84 THE GOOSEBERRY. 
prize fruit. By preparing a very rich soil, and by wa- 
tering, and by the use of liquid manure, shading and 
thinning, the large fruit of the prize cultivator 1s pro- 
duced. Not content with watering at root and over the 
top, the Lancashire connoisseur, when he is growing for 
exhibition, places a small saucer of water under each 
gooseberry, only three or four of which he leaves on a 
tree; this he technically calls suckling.” 
The gooseberry tree needs to be kept constantly in 
a vigorous condition, and then it will produce an 
abundance of good fruit. 
It should be propagated from cuttings of the wood 
of the present year, prepared and set out early in Sep- 
tember, and transplanted in October of next year, or 
very early in the following spring; and should be 
pruned in June and November, and renewed every 
five or six years. 
The fruit is well adapted for pies and tarts when in 
a green state, and the best varieties when well grown 
and ripe are very excellent and acceptable for the 
table or hand. Says Mr. Downing: “As a luxury for 
the poor, Mr. Loudon considers this the most valuable 
of all fruits, since it can be grown in less space, in 
more unfavorable circumstances, and brought sooner 
into bearing than any other.” 
Books and catalogues are filled with the longest lists 
