100 THE GOOSEBERRY. 



perfection, without its being affected in the least by 

 the mildew. 



Mr. D. Haines, near Elizabethtown, K J., informs 

 me that he cultivates Woodward's Whitesmith most 

 successfully by removing a few inches of the surface- 

 earth, every spring, under every bush, and filling the 

 space with salt hay, which he covers with the earth ; 

 thus affording protection from drought, and perfectly 

 exempting the fruit from mildew. Others find a remedy 

 in sprinkling ashes on the bushes when the dew is on, 

 The ashes also benefit the plant. Any good mulch of 

 tan bark, saw-dust, &c., of three inches deep, would 

 answer nearly the same purpose as salt hay. Sprink- 

 ling the bushes in the spring freely with soap-suds also 

 has a good effect on their growth, and often protects 

 them from mildew. The bushes should be transplanted 

 in April or late in October or November, and pruned 

 back and set at a distance of about three feet, like the 

 currant. If any large fruit is wanted, the fruit must 

 be thinned out. The Encyclopaedia of Gardening says 

 of the famous growers in Lancashire, England, who 

 produce the largest fruit in the world : "To effect this 

 increased size, every stimulant is applied that their 

 ingenuity can suggest ; they not only annually manure 

 the soil richly, but also surround the plants with 

 trenches of manure for the extremities of the roots to 

 strike into, and form around the stem of each plant a 



