March.] THE NURSERY. 293 



Watering Seedling Trees, fyc. 



In dry, warm weather it will be proper to refresh the seed-beds 

 of smali young trees and shrubs with water now and then; a little 

 at each time will do; let this be done early in the morning. 



Digging vacant Ground, fyc. 



All requisite digging and trenching of vacant quarters of ground 

 in the nursery, designed for plantations of young trees, shrubs, &c. 

 this spring, should now be completed, as soon as possible, in due 

 time for the reception of the respective plants intended, which, in 

 the deciduous kinds particularly, should be mostly or generally 

 finished by the middle or latter end of this month, and the ever- 

 greens soon alter that time. See April. 



Finish all digging between the rows of young trees, &c. in this 

 month if possible; and also in all parts where planting is intended 

 this spring, provided that the ground will work, freely. 



Propagating Gooseberries and Currants. 



The only proper method of propagating gooseberries and cur- 

 rants is by cuttings; suckers should never be resorted to except in 

 cases of necessity, for such will always produce others nume- 

 rously from their roots, which carry oft' the nourishment that 

 ought to go to the support of the fruit; and besides, they form such 

 thickets as to smother and deprive them of the benefit of a free 

 circulating air. 



The proper cuttings for planting are the shoots of the last sum- 

 mer's production, of straight, clean growth; they should be taken 

 from healthy trees, and such as are remarkable, according to their 

 kinds, for bearing the finest fruit: let each be shortened from about 

 ten to twelve or fifteen to eighteen inches long, accord ins; to its 

 strength. 



Previous to planting, cut oft' every bud as close as possible to the 

 shoot, except three, four, or five near the top, which are to be left 

 to form the head of the plant. Some people imagine that the buds 

 on those parts inserted in the earth grow into roots, which is by 

 no means the case, nature never having designed for them such; 

 the roots or fibres always strike out through the clean and smooth 

 bark, but generally a little below a bud, and sometimes at the lower 

 extremity of the cutting from between the bark and the wood. In 

 some kinds these buds decay and die away, but in gooseberries and 

 currants they always rise in suckers, and from these others innu- 

 merably, which always rob the fruit, and often render even the best 

 kinds not worth their room in the garden. 



Your cuttings being thus prepared, plant them in rows eighteen 

 inches or two feet asunder, and about eight or nine inches apart in 

 the rows, always inserting them. at least six inches into the earth, 

 and if the shoots are sufiicienily long, eight or nine, leaving from 



