622 
August 1*?, 
NOTES FROM THE RURAL GROUNDS 
More Hybrid Gooseberries —Many 
seedlings of promising native gooseberry 
species have been raised on the Rural 
Grounds during the last 12 years. Hy¬ 
bridizations have been effected in some 
instances for the fourth successive gen¬ 
eration between the eastern smooth 
gooseberry, Ribes oxyacanthoides, the 
western or prairie species, R. gracile, 
the eastern prickly gooseberry, R. Cynos- 
bati, the round-leaved gooseberry, R. ro- 
tundifolium, also of the East, together, 
and with many selected varieties of the 
European species R. Grossularia. The 
main effort has been to approach the size 
of berry of the best European kinds and 
retain as far as possible the better qual¬ 
ity and more resistant foliage of the na¬ 
tives. The results up to date are highly 
encouraging and there is reasonable ex¬ 
pectation of further useful development 
as new combinations are made. Two 
factors now unite to make the produc¬ 
tion of large-fruited American gooseber¬ 
ries especially desirable; the ravages of 
San Jose scale have rendered the culture 
of currants in this country expensive and 
uncertain, thus turning attention to the 
almost immune gooseberry, while the 
spread of American mildew, to which 
our native kinds have always been accus¬ 
tomed, throughout northern Europe will 
surely create a demand for resistant va¬ 
rieties of otherwise desirable character¬ 
istics. We illustrated promising hybrids 
of Ribes oxyacanthoides and R. Cynos- 
bati in The R. N.-Y. for August 12, 
1905. On pages 618 and 619 we present in 
Figs. 307 and 308, what we believe to be 
the first hybrid of R. rotundifolium, and 
both typical and hybrid berries of R. 
gracile. Both hybrids are strong grow¬ 
ers, with dark, tough foliage, enduring 
our hottest suns without the slightest in¬ 
jury, and are highly productive. Both 
began bearing the second year from the 
seed and crop better each successive sea¬ 
son. In both instances the fruits are 
shown in natural size. The berries of 
the Rotundifolium hybrid are pea-green 
in color when ripe, thin-skinned and 
small-seeded. They are quite pulpy and 
have a sweet, pleasant flavor, so nearly 
free from acidity that they need very lit¬ 
tle sugar when cooked. When thorough¬ 
ly ripened they are veritable little honey 
balls in quality. All that appears lacking 
is size of berry, and if gained this will 
probably be at the sacrifice of some of 
its other attractive features. The bush 
is compact and somewhat drooping in 
growth. It was produced by repeatedly 
crossing a wild Rotundifolium from 
North Carolina with Keepsake, a Euro¬ 
pean variety. In the Ribes gracile or 
prairie gooseberry hybrid, Fig. 307, we 
appear to have gained a variety of im¬ 
mediate practical value. In its make-up 
there is wild R. gracile from Iowa, 
Houghton, Triumph and Lancashire Lad, 
the last two of the European class. The 
growth is upright and exceedingly vigor¬ 
ous, shoots rising four feet high in a 
season. The leaves are thicker and more 
leathery than in any other kind we have 
seen and have never been affected by 
sun-scald or disease, remaining deep 
green until frosts, when they change to 
scarlet, like the wild type. The berries 
are generally borne in pairs on long 
stems, making them very easy to pick, 
are of good size, as shown; deep red 
when ripe, perfectly smooth, with thin, 
tough skin and small seeds. The quality 
we regard as very high, sweet, rich and 
vinous, better for dessert purposes than 
any foreign or native variety we are 
acquainted with and excellent when 
stewed or canned. As the parent wild 
species naturally grows throughout the 
Middle West, from Michigan, Tennessee 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
and Texas to the Rocky Mountains, the 
hybrid would appear likely to succeed 
where the cultivation of standard varie¬ 
ties usually gives little satisfaction. 'J he 
wild forms of Ribes gracile are very 
prickly and the berries, dark purple and 
of fair flavor when ripe, are sparingly 
borne. Breeding has not only greatly in¬ 
creased the size of the fruits and given 
them far higher quality, but has enor¬ 
mously increased the productiveness 
while greatly diminishing the thorns, 
which on the bearing wood are few and 
not very sharp. Young shoots are cov¬ 
ered with fine prickles that fall away the 
second year. 
Hyrbids of Ribes Cynosbati. —Many 
crosses have been made between Ribes 
Cynosbati, which naturally bear spiny 
berries of good size and quality, and the 
best native and foreign kinds. There is 
little difficulty in securing large-fruited, 
cross-bred seedlings of excellent flavor, 
but the spininess, always an undesirable 
feature, is usually much emphasized. 
