sparse_checkout.sh

mkdir <repo>
cd <repo>
git init
git remote add -f origin <url>
# This creates an empty repository with your remote, and fetches all objects 
# but doesn't check them out. 

# Then do:
git config core.sparseCheckout true

# Now you need to define which files/folders you want to actually check out. 
# This is done by listing them in .git/info/sparse-checkout, eg:
echo "some/dir/" >> .git/info/sparse-checkout
echo "another/sub/tree" >> .git/info/sparse-checkout

# Update your empty repo with the state from the remote:
git pull origin master

# If you don't need the history, use:
git pull --depth=1 origin master