CHAP. VII.] the gooseberry. 201 



these by putting' saucers filled with water under 

 each. By these cares gooseberries haTe been 

 produced weighing aboTe an ounce and a half 

 each, and one weighing very nearly two ounces; 

 though gooseberries generally, even of large 

 size, seldom weigh above half an ounce. 



Gooseberries may be propagated either by 

 seeds or cuttings ; and they will thrive in any 

 good garden soil, if it be well drained, well 

 manured, and not under the drip of trees. 

 W hen gooseberries are wanted large, the ground 

 between the rows should have a coating of 

 rotten manure laid on it every third year. 

 Gooseberry bushes are generally planted in 

 rows, the rows eight or ten feet apart, and the 

 bushes six feet from each other in the rows. 

 They are pruned twice a year : in winter to 

 remove the branches not likely to produce fruit ; 

 and in early summer, because gooseberry bushes 

 generally produce more shoots than they can 

 ripen, and these superfluous shoots carry off a 

 portion of the nourishment required for the 

 fruit, which is produced partly on the shoots of 

 the preceding year, and partly on spurs of the 

 old wood. Some gardeners only suffer the 

 fruit on the young wood to ripen, as it is larger 

 in size and finer in quality than that on the 

 old wood ; but the spurs produce by far the 

 greater quantity. It is a very good plan to 

 thin the fruit ; which is easily done, when 

 gathering green gooseberries for pies and pud- 

 dings, by taking a few from every branch, and 

 never gathering from the same tree twice. The 

 best Red Gooseberries for general use are 

 perhaps the following; : the Warrington, which 



