48 BUNGLED GARDENING. 



the succession of cropping, as necessary to the gar- 

 den as to the glebe, is a matter of chance. Hence 

 your cauliflowers, having succeeded late cabbages, 

 instead of swelling to a noble bumpy head that 

 might please a phrenologist, are mere buttons; and 

 so of the rest. Yet no expence is spared ; the 

 garden consumes a great deal of manure, as much 

 as might help a large field of wheat, besides in- 

 curring a considerable debit for seeds and plants ; 

 and not a little for whole days, half days, and odd 

 hours, as per Andrew's account. Still there is 

 nothing to eat. I have so often met with com- 

 plaints of the unproductiveness of manse gardens, 

 that I have suspected some ill bit of ground, long 

 peeled by the parish privilege of feal and divot, 

 had generally been alloted for clerical horticul- 

 ture; but the suspicion was bad, and the deep black 

 mould every where testified against it. However 

 rich the soil, it gets deadened by long use ; the 

 constant supplies of manure serve to quicken it 

 rather for the production of animal than of vege- 

 table life ; and so fed for half a century, without 

 trenching or rest, it becomes a living heap of worms. 

 Hence the verity of the statement, the worm took 

 the carrots, the worm took the onions, and the 

 snails, as busy above ground, left not a vestige of 

 the peas. Having so many eaters in the garden, 

 it is easily understood that you are at no little 

 expence in feeding them, and have nothing left for 

 yourself. A little skill on your own part, to be 

 acquired herewith, together with a few days of a 



