THE GARDENING WORLD. 
October 31, 1908, 
691 
MANUAL 
HORTICULTURE 
plantation at the earliest opportunity. If 
you can get suckers of the Raspberries, 
have them planted during November. In 
the meantime a piece of ground should be 
trenched, manured and made ready for 
them. Yo<u could make a plantation of 
Strawberries in spring, but you could not 
sxpect a crop from them in the following 
summer. Use runners only for making the 
fresh plantation. If you cannot get good, 
well-rooted runners the best plan would be 
to secure them in the forthcoming summer 
ind have the plantation made in August or 
September. 
3341. Gooseberries Trailing on the 
Ground. 
I have some bushes of Gooseberries with 
their branches tco close to the ground. 
They bear fairly well, but the berries get 
badly splashed with mud during heavy 
rains. What is the best way to treat this? 
(T. Ford, Kent.) 
Some varieties of Gooseberries are more 
[inclined to trail on the ground than others. 
If the cultivator understands the method of 
pruning, he can, however, overcome the dif¬ 
ficulty. After the leaves have fallen, go 
Aver the Gooseberries and cut off all those 
branches which are trailing on the ground. 
Cut them at a point where a side branch is 
jpointing upwards and by that means vcu 
will get the bushes to stand clear of the 
.ground. When shortening the leading 
?hoots of these drooping Gooseberries always 
'ut to a bud that is pointing upwards and 
he shoot produced from it will rise up for 
t time and only begin to arch down again 
is it gets to some length. At the winter 
oruning this can be again shortened to a 
Oud pointing upwards. 
3342. Single-Stemmed Gooseberries. 
I wish to grow some single-stemmed 
Gooseberries to cover a trellis I intend to 
make. I have some young bushes, but they 
are a bad shape for this trellis. They have 
four or five straggling shoots drooping very 
much at the points. Do you think they can 
be grown in this fashion, and, if so, how 
is it done? (W. Beach, Wilts.) 
If any of the shoots are suitably placed 
and strong enough to make a leader, all you 
have got to do is to tie this up straight and 
shorten it to make sure of getting a strong 
shoot next year to continue the leader. 
Shortening also encourages the development 
of spurs upon the portion left. All the 
other weak or straggling shoots can be cut 
away. Indeed, if none of these shoots are 
good enough to make a leader, you should 
cut them all back to one bud at the base and 
keep an eye upon the strongest shoot that 
arises next spring. When you can see which 
is going to be the best leader, pinch the 
others back and let the main leader grow 
to the end of the season before shortening it 
back. The portion left should never be 
longer than i ft., and if 8 in. or 9 in. that 
would even be better, as it encourages the 
production of spurs. 
3343. Pears Spotting and Cracking. 
Can you tell me why the fruits of a cer¬ 
tain tree in my garden get blotched and 
cracked every year about September and Oc¬ 
tober ? They Took very unsightly and lose 
greatlv when being paxed for cooking. 
(G. T' TV., Norfolk.) 
Your trees have, no doubt, been attacked 
with Pear scab, caused by a fungus named 
Cladosporium pyrinum. This has to be com¬ 
bated by the use of Bordeaux mixture duriiTg 
the summer season. The fungus attacks the 
young fruit, leaves arud shoots, and as the 
fungus lives through the winter in the young 
shoots, the same trees get attacked with this 
disease year after year unless checked by 
spraying. The first application should be 
given soon after the petals have fallen, be¬ 
cause, if the fruits are attacked then, they 
cannot get to any size. The cracking and 
blotching is due to the fruits being attacked 
later in the season while half-grown or 
thereby. The skin gets injured at this 
period, and later on, when the fruits could 
take the second swelling, the injured skin 
cannot extend, and consequently cracks. It 
will, therefore, be necessary to spray your 
trees at intervals up to the end of July at 
least. In dry weather once a fortnight 
would be often enough, but if wet weather 
comes, the application would have to be 
given more frequently as the rain washes it 
a wav. 
SOiLS AND MANURES . 
3344. Artificial Manure. 
Would you kindly inform me the most 
suitable artificial manure for all garden 
produce, such as Potatos, Peas, Beans, 
Onions, Cabbages, etc. ? When and how 
shall I use it ? My ground is of a heavy 
nature and has not been previously manured, 
it having been newly broken down about 
three years ago. ('Constant Reader, Abing- 
don-on-Thames.) 
It is net our province to recommend any 
special artificial manure, but you will find 
in last week’s Gardening World the names 
of several first-class and reliable manure 
merchants who would supply you with a 
