132 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
May 27. 
little child was near her, and an infant was crying in the 
cradle. Poor M- sat in the midst of this discomfort, 
the imago of contented suffering. He was very clean and 
neat, as usual; hut Ins face expressed so much acute pain, 
that it was distressing to look at him. A large boil was 
forming on his back, the pain of which was extremely great, 
and he had much fever and weariness of body too. But he 
said nothing about it, and made no complaint. A cup of 
pale liquid, which they called tea, stood before him, and a 
thick piece of hard toast with a scrape of lard upon it. It 
was impossible to sit in a scene like this and not learn a 
lesson. How good would it bo for every one to enter such 
dwellings, and observe all that is there, and aU that is not 
there too! When we are racked with pain, and our bodies 
exhausted with want of rest and appetite, how we should 
turn from the cup of water just coloured with tea, and no 
milk in it, and from the clumsy toast, that formed poor 
M-'s only meal ! True: the poor are not accustomed to 
dainties; they are brought up to relish coarse and humble 
fare ; but we all know how fanciful the appetite is in sickness, 
and how we dislike the soft and delicate bread-and-butter to 
which we have sat down with pleasure in the day of health. 
Even meat, poultry, fish, jelly, and all nice things do not 
please us always when we are ill; but do we sit with the 
same contented spirit that the poor man sits ? M-could 
not relish his tasteless tea, and hard, thick toast, but he sat 
meekly and contentedly under his privations, and never 
seemed to think of wanting any' thing else. How reviving 
to a faint and exhausted frame is a cup of nicely made 
gruel, or a little simple mutton or veal broth. How the 
eye brightens, and the spirits rise, as it is sipped with the 
relish of a stomach longing for something warm and com¬ 
fortable. Even a little soft, sweet biscuit is a luxury to 
the sick when they can obtain nothing but bread ; and how 
many of us, how very many of us, who can do nothing great 
for our neighbours, who cannot stand forth as helpers in a 
general way, may yet be able to give these little simple 
things to such as are sick and destitute. It is a work of joy; 
and the pleasure of seeing the relief afforded by the most 
trifling assistance of this nature is abundant payment to 
the giver. 
Poor M -was for many days in extreme suffering ; he 
could neither lie, nor sit, nor stand, so as to get ease. For 
hours he would lean over a table, or stand bent down, 
resting upon a stick, but all the time so quiet, so patient, 
and so thankful for whatever was done for him. His poor, 
little, dirty wife sat looking at him, in a high-crowned cap, 
but she was so helpless and unthrifty at all times, that she 
had no notion of making him or the house in any way com¬ 
fortable ; so there he remained, poor fellow, until the boil 
was in a fit state, to be lanced, and then relief was speedily 
obtained. We were standing one morning watching our 
workman, when a man walked rapidly up to us, which proved 
to be M- himself, on his way to the doctor, quite 
another person, and looking almost well. lie quickly gained 
strength, and is now at work again; happy, no doubt, to get 
away from the dirty, dreary kitchen where he passed so 
many days. 
We are told, on the best authority, that “ It is better to go 
to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feast¬ 
ing ; for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay 
it to his heart.” But there is another reason why the house 
of mourning among the poor is wholesome to the living. It 
instructs us as to the blessings the Lord has given us, and 
calls loudly upon us for gratitude and praise. It makes us 
contented; nay, it makes us thankful and adoring for the 
many mercies we possess which our poor brethren have not; 
and it tells us that all our good things may be of yet more 
value and blessing to ns, by being used and distributed for 
the good of others. Never mind present reward; never 
mind the evil that sometimes is returned for good ; let us 
hear The Word: “ Charge them that are rich in this world 
. . . that they do good, that they be rioh in good works, 
ready to distribute, willing to communicate; ” it is this 
with which we have to do, “according to our several ability;” 
remembering at the same time that we shall be judged 
according to that which we have, and not according to that 
we have not. There are few that cannot give something or 
do something for those who are poorer stiU; and if we 
strive to be faithful stewards to our Master in Heaven, we 
shall be surprised to find how much “ meat” we shall have 
to give to our fellow-servants “ in due season ”—meat tem¬ 
poral, and meat spiritual. Let us take a lesson from our 
poor suffering brethren; let our wants and desires be few; 
let us be satisfied with such things as we have, however fow 
and lowly ; let us take evil as well as good from our Father’s 
hand, with heartfelt thanks ; it is medicine, if it is not oil 
and wine, and meant to do us, perhaps, much greater good. 
