In the February number of your useful journal I observed an article headed, " Is the English Gooseberry worth growing?" I used to grow this fruit quite successfully in Central New York, but could not do it without mulching and shading. The plants would not always suffer exposed to the full sun, but the fruit would scald and frequently mildew and thus be worthless. In my experience the best results were obtained by planting where the sun would shine upon the plants until about ten in the morning, and then they required the shade of a fence, house, barn, or trees. I grew only smooth sorts.

Three years ago I received a new strain of the English gooseberry, - at least new to me, - that pleases me very much. It is large, oval, yellowish-green when fully ripe, and of fine flavor. And what is most commendable in it is, that it has neither shown mildew on fruit nor foliage exposed to the full rays of the sun, in Illinois, all day, without any mulch. I cannot see why it is not as healthy and hardy as the Downing, while the fruit is twice as large.

The friend who sent it to me is a successful amateur grower of fruits and flowers, but does not know the origin of his English gooseberry; but says it may be a sport from some old English sort that he used to grow, or a seedling that originated in his grounds. He has fruited it for eight or ten years without mildew, but I think he generally mulches to keep the weeds down. It has fruited with me two years, bearing perfect fruit, simply by frequent hoeing. There are no plants for sale.

Washington Heights, III.