Niow York AoiiicuLTUKAL Exi'ehiment Station. 833 



after they are planted, unless the buds are removed from all 

 parts of the plant, which are covered by the soil in planting. 



Propagation hy Layering. — In the northeastern section of the 

 United States the nurserymen commonly propagate all goose- 

 berries by mound-layering. They find it the only successful 

 method for propagating varieties of the European species, such 

 as Industry, Triumph, Whitesmith, etc. American gooseberries, 

 such as Downing, Pale Red, Houghton, etc., grow more readily 

 from cuttings, but even varieties of this class are in this section 

 commonly grown by nurserymen from mound-layers. 



By this method the old plants, called stools, are headed back so 

 that they may send out many strong shoots near the surface of 

 the ground, as shown in figure 2, plate XXI. When the new 

 shoots have become somewhat hardened, which in this section of 

 the country occurs about the last of June, they are mounded with 

 fresh earth so that they will send out roots. See figure 3, plate 

 XXI. The shoots are crowded outwards and the center of the 

 stool is covered with earth to a depth of about four inches above 

 the bases of the shoots. The mound is packed quite firmly with 

 the back of a spade and then covered with loose soil so that it 

 will not readily dry out. If they are mounded too early in the 

 season the shoots may rot. 



In the fall the earth is taken away from the stools, as shown in 

 figure 4, plate XXI, and then the rooted shoots are cut off, care 

 being taken to leave good buds on the stools for growing another 

 crop of shoots the following season, as shqwn in figure 2, plate 

 XXI. The earth is then thrown over the stools to protect them 

 during the winter. Propagation from the old stools under proper 

 management may be continued from year to year for an indefi- 

 nite period. The rooted shoots are planted at once in well pre- 

 pared fertile soil, or they may be tied in bundles and kept till 

 spring before being planted, but the former way is preferable. 

 The cultivation and pruning is much the same as that described 

 hereafter for cuttings. 



Another method of layering, which is occasionally practiced, 

 consists in pegging branches to the ground, covering them juii: 



