GOOSEBERRIES

Gooseberries do quite well anywhere, but they do better on an 'open* soil, by which I mean fairly gritty. Therefore it will pay to dig in some moisture-holding material such as compost and, if possible, some gravel or shingle if the soil is inclined to be heavy. A light, sandy soil will need only the addition of compost.

A generous mulch during the early growing season will be of special benefit, as will fortnightly feeding with liquid manure. Plant any time between the begin­ning of October and mid-March. During a warm spell in February is the latest I, myself, would leave the planting of gooseberries.

Take out a hole to the depth of twelve or fifteen inches and about two feet across and put in a four-inch layer of compost and a shovelful of lightening material if the soil is heavy.

Spread out the roots and shovel sifted soil over them in four-inch layers. Tread each layer, but do not put more than your normal weight on it. A little compost may be mixed with the top soil if you have enough of it.

When all the soil has been returned, tread it firm but do not be tempted to stamp. The need for firm planting cannot be over-emphasized as the death of young trees and bushes is usually traceable to insecure planting.

The best results are obtained from a sunny position, but gooseberries do well in the shade provided they get some direct sunshine. The more sun they get the better will be their color and flavor.

For wine-making, gooseberries are usually picked unripe, while they still retain that tartness that makes us screw up our eyes; this tartness is not found in the finished wine.

Pruning

Many people neglect this important task in the belief that the bigger the bush the bigger the crop. The opposite is the truth. An overgrown bush appears to produce more fruit - in fact it produces an abundance of inferior crop. Weight for weight, a well-groomed bush will produce nearly twice as much as a neglected one.

Pruning must be done with the idea of keeping the bush as open as possible in the middle; this will allow sun and air to get to the fruit. Fruit is produced on one-year-old wood; the whole idea then must be to cut back old growths so that the bushes produce plenty of new wood. Note the growths that have borne fruit and cut these back so that the wood produced whilst the fruit was growing is left to bear the next year's crop.

Prune back to a bud pointing away from the middle of the bush and prune in October or November.

Varieties (Reds): lord derby has a good flavor; Lanca­shire lad is a favorite with the trade and is a good all-round variety; whinham's industry is the best-flavored red, and does quite well in the shade.

Whites: whitesmith is a vigorous grower which crops heavily and has a very good flavor - probably the best white.

Greens: langley gage, small fruits of excellent flavor. lancer is a late variety, one of the best all-round sorts with a very good flavor, keepsake is a well-flavored large fruit.

Yellows: leveller is the heaviest cropping yellow -quite one of the best; golden drop is a good one if you like sweet gooseberries. This variety is rather sub½ect to attacks by mildew. Greens are best for wine-making, though many people like the wines made from yellows and whites. The reds often make a good imitation of sherry.

American gooseberry mildew may not attack the bushes at all, but if it does it usually appears in May. It is a grey-white cobweb-like film that clings to the leaves ana fruits. Later it becomes 'mealy' and spreads to other bushes. Another type covers the fruit and young shoots with a felt-like, brownish substance. If these troubles arise, make up a wash consisting of three-quarters of a pound of washing soda, half a pound of soft soap and five gallons of water. Spray the bushes with this at 10- to 12-day intervals, beginning when the fruits have set. Three sprayings should be enough.

Gooseberry and Currant Sawfly may make their appearance and lay eggs from which small green cater­pillars emerge. These eat the leaves so rapidly that if they are not controlled they may completely defoliate the bushes. The result is that the fruit drops off and growth of new wood is halted.

Much can be done by looking to the undersides of the leaves as soon as they are fully open; any with clutches of yellow eggs on them should be pinched off and burnt.

Poison washes should be used with care owing to the risk of poisoning the fruit. Spraying with derris is most effective if carried out early.

Greenfly sometimes attacks gooseberry bushes; a reliable brand of aphicide sprayed on the bushes will soon take care of them.

BLACKBERRIES

There are many Continental and British varieties of blackberry in cultivation in this country - and all make wine to suit various tastes. But the best blackberry port and burgundy is made from the wild blackberry gathered from the hedgerows of the countryside. If you have a bit of ground to spare at the end of the garden -say six feet wide and running the width of the garden - there is ample room for wild blackberries to grow well and produce several pickings of these delicious fruits each season.

