1874. 3 
NEW GOOSEBERRIES. 
31 
good long rod on tlio young Vino ; and so in many cases may we trace the 
commencement of their ‘^road to ruin.” 
In the Spur system of training it is of paramount importance that all the 
permanent spurs formed should be of equal strength. So in the pruning or 
shortening of the main stem, the point to bo kept in view is the ability or 
power of the plant to form good shoots from all the buds left. It should be 
pruned to this point, neither longer nor shorter, so that a good strong shoot may 
be produced from each bud that is retained. If we leave a long rod, say of ten 
or twelve buds, the four or five top buds will break or push strongly, and the lower 
portion very weakly, or not at all; and the result will be a Vine full of blanks, 
unsightly and unfruitful. Had this been pruned to one-half the length, all the 
buds would have broken or put forth shoots of equal strength, regularity, and 
fruitfulness. It is difficult to define exactly the length of rod to be left. A 
healthy plant with a stem, say the thickness of one’s thumb or finger, may be 
allowed some 4 ft. or 5 ft. of new stem, or even more. It is better, however, to 
err on the side of severity in pruning the main stems of Vines than the reverse. 
The one is overcome in a few seasons ; the other is a permanent loss and dis¬ 
figurement to the plant.—A. F. Barron, Chiswick. 
NEW GOOSEBERKIES. 
HE following descriptions, by Mr. Leicester, of the new Gooseberries figured 
in our last number, reached us too lato for publication with the plate; 
it will be seen that the original weights as seedlings exceed what has 
since been reached, no doubt -owing to the immaturity of the plants :— 
Lord Derby (Bradley).—Skin hairy; colour light red, shaded and mottled 
with deep red; flavour very fine ; berry long and well shouldered, with plump, 
nicely-rounded nose, the two-veined ones being a little flat-sided towards the stalk 
on the vein sides, and the three-veined ones longer and rounder. It makes short- 
jointed wood of medium strength, forms a fine spreading bush, and bears freely. 
This is a seedling exhibited by Mr. Bradley Bradley, of Wilmslow, at the 
National Gooseberry Show, held at the Sir John Falstaff Inn, Market Place, 
Manchester, on August 6, 1870. On this occasion, the following prizes were 
awarded to this variety, viz. :—First prize in Seedling show, for the best Bed 
Seedling, weighing 28 dwt. 1 gr. ; first steward prize, shown against named 
varieties, weighing 28 dwt. 1 gr.; third prize in class, showing against named 
varieties, weighing 26 dwt. 10 gr. ; and first prize, for a plate of twelve fine- 
flavoured red Gooseberries, it being tested against the best fine-flavoured kinds 
in cultivation, all the twelve berries being beautifully coloured and very fine, 
averaging more than 24 dwt. each. It was let out on the second Saturday in 
October, 1870, at the George Inn, Wilmslow, in twenty-one lots at 10s. 6d. each. 
The plants being young and very small, this variety is not at present in general 
cultivation, the whole of the lots being purchased by gooseberry-growers, who, I 
may say, endeavour to grow them into fine plants for exhibition purposes, rather 