Let us go to the cottages of mourning, for there we shall 
learn the deepest lessons, and receive most benefit to our 
own souls. 
ALLOTMENT FARMING. —June. 
Doubtless, the fearful drought which most of the king¬ 
dom experienced during March and April has had the effect 
of throwing many of the allotment crops somewhat out of 
time, and of causing serious blanks in others. It has been 
a capital convincer, we should think, of the propriety and 
soundness of a practice we have often recommended—that 
of watering drills copiously before the seed is committed. 
This practice has been carried out with most of the crops in 
these gardens during the present spring, accompanied by a 
six or eight hours’ steeping; and we have to observe, that 
never, during thirty years experience, have we had such 
excellent crops of every kind, not only as to seeds vegetating 
safely, but as to the character and condition of the crops. 
Deep digging, or, indeed, trenching, has been practised on 
at least an acre per year for the last four years, and this 
it is which accounts for the exuberance of the crops, their 
freedom from insects, canker, club, and other evils to which 
very old gardens are so peculiarly liable. 
This, however, is not the condition of the majority of 
gardens, we fear ; and it becomes those who have suffered ■ 
losses to “ cast about” and see what can be done in a timely ' 
way to repair the damages. The most eligible, and it may 
be added profitable crops, for such purposes, are, first of all, 
Swede turnips, and secondly, cabbages, or other greens. ! 
These are by far most generally useful. Other things may 1 
be added, however, such as lettuces, or the common turnip, 
the first transplanted, the second sown to remain ; but we j 
do not advise them at this season. The occurrence of gaps ■ 
points to the propriety of securing, as advised in these 
pages, good seed-beds of Swedes, and the greens;—thus 
equipped, the allotment man and the cottager may face a 
capricious summer. 
Boot Ceops. —So much in detail was said in our May 
advices that repetition here would be tiresome. The 
singling out, &c., must be proceeded with in due time, and 
all weeds extirpated. The hoe should be run through all 
crusty soils betimes, taking them between moist and dry, in 
order the better to crush the lumps for soiling purposes, as 
also on general or airing principles. We would in most 
cases follow the hoe with the fork—the latter when the 
plants are established, and the weeding and thinning com¬ 
pleted, and this will be in the end of the month, or the 
beginning of July. It has been remarked before, that such 
will break oft’ a disposition to side-roots in the tap-rooted 
class ; and its benefits as a sort of fallow will be consider¬ 
able, easily seen on the succeeding crop. We do not by any 
means advise transplanting mangold, although we have 
known it successful; it is by far better to trust to the Swede, 
which, if grown to a small bulb before transplanted, will 
withstand all the vicissitudes of an indifferent season. We 
will say more on this head in the sequel. In the culture of 
root crops in general, it is not advisable to use the hoe 
much between plant and plant in the row ; we have known 
good crops seriously stagnated by over offieiousness in this 
respect, destroying abundance of useful fibres. 
With us there is little doubt that, strange as it may seem, 
the mildew is at times engendered by a sweeping destruc¬ 
tion of fibres, succeeded by sudden droughts. Stagnation of 
some kind is in nearly all cases the origin of mildew. After 
one good hoeing between the plants, rather work deep 
between the roics. This is the best policy. 
Potatoes. —Deep culture between the rows is of great ser¬ 
vice. This is best performed when the potatoes are about nine 
inches high, and may follow on the heels of what is termed 
soiling up the stems. We know some clever persons who 
entirely reject all soiling; but although their opinions are en- 