Blackberry bushes crop up in the oddest places, and all those interested should be on the look-out for them on derelict building sites and waste ground, etc. Care­fully lifted in late summer or early autumn - or early winter if the fruiting season has been late - they may be transplanted with ease.

If they happen to be bulky and difficult to carry off, cut them back ruthlessly and bring away the roots with a few three- or four-inch stems attached.

Wild blackberries will grow anywhere and require no attention apart from occasional thinning out of old wood and the shortening of long growths so that they do not take up more space than can be spared for them. A trip to the countryside during late September will enable you to find all the plants you want - you need only two, or three at the most.

The soil beneath them need not be kept clear of grass; indeed, I have picked the best blackberries ever from the edges of fields where the grass grew to the height of two feet and more. Wild blackberries will ripen sooner or later without much sun.

Cultivated Varieties, Himalayan giant crops heavily and has a good flavor.

Edward Langley crops early and well and also has a good flavor.

The parsley-leaved or cut-leaved varieties crop well with large shiny fruits of good flavor.

Cultivated blackberries must be grown in the same fashion as loganberries and like a similar soil.

Like loganberries, they are singularly free of any serious pests and diseases, though they are sometimes attacked by the maggot of the Raspberry Beetle (see Raspberries, p. 200).

LOGANBERRIES

Named after the American Judge Logan, who is the first recorded as having raised the fruit as we know it today. Loganberries must be trained along wires against a wall or fence or in the open garden. A sunny position is best, of course, but they do quite well with a few hours' sunshine each day provided they are not allowed to become overcrowded. Pinching off a few leaves so that the fruits are exposed to light and air will assist ripening if we do this when the fruits are of good size and nearing maturity.

Fruit is produced on the canes grown the previous years; therefore the canes that have borne fruit are cut down to within an inch of the soil in the autumn and the canes that have been growing up throughout the season are tied in against the wires.

Planting

Plant before Christmas if possible, but in any case not later than a mild spell in February. Take out the soil to a depth of twelve to fifteen inches and about two feet across. Put in a generous layer of compost, or rotted manure if this is available. Return some of the soil and firm this by gentle treading. Rest the plant on this and carefully spread fine soil over the roots; lift the plant up and down to allow the soil to filter between the roots. Firm each layer by gentle treading. Tie in the canes firmly at planting time.

A mulch during April and May will help towards a heavy crop and strong new growth.

Loganberries are usually free from any serious pest or diseases, but they are sometimes attacked by the maggot of the Raspberry Beetle (see Raspberries, p.200).

BLACKCURRANTS

The best blackcurrants are those grown under ideal conditions, of course; but I have made excellent 'ports' and burgundies from fruits far below top quality.

Blackcurrants like a sunny position and a soil con­taining plenty of humus. If manure is available so much the better; if not, use compost.

Dig a hole wide and deep enough to accommodate all the roots. Put in a generous layer of compost or manure and then return about six inches of the soil. Firm this by treading, then stand the bush upon this and spread out the roots. Return the soil a little at a time and tread each layer to firm the roots.

A mulch of manure or compost in the spring, and generous feeding throughout the growing season, will help enormously towards a heavy crop and strong, healthy growth for subsequent years' fruiting. The bushes should be allowed four feet each way.

Plant between November and March. A mild spell in February is the latest that I myself would leave the planting of blackcurrants.

Pruning is usually carried out in the autumn, but usually I prune my bushes as soon as the fruit have been gathered and again in the spring if there is any suggestion of the bushes becoming overcrowded in the centre. Fruit bushes are rarely kept sufficiently 'open' in the centre. Pruning should be carried out with this idea in mind and also to make the bush produce as much new wood as possible.

Fruit is produced on wood that grows whilst the bush is developing fruit - that is, the wood grown this year will bear next year's fruit. Our aim then must be to cut out the wood that has borne fruit, leaving the wood that grew during the season to bear next year's fruit. New growth is easy to detect, and the beginner will be able to decide which pieces to cut out and which to leave.