Some of the hybrids have berries about 
as comfortable in the mouth as a minia¬ 
ture chestnut burr. When the cross is 
made with European gooseberries, which 
also have a strong tendency toward 
spines, the progeny is almost certain to 
be rough in berry, though we have been 
favored with one seedling quite free 
from this blemish, yet retaining size, 
productiveness and fine quality. The 
Cynosbati type of berry has thicker skin 
and larger seeds than varieties bred from 
other native species, and the quality when 
fresh is less distinctive, though very 
agreeable. They ripen later, continuing 
the gooseberry season well into August, 
and on account of the long stems are 
easily picked. The bushes are healthy, 
though rather slow growers, and the fo¬ 
liage is quite tolerant of hot sunlight. 
Productiveness greatly increases with 
age. The especial value of Cynosbati 
hybrids, aside from their late ripening, 
appears to be for jelly-making, and for 
this purpose the spiny-fruited kinds are 
equal to the smooth ones. The jelly is 
firm, rich and high-flavored, there ap¬ 
pearing abundance of pectin in the thick 
skin, with its spiny processes. As fruit 
jelly is rather an important article of 
diet, we may imagine Cynosbati hybrids 
commercially grown for the purpose in 
future years. Gooseberries of native- 
origin are so easily grown and so su¬ 
perior in quality that they will be in¬ 
creasingly grown as currant culture di¬ 
minishes. 
Uses of Gooseberries —As a dessert 
fruit the gooseberry is almost unknown 
in this country, though for centuries al¬ 
most the most important small fruit of 
northern Europe. Thousands of Ameri¬ 
cans have probably never tasted a really 
ripe gooseberry. It is almost universally 
known and used in the acrid, immature 
state when the flavor, raw or cooked, is 
little better than rhubarb. A basket of 
ripe gooseberries in market would be a 
curiosity. This premature use of one of 
the most delicious of garden fruits is 
surely the direct cause of its limited con¬ 
sumption and the relatively slight interest 
taken in it. Nothing can be more agree¬ 
able and satisfying than ripe and well- 
flavored gooseberries eaten in the garden 
or at table. It is one of the very few 
fruits' to be eaten without sugar, as the 
flavor is perfect in itself. The taste for 
ripe gooseberries increases with indul¬ 
gence and we find them displacing other 
seasonable fruits for home use. For 
culinary purposes the mature or nearly 
mature berry is so obviously superior to 
the rankly acid green ones that we won¬ 
der why the latter are ever used at all. 
Of course, it is not possible to induce 
people who actually prefer green grapes 
to ripe ones to change their views, and 
the same may be true regarding users of 
unripe gooseberries, but it may be said 
to those who have never tried fully de¬ 
veloped gooseberries that they may be 
cooked or preserved in every style pos¬ 
sible with the green berry with infinitely 
better results and far greater economy in 
GET THE BEST 
the amount used of sweetening material. 
Rankly green grapes may make more de¬ 
sirable jelly than ripe ones, but this is 
distinctly not the case with gooseberries. 
_ w. v. F. 
Crude Oil For Road Sprinkling. 
O. IF.. Ossining, IV. Y .—Could you tell 
me how far a barrel of crude oil would go 
on a 25-foot wide road for sprinkling, also 
the price of same? We intend to give this 
a trial to lay the dust, which is raised terri¬ 
bly by the passing automobiles in front of 
our place. 
Ans. —You should send to the office of 
Public Roads, Agricultural Department, 
Washington, for a bulletin. The amount 
of oil required varies with the kind of 
road, the soil and the amount of use. It 
runs all the way from three pints to three 
quarts to a square yard. 
Cement Cuib For Well. 
A. P. IF., Jacksonville, Fla .—I wish to 
make cement curbing for well about 60 feet 
deep. I wish to make it in two-foot sec¬ 
tions and slip in well as we dig, as banks 
are sandy and will not stand. ell is four 
feet in diameter. How thick should cement 
be to stand the pressure of banks and its 
own weight? Would two inches thick be 
enough? The well is round and I expect to 
make molds to hold it while setting. I 
have all coarse sand and gravel at baud that 
I shall need. What proportion of each, 
sand and cement, should I use? Gravel size 
of hen's eggs down to coarse sand. Which 
is best to use, coarse, medium or fine? 
