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plants come up readily, and should be kept per- 

 fectly clear from weeds ; and whin they have had 

 one or two years growth may be removed into 

 nursery-rows, in the same manner as the Cur- 

 rants, to remain till they become fit for being 

 planted out. 



In this wav good new varieties may be pro- 

 cured. Mr. Forsyth remarks, that the gardeners 

 in the vicinity of Manchester have made great 

 additions to the varieties of this fruit, and by 

 mixing up a rich soil to plant them in, carefully 

 watering, shading, and thinning the fruit, have 

 brought the berries to a size much larger than 

 had been before met with in this country ; but 

 that some of the layers are much thicker in the 

 skin, and not so well flavoured as many of the 

 old sorts. 



The methods of planting out this sort of plants 

 are extremely various. According to Mr. For- 

 syth, the market gardeners in the vicinity of the 

 metropolis set them out in rows from eight to 

 ten feet apart, and six from plant to plant. In 

 cases of this sort he recommends that they should 

 be pruned in the autumn, as about the beginning 

 of October, when the ground between may be 

 planted with coleworts, or beans- for a spring 

 crop; and by so doing, there will be no occasion 

 to tread over the ground and hurt the coleworts 

 in pruning the bushes; as before the Goose- 

 berries begin to shoot, the coleworts will be all 

 cleared off the ground. 



And after this time (or before if you find it 

 convenient), a good coat of rotten dung should 

 be laid on the ground ; then dig it and plant 

 early potatoes ; but not so near as to hurt the 

 Gooseberries by their growth. 



He likewise advises ^hat the roots of Goose- 

 berries should be kept clear to admit the sun and 

 air. In small gardens he would recommend 

 planting them in a quarter by themselves, at the 

 distance of six feet between the rows, and four 

 feet from plant to plant: they may be planted 

 round the edges of the quarters, about three 

 feet from the path ; in which case the ground 

 will be clear for cropping, and a man, by set- 

 ting one loot on the border, can gather the 

 Gooseberries without injuring the crop that may 

 be on the border. 



And that, as they like a rich soil, they should 

 be dunged every year, or at least have a good 

 coat of dung once in two years. They should 

 never he planted under the shade of other trees, 

 as it injures the flavour of the fruit. 



In respect to the pruning of the bushes, " it 

 is a practice too common, Mr. Forsyth says, to 

 let them branch out with great naked stems, suf- 

 fering them to remain in that state for years. 

 When that is the case, they should be cut down 



near to the ground in the winter pruning, as it 

 will make them throw out line strong healthy 

 shoots, which will bear fruit the second year : 

 and as Gooseberry-bushes, in general, bear their 

 fruit on the second year's wood, great cai\- 

 should be taken in summer to keep the middle 

 of the bush clear to admit a free air, leaving the 

 finest and strongest shoots from six to ten inches 

 distant from each other. This will, he says, 

 help to ripen and harden the wood. It is a prac- 

 tice with some to shorten the shoots in the au- 

 tumn or winter pruning, which should be al- 

 ways near to a wood-bud ; which may be known 

 bv its being single, whereas fruit-buds are in 

 clusters. The shoots may, he thinks, be short- 

 ened to eight or ten inches, according to their 

 strength. Some leave them at full length for 

 three or four years, thinning out those that are 

 superfluous. He advises always to leave a pro- 

 per number to be trained up between the full- 

 length shoots, to succeed them when they are 

 tired of hearing ; and then to cut the old ones 

 down to the young ones that are to succeed 

 them. By these means the bushes may always 

 be kept in a constant state ofbearing." 



Those branches which were cut the first year, 

 will in the second throw out short dugs, or 

 spurs, which produce the fruit; and these should 

 by no means be cut off, unless the branches are 

 in a sickly state, and require to be cut close 

 down when the bushes are overloaded with 

 fruit. "It will then, he says, be necessary to 

 cut out a good deal of the old wood, to assist 

 nature to recover herself after producing so great 

 a quantity of fruit." 



He advises that " great attention be paid to 

 the cultivation of the early and late sorts. In 

 some old gardens, in particular, there are, he 

 says, very valuable sorts that have been of late 

 too much neglected; he would therefore recom- 

 mend to those who live in the neighbourhood 

 of such gardens, to observe their time oi ripen- 

 ing, ancTto cultivate those especially which are 

 early and late." 



He adds, that " it is a practice with some to 

 clip the tops of Gooseberries with a pair of gar- 

 den shears, as they would clip a thorn hedge ; 

 this he by no means approves of, as the trait will 

 not be half the size, nor of so fine a flavour, as 

 when the bushes are kept clear of such wood as 

 is unnecessary." 



It is recommended that great " care should 

 be taken in spring and summer to stock, or 

 grub up, all the suckers from the roots or the 

 bushes, leaving their stems clear and unencum- 

 bered. And as many of the Lancashire sorts are 

 apt to grow horizontally, and the branches fre- 

 quently" trail on the ground, which renders the in 



