TRANSPLANTING. SOIL AND SITUATION. 227 



all buds on the lower six inches cut out, and the lower end cut 

 square and even, immediately underneath the bud. Plant perpen- 

 dicularly in a soil two feet deep, composed of loam and sand, and 

 exposed only to the morning sun ; set the cuttings six inches deep, 

 fill up two inches and tread very firm and compact, the remaining 

 four inches fill in loosely. Grafting on the stalk of the Yellow Flow- 

 ering, or Missouri Currant, has been practiced and is said to prevent 

 mildew. 



Transplanting. This is best done in early October, at which time 

 the bushes transplanted (if it has not previously been done) should 

 be pruned back to within three buds of this year's growth. The 

 distance of plants, one from another, should not be less than three 

 feet, each way. Immediately after transplanting, cover the whole 

 ground with three inches deep of tan bark, saw-dust, sea-weed, or 

 new mown grass. Fresh plantations should be made every five or 

 six years, as young plants bear better and larger fruit than old ones. 



Soil and Situation. The soil should be two feet deep, well en- 

 riched, and of a loamy, clayey texture ; where your ground is sandy, 

 haul on clay or turf loam. The situation should be open, airy, and 

 away from under shade of trees ; but, where it can be done, shaded 

 from the mid-day sun by a fence or hedge. 



Culture. Where mulching is practised, the ground dug up once 

 early in spring, and liberally supplied with well rotted manure and 

 soot from chimneys or stove pipes, will be all required, save the 

 pulling of the few weeds which struggle through the mulch in course 

 of summer. 



uning. This, in training the Gooseberry like the Dwarf Pear, 

 its much in the " pinching in " process, i. e., by means of thumb 



Prun 

 consists i 



and finger stopping back, in months of May and June, such branches 

 as become straggling, irregular, or getting too much vigor for suc- 

 cess of balance of plant; leaving the fruit on strong branches, and 

 pulling most of that on weak ones. Late in August, or early Sep- 

 tember, the time best suited for cuttings, the plant may have such 

 shoots cut out as have been neglected to be stopped in, or rubbed 

 oft', and are tending to make the top so thick as to obstruct free cir- 

 culation of air. All suckers should be destroyed. Some cultivators 

 prune in February ; we prefer the fall. The following simple pro- 

 cess of training or ripening is sometimes pursued, and with good 

 success : In a row, the first bush has the branches of the year's 

 growth cut back one-third ; the second bush has every branch cut 

 back to two, close to the stem : the third, trimmed same as first ; 

 fourth, same as second, and so on alternately. The next year this 



