GARDENING. 57 



coH-Denience, and economy^^ that can be found in the culti- 

 vaiion of a substantial kitchen garden^ from which his 

 healthful family can draw many of those really innocent 

 luxuries, which a bountiful Providence has, with so 

 lavish a hand, spread around him." 



When your fence is put in good order, select a proper 

 place for the small kind of fruit shrubs, as gooseberries, 

 currants, and raspberries; for although you admit no 

 trees within this inclosure, these useful shrubs must have 

 a place. They should not be planted around the fences, 

 nor through the centre of the garden, as is too commonly 

 the practice, but in a continued plantation, that they 

 may have suitable attention, and yet not obstruct the 

 plough. 



Gooseberries require a deep and rich soil. The 

 ground between the rows must be well manured, and 

 kept free from weeds, and you should be careful to 

 plant none but those that are of a good kind. 



A good mode of propagating gooseberries, is by cut- 

 tings or layers. For cuttings, take shoots of the last 

 year's growth, from shrubs that are known to bear a 

 choice fruit. Let them be at least ten inches long; cut 

 off all the buds, except three or four at the tops, and 

 insert the stems six or eight inches into the earth; tread 

 the ground firmly around, and keep them free from 

 weeds. When they have grown here a year or two, 

 they should be removed to the plantation as soon as the 

 frost is out of the ground in the spring, or in the au- 

 tumn, which is, particularly for the gooseberry, the best 

 season. 



Currants may be propagated in the same way. They 

 are, however, more hardy, and do not require so rich a 

 soil. They should be placed in rows, six or eight feet 

 apart, and kept free from weeds. Between these rows, 

 you may raise a crop of dwarf or bush beans, (take care 

 that there are no runners, or vines among them,) without 

 the least injury to the shrubs, for several years. 



There is great choice in currants, as well as in other 

 fruit; select only the large red and white currant, for 

 no art will change the original nature of the fruit. 



