1 16 THE MANSE GARDEN. 



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 equalized 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 

 at one guinea per pound, as easy to be had as the 

 potato or the gooseberry no family would ever be 

 done with the physician. The gooseberry is pro- 

 duced in almost endless varieties ; and as all of them 

 are good it is unnecessary to notice the different 

 sorts or the qualities of each. The main thing is 

 to avoid those neglects in the culture of this fruit, or 

 to overcome those enemies, by which the tree is ren- 

 dered unproductive. Unpruned, it grows after the 

 manner of a bush of rushes, and is wholly fruitless ; 

 and by the attacks of caterpillars it is often seen 

 without a leaf, in which case the fruit, though abun- 

 dant, is utterly useless. If you have old bushes of 

 the rushy form, you cannot have them too soon re- 

 moved from the ground, as they are quite incurable ; 

 but if they stand on one stem, and are encumbered 

 with old wood, lay the saw to the heart, and clear out 



