to me, where I hope to prepare myself for 
a work that an inscrutable providence may 
have reserved me to do. 
May God forgive you, Stacy Ainsworth, 
as I have forgiven you. And now, fare¬ 
well forever. Annie McCourt. 
And this was the old man’s secret. For 
this, he had been doing penance all these 
years. 
Reverently I folded the papers and re¬ 
turned them to the box. It was the old 
man’s secret, and it should be buried with 
him. I hastened to the place where the 
body lay awaiting burial. Stealing noise¬ 
lessly into the gloomy apartment, I saw 
the veiled form of an aged sister kneeling 
by the old man’s side. 
Softly, and without disturbing the saint¬ 
ed watcher, I slipped the treasured relic 
back into its old resting place, and stole 
forth again from that sacred place. 
Below the Surface. 
BY MBS. M. J. SMITH. 
Under the sod there are flowers sleeping, 
Under the crust of sleet and snow; 
Never would stranger dream of the germ 
Quietly resting so far below. 
Nevertheless, from the brow of the hill, 
To where the vale dips in the silvery rill, 
They wait till the glad spring shall remove the 
• chill,— 
Ready, but waiting the Master’s will. 
Under the snow, there are dear ones sleeping, 
Under the crust of sleet and snow; 
Never a word they send back to us. 
Never a smile from the depths below. 
They peacefully rest till the round years fill, 
Till time is checked, and its wheels grow still, 
Till called together, from valley and hill— 
They wait to rise at the Master’s will. 
Under the crust of a life-time’s care, 
Under its sleet, and its pelting storms; 
In spite of the sting of its pitiless blast, 
Many a heart into beauty warms. 
None pause to look ‘neath the frost and chill, 
For the warm heart longing a niche to fill. 
Where others are working with ease and skill— 
So they stand waiting their Master’s will. 
How oft we walk carelessly, only numbering 
Blossom and beauty that dazzles our eyes. 
Calling those dead whose bodies but slumber 
And counting the workers who bear off a prize, 
Crowning the few on the top of the hill, 
Blazoning names which the front ranks fill, 
We see not the humble, whose souls are a thrill, 
Who silently wait for the Master’s will. 
Manure for Garden Crops. 
BY JOHN M. STAHL. 
It is certain that to keep land devoted to 
garden crops up to a profitable standard of 
productiveness, it is necessary to do more 
than to use commercial manures, or even 
commercial and stable manures. No mat¬ 
ter how liberally commercial manures are 
applied, if they only are used, the land fails 
in productiveness at a quite rapid rate. And 
while the supplementary use of stable ma¬ 
nure will delay this result, it makes it an 
occurrence slower, but none the less sure. 
The essential thing is rest for the land from 
garden crops, best secured by seeding tht 
land down to grass; and the land should be 
in grass at least one year in five. This may 
appear to be a very expensive practice 
when the land is of a high value, as land 
used by market gardeners near cities is; 
but it is not more expensive, rather none 
the less economical. For the higher the 
price of the land, the greater the consider¬ 
ation for keeping it in a high state of pro¬ 
ductiveness; and experience has conclu¬ 
sively shown that seeding to grass is neces¬ 
sary to this. It need be in grass for only 
one year. Then let it be thoroughly plow¬ 
ed, and as thoroughly broken up and pul¬ 
verized; and if it is well drained, naturally 
or artificially, (as all land for gardening 
should be) it will be in a condition to give 
most gratifying yields, and by the next 
season will be at the maximum of product¬ 
iveness. This seeding to grass does not in¬ 
clude any cessation or lessening of the 
application of manure, except during the 
year the grass is growing; and often it 
will pay to apply manure even then. 
In comparing stable with commercial 
manures, the commercial values of the 
elements of each are used. This basis is not 
fair to stable manure, and especially when 
the manures are to be applied to garden 
crops. For it does not take into account 
the effect the manure has upon the mech¬ 
anical condition of the soil; a matter of no 
little influence upon the growth of a ma¬ 
jority of garden erops. Thus if we were to 
take into account only the composition of 
the different articles, we would say that 
when Peruvian guano conld be had for $65 
