48 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER, 
October 20. 
foimcl if the interculture and hoeing of the crop has 
been attended to at the proper period. 
The harrows should then be freely used, in order to 
collect the weeds and rubbish, which should be carted 
away, as it is seldom, at this time of the year, the weeds 
can bo got dry enough to burn freely without delaying 
tho time which may be better employed in continuing 
the tillage of the land. I will suppose, after the land has 
been twice scarified, and the weeds collected and re¬ 
moved, that the surface is comparatively clean, in which 
caso no ploughing will be required until tho ridging-up 
tho land for sowing takes place, and the sooner the 
manure is laid out and spread, and ploughed in, the 
better, which should be done according to tho method 
previously recommended in the management for this 
crop after the long fallow; tho land will then have time 
to remain, and become stale and mellow, and in a fit 
state to receive the seed in due season. 
I must now proceed to consider the second division of 
our subject, namely, the preparation of land for the Wheat 
crop upon good loamy land. 
In the management of this soil different rotations are 
in use, all of which, more or less, influence the mode of 
preparing tho laud for Wheat. In someparts of the king¬ 
dom, Wheat and Roans continue to be sown alternately, 
and no doubt with great advantage, when the prepara¬ 
tion for the crops are well carried out, for the returns 
are large, and the attendant expenses of culture moderate. 
It is usual, in this rotation, to manure for the Beans and 
not for the Wheat; therefore, after the Beans have been 
removed, if the system of culture alluded to in the 
management of heavy clay land has been efficiently 
executed, the labour for preparing for Wheat will be 
trivial—the clearing the surface of weeds, and ridging 
the land to receive the seed, is all that will be required. 
Upon this soil, the seed time may be delayed with 
advantage, not requiring to be sown so early by a fort¬ 
night as heavy land, and a diminished quantity of seed 
may bo used. Seven pecks will generally prove sufficient; 
indeed, when sown early, the quantity may be still 
further reduced with beneficial results, 
j The seed should always be drilled at not less than 
nine inches space between the rows; for in this rotation, 
the Wheat being always sown after the fallow crop, it is 
sure to be more or less infested with summer weeds, and 
should therefore be hoed in the spring. 
Upon this soil Wheat is often sown alternately with 
Potatoes, when conveniently situated for the sale of the 
produce, near large and populous towns; and in many 
| parts of the country Potatoes make one crop in the 
rotation, and is commonly followed by a Wheat crop, 
j much more so than formerly; for it is found, since the 
early sorts only are planted, consequent upon the disease 
to which the crop is liable, that they do not remain long 
enough in the land, nor produce sufficient haulm to im¬ 
poverish the land, except to a limited extent. A good 
portion of the manure applied for the Potatoes is, there¬ 
fore, available for the Wheat crop. 
After the Potatoes have been dug and removed, sup¬ 
posing no green crop is taken between, the land should 
be treated precisely in the same manner as before de¬ 
scribed as necessary after the Bean crop, using the same 
quantity of seed at the same time, and applied by the 
drill. Having omitted to name the size of the ridges 
proper for this land, I must here observe that the four¬ 
teen turns (about 24 feet) are the best size, wherever the 
subsoil is porous enough to admit water freely; for the 
more level laud can be laid, and with the fewer furrows, 
the more regular the produce will prove; for I have 
often noticed, in good soils, that the crop of Wheat has 
been laid and damaged on the top of small ridges, whilst 
the furrows have been comparatively bare. 
Josei>h Blundell. 
(To he continued.) 
THE HISTORY OF A SINNER. 
By the Authoress of 11 My Flowers ” &c. . 
We always feel particular interest in what concerns our¬ 
selves, or those who are in the same business or profession. 
Wo naturally feel more warmly to what belongs to our¬ 
selves; we draw more closely to people and things of our 
own kind and calling; and however we may love, and take 
interest in the doings and concerns of all our neighbours, 
yet there is something doubly attractive in those of our own 
body; and so I am going to write about a gardener. Let 
my readers mark and inwardly digest the words of Job, 
“How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft 
cometh their destruction upon them! God distributetlr sor¬ 
row in his anger!” Oh! that we laid this to heart; then, 
whether we tilled the soil, or eat of its fatness, wo should 
always rejoice before the Lord. 
“ F.dward Moore was apprenticed to a nobleman’s gardener : 
in Staffordshire, where he had every opportunity of tho- 1 
roughly learning his business, for his master was celebrated 
in his day, for having brought the gardens of-Hall to 
a state of perfection, which induced the lovers of horticulture 
to travel many miles to pay them a passing visit. Nor did 
Moore neglect his opportunities; for at the expiration of his 
apprenticeship he left his employment a thorough proficient 1 
in his craft, and fully competent himself to take the manage- i 
me'nt of extensive grounds. A situation soon offered itself, 
and he was engaged on liberal terms; and there, probably, 
he might have remained until this day, had his conduct 
been such as to merit the confidence and esteem of his 
employer. But alas! I fear, like too many of the same class, 
he had not the fear of God before his eyes; and he hesitated 
not to attempt to advance his own interest at the expense of 
all that was right in the eyes of God and man. It is now 
some years since he was first brought to my notice by ap¬ 
plying t° me for employment, as a daily gardener, in the 
neighbourhood of a provincial town, where I ascertained he 
had been carrying on a kind of nursery, on a small scale, 
but being without capital his project had failed, and he was 
compelled to seek employment as a daily gardener. I found, 
from conversation, that he was theoretically, at least, ac¬ 
quainted with his business, and being then in want of just 
such a person, I gave him occasional employment. His 
manners were civil and polite, and his learning above the I 
generality of his station: but there was a want of candour in j 
his expression, and it was rarely that you could get a fair 
honest gaze into your face. He would converse with a 
civility almost amounting to servility, but would always 
avoid the eye. His appearance was untidy, which showed 
that his helpmate at home was untidy too. On one occasion 
I was led to call at his cottage, and I found what I sus¬ 
pected—that his wife was a poor, wretched creature, his 
house was filthy, and lii.s children miserably dirty and 
neglected. How, then, was this? Here was a man who 
had possessed advantages seldom enjoyed by others; he had 
received an excellent and thorough knowledge of his busi¬ 
ness from one of the best gardeners of the day, and upon 
the strength of it had obtained what might have been a 
permanent situation on liberal terms; and yet we find 
