 

 mark which some one 

 made in Mr. Battey's 

 Strawberry field last 

 year, for straightway 

 those who know that 

 there never was nor ever 

 can bo anything better 

 than the Hovey insisted 

 that it was nothing but 

 that old, time - honored 

 variety, without even see- 

 ing or tasting it. 



True, the Manchester 

 is, like the Hovey, a 

 pistillate variety, but 

 otherwise they are about 

 as dissimilar as two Strawberries can well 

 be. The Hovey is conical, with neck dark, 

 glossy crimson, bearing but one or rarely 

 more than two trusses to the stool, while 

 the Manchester is round, closely set, light 

 red without gloss, and the plants throw up 

 from six to a dozen and more fruit stalks. 

 Still more, it is well known that the Hovey 

 requires the highest culture and rich, heavy 

 soil, while the Manchester thrives splendidly 

 and bears profusely in the barren sands of 

 New Jersey, where even the Wilson makes 

 but a feeble growth. 



