44 



PROFITABLE FRUIT-GROWING. 



it is not conceivable that any intelligent person 

 can fail in comprehending and carrying it out. 

 Fig, 13 represents a Gooseberry cut- 

 ting ready for insertion. It is a firm, 

 short-jointed, summer shoot cut from a 

 bush in the autumn as soon as the leaves 

 could be shaken off. The strongest 

 growths are not necessarily the best for 

 propagating, as some of these may be 

 gross and soft, containing much pith. 

 They should be firm, with little pith, yet 

 almost as thick as the stem of a tobacco 

 pipe. They may be from 15 to 18 inches 

 long, thus affording a sufficient length for 

 inserting firmly in the soil for rooting, 

 with at least six inches of clean stem 

 above it to the branches; or in other 

 words, 4 or 5 inches of the stem may 

 Fig. 13. be in the ground, and 10 or 12 inches 

 c^TTma 7 above it, 6 to 9 inches of this quite free 

 from buds, the top four inches or thereabouts 

 containing them for the production of branches. 

 These figures are given as approximative, for 

 cuttings cannot always be had of the exact length 

 desired, and an inch or two either way is not of 

 material importance. 



It will be seen by the sketch referred to that 



