134 GOOSEBERRY PLANTATION SLIPS. 



It is a matter yet undecided, in many cases, 

 whether the bad thriving of plants is the effect of 

 those devastations which are committed by the 

 various tribes of insects, or whether it is, that 

 wherever plants are sickly from any cause they are 

 sure to suffer by the more fatal and frequent as- 

 saults of such foes; and, therefore, though we may 

 be ignorant as to the natural history of such crea- 

 tures, our plain and practical rule is to promote a 

 healthy vegetation, by the seasonable digging of the 

 ground, the best manure, and the free admission of 

 light and air; for if the growth be vigorous, the in- 

 sect tribes will either desist from their attacks or 

 they will make but little impression. But when, 

 through our neglect of known duty, or ignorance of 

 what may be easily known, our crops languish, and 

 are in no condition to afford sustenance to man, it 

 seems to be the law of nature, that before they al- 

 together vanish from the ground they shall at least 

 serve for food to some species of beings; and thus 

 in nature all fragments are gathered up, that nothing 

 may be lost. 



By all means have your gooseberries in a quarter 

 by themselves, and not in single rows among flower 

 borders or scattered all over the garden. Besides 

 obtaining the advantages of the above mode of cul- 

 tivation, you will thus avoid the unsightly aspect 

 of ground every where trodden in the fruit season, 

 and strewed with glaring and filthy refuse in every 

 place. Should your bushes have grown too old, 

 raise a sufficiency of young plants to supply a new 



