o:n reaeing common fruits. 



95 



The best time for planting cuttings or slips is October; 

 but they will succeed if planted at any time between this 

 and March, though those planted in October or November 

 will produce the best plants, and will not be so liable to fail. 



The cuttings must be made from the shoots of medium 

 size, (not the root-suckers of the same year,) about a foot 

 or more in length, cutting off the top, and all the buds but 

 four, and making two or three shallow notches in the 

 bark at the root end, to cause root-fibres to sprout. The 

 cuttings should invariably be slipped from the tree, for, 

 as has been previously observed, they will be more likely 

 to form roots when thus treated. When longer cuttings 

 cannot be procured, six or even three inches, leaving only 

 one or two buds, will be sufficient. 



As old trees do not look nor bear so well as young ones, 

 a few cuttings ought to be struck every year, to replace 

 decayed or inferior stocks. The sorts are almost innu- 

 merable, and the Lancashire ones in particular, with 

 drooping branches, are in general very large, such as 

 Farmer's roaring-lion : but the smallest sorts, particularly 

 the rough red, the smooth black, and the early green, are 

 far superior in flavour. The champagne grows erect. 



The cuttings may at first be planted a few inches apart, 

 and after they are rooted, may be transplated into a rich 

 nursery bed, in rows two feet apart, and half that distance 

 between the plants, taking care to prune ofi" all suckers 

 and shoots on the lower part of the stem, and leaving 

 four shoots, cut back to six inches. 



In the second year they may be finally planted out at six 

 feet apart, cutting out all superfluous shoots, and leaving 

 only two on each of the four leading ones, heading these 

 down to six inches. There will now be eight shoots to 

 form a head ; but future prunings must be conducted in a 

 very diflPerent manner. After the tree is well formed, and 

 has the requisite quantity of branches, the practice of 

 shortening the principal shoots is not only unnecessary, 

 but is extremely injudicious, except with such as are 

 growing too vigorously, or are inclined downwards, or 

 point towards the centre of the tree. In all other cases, 

 the leading shoots should never be stopped, for every 

 cultivator knows that gooseberry trees have a great 



