THE KEEPER'S GARDEN 11 



flowers, tobacco-plants, and zinnias. The keeper 

 puzzles over zinnia seed, which is like the fragment 

 of a dead leaf, yet will come up and grow with the 

 speed of mustard and cress, producing a wealth of 

 bloom. 



But the planting of the potato patch is the chief 

 work. The neat little furrows which mark each row 

 of potatoes, allowing the hoe to be plied fearlessly 

 before the potatoes show above ground, give a neat- 

 ness to the cottage garden all the time while the soil 

 is brown and bare. 



Gamekeepers, though their work for wages is 

 never done, yet have a few legitimate ways of adding 

 to their incomes. Of course they have the opportunity 

 of making a good deal of money if they trespass on 

 their employers' time ; but your keeper is an honest 

 man, and his work is the object of his life. Most 

 keepers are skilled vegetable gardeners, and may 

 make a few shillings from peas and beans. Often 

 enough they have a cunning way with flowers, though 

 envious amateurs are free with their hints about the 

 advantages to be gained from burying foxes to enrich 

 the soil. We know one who will put in a fair day's 

 work with spade and wheelbarrow before even the 

 waggoners have stirred to give their horses breakfast. 

 Going his rounds, the keeper marks good briers for 

 budding ; if he does not sell them, he will beg choice 

 buds from rose-growers, and a year or two later the 

 passer-by may be tempted to offer half-a-crown for 

 the fine roses of his little plot. Possibly by this time 



