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 Gooseberry, 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 Warringtons 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 ordinary 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 circumstances 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 reaching 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, we never have found any advantage from the method. The cuttings, when taken off the parent bush, should be broken off by a gentle twist, so as to take with the cutting what is known as a heel. If thus taken, the cuttings root much more quickly, and are consequently far better young bushes. Any size of shoot will do, but the best pieces are the strong healthy shoots which grow up out of the heart of the bush, and which are from 12 to 18 inches in length. These cuttings ought to be cut so that there will be at least 9 inches of clean stem above the ground, and 3 to 4 inches underneath. All the buds along the stem must be removed, except from three to five, according to the length and strength of the cutting. These buds, being left at the top of the cutting, will the first season form the foundation for a young bush. The best place to plant them is in any spare piece of ground moderately rich, and net too much exposed to the influence of the sun. In such a position they may be planted in rows 1 foot apart, and 6 inches cutting from cutting.

The trench may be thrown out 6 inches deep, and before the cuttings are placed into position, an inch or two of sand and leaf-mould placed in the bottom will prove of much benefit in expediting the rooting process. The end of each cutting may herein be inserted, the soil filled into the trench, and the whole made firm with the foot. Nothing more is necessary, save keeping clean and watering, should the season prove dry.

The raising of new varieties from seed is accomplished by selecting the finest and largest fruit from some first-class variety, if there has been no artificial impregnation, in which case the fruit so impregnated ought to be used. The seed, having been washed from the pulp, may be laid out before the sun to dry upon sheets of paper, after which they may be sown upon a piece of prepared ground containing a good deal of leaf-mould or vegetable matter, and of rather a sandy nature than otherwise. The seed may be sown in drill, much in the same manner as sowing onions, and in the following season they ought to make nice young plants fit for transplanting in autumn into their places in nursery-lines, much in the manner already recommended for cuttings. After remaining here for a year, if they have done anything well, they should be nice young plants similar to cuttings, and requiring much the same treatment as they require during the second year of their growth. This being the case, we will now speak of cuttings at one year old and seedlings at two as one and the same thing, as the management of both now and for all time coming will be exactly the same.