Ans. —I should say these cement walls 
should be not less than three inches in 
thickness. They should also be reinforced 
to permit safe handling. Use a No. 10 wire 
laid in the center of the wall, about one 
foot apart. The small gravel will be pre¬ 
ferable in this thin wall mixed with coarse 
sand. Beware of fine sand; it usually con¬ 
tains clay and weakens the job. A very 
safe mixture for this class of work is 1- 
2>4-5; that is, one of Portland cement, 
two and one-half of sand and five of 
gravel. Be sure to mix the sand and ce¬ 
ment thoroughly before wetting; then add 
water until of a plastic condition, then 
mix in the gravel, first sprinkling with 
water. Sheet steel makes a very satisfac¬ 
tory form; use thin stovepipe iron for the 
outside and heavy iron inside; the inside 
torm can be braced from a post in the 
center or braced from segment scantling. 
_ H. E. cook. 
“But wouldn’t you like to live your 
life over again?” “Not so as you could 
notice it. I’ve got a 20-year insurance 
policy coming due next week.”—Judge. 
A Good Spray Pump earns big 
profits and lasts for years. 
THE ECLIPSE 
is a good pump. As 
tpractical fruit growers 
we were using common 
sprayers in our own orchards 
-—found their defects and 
invented the Eclipse. Its 
success forced us to manu¬ 
facturing on a large scale. 
You take no chances. We 
have done all the experi¬ 
menting. Large fully illustrated Catalog and 
Treatise on spraying FREE. 
MDPDll I * MrtPi F.V. Renton Harbor. Mich. 
s* Save Your Trees 
Kill San .lose Scale and other destructive | 
parasites with a spraying solution of 
Good’s nMr Soap No. 3 
Sure death to insects. No sulphur, salt, mineral 
oils, or any substance harmful to plant life. En¬ 
dorsed by U.S. Dept.of Agriculture. Pocket Manual 
of cause, treatment and cure of troe diseases, free. 
Write today. JAMES GOOD, 
Original Maker. 1)45 N. Front St., Philadelphia- 
CALDWELL TANKS 
an superior to ordinary kind as day to night. Best 
Cvpress used, best construction, making them Im¬ 
perishable and lasting. No leaks, repairs or other 
annoyances. Also make steel towers, strong as 
bridge construction. Used everywhere by every¬ 
body, many farmers and stockmen. Write for 
Illustrated catalogue and photos. 
VT. E. CALDWELL CO., Louisville, Ky. 
Tanks (Galvanried 1 ) Tower8 
Wind Mills, Bumps, Gas Engines. 
Monarch 
Hydraulic 
Cider Press 
Great strength and ca¬ 
pacity; all sizes; also 
gasoline engines, 
steam engines, 
saw mills, thresh¬ 
ers. Catalog free. 
MACHINERY 
I 
ft M Best and cheapest, 
Send for catalogue 
BOOMER & BOSCHERT 
PRESS CO., 
118 West Watcr St. , 
Sl'UitT’SE, N- Y. 
CIDER 
JUICE 
'MORE 
GOOD 
can bo made from a given amount 
apples or grapes with one of our 
presses than with any other, 
The juice will be purer and 
bring higher prices, while 
the extra yield soon pays 
for the press. We make 
Power 
Presses 
in all sizes, hand or pow¬ 
er. 25 to 600 barrels 
Also Steam Eva 
pie-butter 
guaranteed. Catalog 
The Hydraulic Press Mfg. Co.' 
SIMain Street, Ml. Gilead, Ohio . 
L ’ or Boom 124 Li, 39 Cortland St, 
HYDRAULIC 
GRAPE 
New York, N. V. 
HERE’S A MONEY MAKER 
iXWEUSjFiTI 
PORTABU 
SolineEnoii 
- 
«OME,N,Y, 
10 Horse Power Two Cylinder 
15 Horse Power Two Cylinder 
Catalogue “A” FREE 
Reliable 
Simple 
Safe 
Steel X Beam Trucks. Adjustable Speed. Water Circulating Pump. 
Friction Clutch Pulley. Easy to Start. Easy to Move. No Vibration 
THE MAXWELL & FITCH CO., Rome,N.Y. 
TheSTODDARD IDEAL 
1-5 H. P. Gasoline Engine. 
0 £3 0 
The IDEAL power for light farm work. Fitted 
with 4 inch or 6 inch friction clutch pulley for 
running hand separators. Futher information and 
prices given by request. Agents wanted. 
STODDARD MFG. CO., Rutland, Vt. 
