THE FLOWER GARDEN. 119 



seeds are supposed to be, it is monotonous. Some 

 puppies that were kept by a neighbor, and which 

 were forever trampling over my premises, chewed 

 up and pulled out the sticks, and the location of the 

 future plants became somewhat indefinite ; and when 

 Weeville asked me one day how my garden was get 

 ting on, I answered evasively, 



&quot; Finely, so far as I can see,&quot; 



My conscience permitted me to presume all was 

 going on right underground, although nothing had 

 yet come to the surface. Not satisfied, however, he 

 wanted to know exactly how I had set out the seeds ; 

 and when he was told they were planted two inches 

 deep in a rich bed of manure, he burst forth, 



&quot; Why, you must have burnt them all up ; plants 

 want earth as much as manure. And if you buried 

 them two inches deep, you dug their grave ; not one 

 will ever come up.&quot; 



This coarse confidence on Weeville s part was not 

 pleasant. I knew plants thistles especially would 

 grow in manure, for my beds were full of them, and 

 they appeared to do best when covered over and sur 

 rounded with the strongest lumps ; but my mind had 

 troubled me a little about the depth at which the 

 seeds were planted ; so, when he was gone, 1 took the 

 first good opportunity to rake off about two inches 

 of the earth. 