Always cut back to a bud, and cut clean. If you happen to damage a bud, cut back to the next one and be more careful this time. This sort of damage may result in the whole branch dying back.

Look to the bushes during winter; if you notice that some of the buds are swollen and rounded instead of being the same shape and size as the rest of them, pinch them off and burn them. This is known as Big-Bud. The buds are swollen by the mites inside them. When the buds open in spring the mites emerge and do irreparable damage; the leaves are eaten and the crop is small.

It is best to spray the bushes with a proprietary brand of insecticide as soon as the leaves are open and again a week later.

Varieties. Good all-round varieties that crop well and make good wines are boskoop giant, Seabrook’s black,

and SEPTEMBER BLACK.

RED- AND WHITECURRANTS

Preparation of the soil, the most suitable position, and the distance between bushes are the same as for black­currants. But whereas with blackcurrants we prune with the idea of making the bushes produce as much new wood as possible, the pruning of red and whitecurrants is aimed at achieving almost the reverse.

The best plan is to encourage these bushes to produce seven or eight main branches. The new, lateral growths - those growing outwards from the main branches - are cut back during the autumn so as to leave four or five buds on each.

Strong new branches growing from the trunk should be encouraged so that older main branches can be cut out when they get a bit too old. If new branches have formed there will be no loss of productivity. The leaders, or main branches (those bearing the laterals) should be cut back by from one-third to one-half in the autumn.

Always make a clean cut back to a bud growing away from the centre of the bush. Cut out dead wood.

Pruning should not be delayed later than late October.

Red- and Whitecurrants are sometimes sub½ect to the same pests and diseases as blackcurrants.

Varieties: The best white is white versaillaise. dutch red is an excellent red which crops regularly and heavily. The variety I grow myself is laxton's no. i, the best redcurrant of all. It may be relied upon to grow freely and crop heavily each season with quite enormous bunches of fruits of good color and flavor, and the individual fruits are large.

RASPBERRIES

Raspberries will do well almost anywhere provided the soil is prepared well and they get a little sunshine from time to time. They do quite well close to tall trees. Raspberries must be grown against wires attached to stakes at both ends of the rows. If the row is a long one the stakes should be set at six-foot intervals. This will prevent sagging and possible damage to the canes. Raspberries may also be grown against a wall or fence that gets some sun.

It is best to dig a trench about fifteen inches deep and wide and into this put a generous layer of compost or manure. Return all the soil and firm by gentle treading.

If large clumps of roots are being put in, take out a hole deep enough and large enough all round to accom­modate all the roots.

Plant carefully, spreading out the roots. Return the soil a little at a time and firm each layer by gentle treading.

Plant these large clumps about eighteen inches to two feet apart.

If one-year-old canes are being planted, put them in groups of three at nine-inch intervals. They may be put in singly at nine-inch intervals, but they seem to do better in groups.

Tie the canes to wires, and in the autumn following the fruiting season cut down the canes that have fruited, and tie in those that have been growing up throughout the season. The old canes should be cut down to within three inches of the soil.

Any new canes that look at all puny compared with the others are best cut down, leaving only the strongest half-dozen canes from each clump to produce next season's fruit.

This may seem wasteful, but it is not, for much better fruits will be produced on the stronger canes.

A mulch of manure or compost in the spring will help enormously in producing a heavy crop and in making healthy new canes to bear the subsequent season's fruit.

Varieties: park lane is probably the best-flavored variety, but is rather soft and therefore rather too easily damaged during gathering, hailsham is a deep-colored, vigorous grower with a good flavor, royal is a very large fruit of excellent flavor, lloyd george is both very fertile and very vigorous. This variety may be cut to within three inches of the soil in the spring and will fruit in the autumn on the canes made during the season. Conditions for success in this treatment must be near ideal - that is, plenty of manure or compost and a sunny position. Otherwise this raspberry, prob­ably the best of the lot - may be treated as those above.

Maggots of the Raspberry Beetle sometimes make their appearance in spring. The beetle lays eggs which hatch into maggots that eat into the berries. The beetles are very small, about one-fifth of an inch long, and usually golden in color, but are sometimes a muddy grey. The maggots are about a quarter-inch long and creamy-white. The best method of control is to keep a look-out for the beetle and to spray with derris if you spot any.

