296 
THE GOOSEBERRY 
For the gooseberry, regular and pretty liberal pruning is ab- 
solutely necessary. Of course no suckers should be allowed 
to grow. In November the winter pruning should be perform- 
ed. The leaves now being off it is easy to see what proportion 
of the new as well as old wood may be taken away; and we will 
here remark that it is quite impossible to obtain fine gooseber- 
ries here, or any where, without a very thorough thinning out 
of the branches. As a general rule, it may safely be said that 
one half of the head, including old and young branches (more 
especially the former, as the best fruit is borne on the young 
wood,) should now be taken out, leaving a proper distribution of 
shoots throughout the bush, the head being sufficiently thinned 
to admit freely the light and air. An additional pruning is, 
in England, performed in June, which consists in stopping 
the growth of long shoots by pinching out the extremities, and 
thinning out superfluous branches ; but if the annual pruning 
is properly performed, this will not be found necessary, except 
to obtain fruit of extraordinary size. 
The crop should always be well thinned when the berries are 
about a quarter grown. The gooseberry is scarcely subject to 
any disease or insect in this 'country. The mildew , which 
attacks the half grown fruit, is the great pest of those who are 
unacquainted with its culture. In order to prevent this, it is only 
necessary — 1st, to root up and destroy all inferior kinds subject 
to mildew ; 2nd, to procure from any of the nurseries some of 
the best and hardiest Lancashire varieties ; 3rd, to keep them 
well manured, and very thoroughly pruned every year. 
We do not think this fruit shrub can be said to bear well for 
more than a half dozen years successively. After that the fruit 
becomes inferior and requires more care in cultivation. A suc- 
cession of young plants should, therefore, be kept up by striking 
some cuttings every season. 
Varieties. — The number of these is almost endless, new 
ones being produced by the prize growers every year. The last 
edition of the London Horticultural Society’s Catalogue enume- 
rates 149 sorts considered worthy of notice, and Lindley’s Guide 
to the Orchard, gives a list of more than seven hundred prize 
sorts. It is almost needless to say that many of these very 
closely resemble each other, and that a small number of them 
will comprise all the most valuable. 
The sorts bearing fruit of medium size are generally more 
highly flavoured than the very large ones. We have selected a 
sufficient number of the most valuable for all practical purposes. 
I. Red Gooseberries. 
Boardman’s British Crown. Fruit very large, roundish, 
hairy, handsome and gocd. Branches spreading. 
