1871.] CULTIVATION OF HARDY FRUITS. 317 



THE CULTIVATION OF HARDY FHUITS. 



( Continued from page 279.) 



THE GOOSEBERRY. 



The Gooseberry is perhaps the most popular of all our hardy fruits. It is in 

 every sense of the word the poor man's fruit, as it finds a place in every garden, 

 no matter how small. The poor man rejoices as much in the quality of his Goose- 

 berry, and the health and vigour of his bush, as does the rich man in the size and 

 quality of his Pine. In many a poor man's garden the Gooseberry and Currant 

 are the only representatives of our hardy fruits ; and even in some cases where the 

 Currant is denied a place, there will be found a Gooseberry bush or two. While 

 thus it is a favourite with the poor, it also stands in high estimation with the 

 great. From the middle of July till the month of October, no dessert-table is 

 complete without a dish of Gooseberries ; and in our humble idea there is not a 

 finer fruit than good Hedgehogs or Warriugtons at this or any other season 

 of the year. The pity is that their season could not be prolonged till 

 Christmas or the New- Year. We have no doubt, however, that one day this, 

 or even greater things, will yet be accomplished. We are very apt to fancy that 

 what we and our fathers have accomplished has been the means of bringing things 

 to perfection, and that beyond the point which we have reached there is no 

 means of getting. Such, however, is not, cannot be the case ; for while time 

 lasts, and while men are born into the world with minds to guide and hands to 

 work, things will go on improving. For, as Tennyson says, 



" Yet I doubt not through the ages one increasing purpose runs, 

 And the thoughts of men are widened with the process of the suns." 



The purposes for which we were created can only thus be accomplished. It is 

 to work in the truest sense of the word — work not only to accomplish things in 

 the old and ordinai-y way of our fathers — work not as we have been taught by the 

 rule-and -plummet system of some, it may be, first-rate men in their own way — 

 but work so as to bring our experiences of the past into contact with the circum- 

 stances of the present, and making the whole to harmonise with what we know 

 of the laws of nature. In this way will we progress stage after stage, still reach- 

 ing nearer to the goal of perfection, and still in every stride perceiving the infinitude 

 of the distance that lies between us and our desired haven. 



In our moralising we had almost departed from the subject of our present paper. 

 We, however, return to the Gooseberry, which is almost invariably propagated by 

 cuttings, except where new varieties are wanted. This is accomplished only by 

 seed. The other means of propagation are by layers and by suckers. Neither of 

 these methods, so far as our own experience goes, are preferable to the raising of 

 young plants from cuttings. The cuttings should be taken off in winter at prun- 

 ing-time, and stuck in by the heels until such time as they are inserted into the 

 nursery-bed, which may be at any time from February till the end of March. 

 February is, in our estimation, the best time of the whole year, though 

 many high authorities are of opinion that autumn is the best. Cuttings put 

 in in autumn, especially early in autumn, are apt to callous over before winter, 

 and even in some cases to attempt to push roots. Where this is the case there is 

 great danger that severe frost in winter will materially damage if not entirely 

 destroy them, by casting them out, or in other ways exposing them to the severity of 

 the weather. When put in in early spring there is no danger from any of these 

 causes ; and even suppose the autumn-planted cuttings escaped all that I have said, 



