January * 
51 
read “ The Stokesley Secret ? ”) you may have a 
heap of charred stuff. If you are in a woody 
place you may get some scraps of charcoal. In 
limestone countries you may get some lumps of 
lime — only mind the dust does not ever fly into 
your eyes — and wherever you are, you are sure 
to find heaps of broken tiles and flower-pots and 
quantities of nice sticks. 
Breaking flower-pots fine is a capital shed 
employment. If you are real good gardeners, 
you will be quite aware that, unless you grind 
them, you cannot make them too fine. One good- 
sized piece of tile, or better than that, an oyster- 
shell, does to stop up the hole in any flower-pot, 
and then the finer the bits that fill the next two 
inches the better it is, and the more completely 
workmanlike. 
Another grand occupation is the sifting the 
soil for summer. I am afraid I used to be very 
fond of doing it. It is so nice to see the heap of 
fine soft mould increasing. My way of going to 
work was to have a large sieve stuck on the corner 
of a wheelbarrow, (inside the barrow,) and then 
to throw in large trowelfuls of soil from the 
rough heap put ready — as the fine soil ran 
through and made a heap it used to be turned out, 
e 2 
