JANUARY 283 



work enough in the greenhouse to support his 

 ardent spirit. He is almost as fond of potting-soils 

 as of manure, and has laid in an enormous stock of 

 these, which he is now turning over and preparing 

 for spring use. We cut turves from a sound pasture 

 every year, and lay them by, stacked in ridges, to 

 mature. In autumn oak and beech leaves are 

 collected, and penned in a hurdle enclosure, for the 

 same purpose. When both have reached the proper 

 condition, which is in not less time than a year, 

 Sterculus enjoys himself, as he is doing to-day, by 

 amalgamating them. Two parts of the turf mould, 

 two of the leaf mould, one of material from a spent 

 hotbed, and one of sharp, white sand make susten- 

 ance " fit for a king," as he says. The garden 

 boy is kept busy collecting moss from the nearest 

 wood, and pounding up old pots to the proper size 

 for drainage ; labels are being cleaned and painted, 

 and everything got into order for the day when 

 they will be required. 



How irritating it is to have an unmitigated 

 failure ! Fond as I am of giving myself good 

 advice I frequently find myself doing all kinds of 

 deceitful things to persuade myself that I need not 

 take it. I have often seen the beautiful Bermuda 

 buttercup growing and flowering bravely in a 

 friend's greenhouse in January, and while admiring 

 I have said severely to myself, " You will be ex- 

 tremely foolish if you spend money on any of those 

 bulbs, for you know perfectly well that your green- 

 house is not warm enough for them." Last year 

 when looking over my catalogue I marked the 

 Oxalis Bermudiana, at the same time assuring my- 