STRAWBERRIES

With so many other fruits available for making wines, I cannot imagine anybody using home-grown straw­berries for this purpose, except for the rare individual who does not like strawberries and cream. Strawberries are not difficult to grow, but sometimes they are a job to ripen properly - our summers being what they are. The soil for strawberries must be well prepared, with a liberal digging-in of compost or manure.

August is the best time for planting, for this allows the young crowns to become established in time for the fruiting season next year. If the weather happens to be very dry at planting time, they will need a good soaking with water every evening until they are established - or until rain comes.

Plant the young crowns very carefully, being sure that the crowns are neither higher nor lower than the surface of the surrounding soil and that the roots are well spread out. Plant the crowns eighteen inches apart in rows about two feet apart.

Strawberries need a dressing of manure as soon as the flowers have set. Later, as the fruits begin to swell, clean straw should be spread round the plants to keep the fruits clean. Strawberry mats may be obtained from seedsmen for this purpose, but they can prove an expensive outlay. As runners form, pinch them off and keep pinching them off until you need new plants.

When this time arrives, the first little crown growing on the runner is pegged down and the runner pinched off beyond this point. The best plan is to select the strongest runners from the plants bearing the heaviest crops and to pinch out all others. Those pegged down to form new plants may be severed from the runner later on to make a new bed.

Varieties: royal sovereign is probably the best of the lot. Besides being a heavy cropper it is quite hardy, the fruits being large and of excellent flavor, sir Joseph paxton is also hardy and prolific. This one fruits a bit later than Royal Sovereign; it has a good color and flavor and does well on the heavier soils.

RHUBARB

Probably the easiest of all fruits to grow well. It will push up some sort of crop under the most adverse con­ditions and always seems able to produce a good flavor, regardless of soil and situation.

For the best results a little attention to the soil before planting is needed and this will repay you a thousand times over.

Much of my own rhubarb attains the height of up to thirty inches and is as thick as a man's wrist, but half these measurements could be regarded as average. I have paid little attention to my rhubarb since it became established years ago; I did, however, take care in pre­paring the soil.

In one abnormally dry spring, mine, like most other people's in the south, withered and died down com­pletely. The wet summer brought it up again and I had one of the best crops for years, making ten gallons of wine with it, besides having plenty for use in the kitchen and for my wife to preserve two dozen two-pound bottles. The crowns appear not to have suffered, for there is still a splendid crop. You may one day experience this dying down, so do not worry.

Dig as deeply as you can. Two or even three feet is not too deep provided the sub-soil is not stony. If leaf-mould is available, fork in as much as you can spare. Manure should never be put underneath rhubarb, but a top-dress of manure in February will help towards a heavy crop. The best plan is to get half a dozen crowns - at about nine pence each - and plant in a single row at two-foot intervals. If more than one row is put in there should be at least a yard between them.

February is the best time for planting rhubarb, though it can be left until as late as the end of March. Plant the crown so that the red bud or 'button' is just showing above the soil. Plant firmly.

It is tempting to pull a few sticks during the first season, but this must be resisted if the crowns are to get a chance to establish themselves. Do not use any rhubarb during the first year.

If flower heads form - watch out for these during a dry spring or dry early summer - they should be broken off (not pulled up) at ground level. Clean up the bed in the autumn by picking up dead leaves and sticks and, if such is available, cover the bed with straw or bracken or dried fern from a common. This may be kept in place by a string tied to a couple of stakes at each end of the bed so that it pulls downwards - this will hold the litter down. This winter covering is not essential but the next year's crop will be earlier and all the better for this treatment.

Varieties: Both champagne and myatt's victoria do well and there seems to be little to choose between them.

Needless to say, pruning is not necessary. Some advise splitting up the crowns after three years; I do not advise this. Some of the best rhubarb I have seen - see regularly each year, in fact - comes from beds that have not been touched for twenty years and more. And all the treatment these beds get is an annual top-dress of well-rotted manure and a hoeing during the early season to keep down weeds.

Forced rhubarb - those pretty, pink sticks with crinkled leaves - are not suitable for wine-making.

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