128 GOOSEBERRY. 



in whatever aid, be it wizard or witch, because the 

 enemy is mine own; but what others do with their 

 ear-wigs or red-spiders I do not read, because that 

 is not my affair. 



Before leaving this department of the garden, 

 there are some fruits which, though of a minor race, 

 are well worthy of notice, and on which the skill of 

 the cultivator will not be thrown away. Of the 

 smaller fruits the gooseberry is the most important; 

 and considering its adaptation to various soils and 

 climates, as well as its agreeable flavour and emi- 

 nently wholesome qualities, it is perhaps the most 

 important of all the fruits which the gardens of our 

 country produce. It is amongst our luxuries what 

 the potato is among the necessaries of life: being 

 easily reared, it is the poor man's friend, and so ac- 

 ceptable to the rich that none are willing to dispense 

 with it. The gooseberry tree may be called the 

 vine of the north, for many would hesitate which to 

 prefer were the choice limited to one; and it is thus 

 an instance of those compensations by which the 

 Divine bounty is equalised to the nations. Italy 

 has the grape, but there the gooseberry will not 

 grow, or it will live only as an evergreen shrub, 

 incapable of producing fruit; and it is further plea- 

 sant to observe, that in the large field of the world 

 proper to the cultivation of our vine, its annual pro- 

 duce is less precarious than that of any other tree 

 a further proof that the things which are really best 

 for man are also the most abundant and the most 

 easily procured. Were the pine apple, which sells 



