Kiwifruit industry in New Zealand and Growers, who were calling the berries "melonettes", because the local name for the fruit, "Chinese gooseberry", had political connotations due to the Cold War, and to further distinguish it from real gooseberries, which are prone to a fungus called anthracnose. An American importer, Norman Sondag of San Francisco, complained that "melonettes" was as bad as "Chinese gooseberry" because melons and berries were both subject to high import tariffs, and instead asked for a short Maori name that quickly connoted New Zealand. In June 1959, during a meeting of Turners and Growers management in Auckland, Jack Turner suggested the name
Gooseberry good residual action on the eggs and larvae of gooseberry sawfly, and also appears to deter egg-laying female sawflies. Careful removal of fallen leaves and tilling of the ground around the plant will also destroy most eggs and chrysalises of these insects. Like most "Ribes", the gooseberry is an alternate host for white pine blister rust, which can cause serious damage to American white pines. Gooseberry cultivation is thus illegal in some areas of the U.S and quarantines are in place to help control this disease. Maine law prohibits the planting and cultivation of currants and gooseberries in most of