THE COTTAGE GAEDENEIl AND COUNTRY GENTLEMAN’S COMPANION.— August 10,1850. 
30(5 
it will much improve it. The lime may be laid on after 
the first rough digging or trenching, and he dug in 
after, or it may be dug in at the time, keeping it at the 
top, as lime usually finds its way down pretty easily. 
More lime than stated above may be given when it can 
be obtained reasonably, and if it could lie so as to got 
the beuetits of the dry weather we sometimes have in 
September, it would much improve the ground; but if 
it could be got ready by that time, I would advise the 
1 portion intended for lawn to be sown during that month, 
i and it will likely be green before winter sets in, taking 
■ care to level it properly, picking off stones, and removing 
all obstructions. And as our correspondent wants to know 
how much manure is necessary per acre, 1 may say, that 
thirty good one-horse cart-loads are not too much per 
! acre for garden purposes, and sometimes more than that 
is used for ploughed ground, but the quality of it and 
other matters will regulate the quantity; but, in a 
general way, it is difficult to give too much to poor 
ground, such as we suppose the plot in question to be, 
only wo may observe, that the portion intended for lawn 
will not require any ; and if the ground bo of that black, 
boggy soil which is often called peat, it is better not to 
add lime at all, and if it be of an opposite nature, it 
had better be withheld where Rhododendrons have to 
be planted, or any other bog plants introduced ; but 
most other things derive advantage from its presence, 
and the tillage ground works much better in consequence 
of it being there. 
As a descriptive mode of dealing with new ground 
intended for garden purposes has appeared in one of 
the late numbers of this paper, it is not necessary to 
repeat it. The above, probably, will meet the wants of 
the querist for whom it is intended. It is, therefore, 
only necessary to say, in conclusion, that such operations 
as draining, forming of roads and walks, and, in fact, 
trenching, levelling, and other works of that kind, 
ought to be done well; for as the after welfare of the 
whole often depends on these, and it is inconvenient to 
do it then, it is prudent to have them all dono in the 
best manner at the beginning, and we have no doubt 
but the result will be satisfactory. J. Robson. 
THE DAY OF SMALL THINGS. 
By the Ati/Tiorcss of “ My Flowers." 
Do my readers remember one of my sketches, a long 
time ago, which I entitled “ The Poor Widow ?” 1 am now 
going to bring the same widow before their notice in 
another light, and which will recommend and enforce a duty 
too often neglected, despised, or passed over by those who 
ought to know better, simply because little things, little 
usefulnesses, seem scarcely worth the trouble of doing: 
what good can such a trifle do ? 
Ah, let us remember that wise and ancient saying, “ She 
hath done what she could.” Who spake those words ? The 
same lips that spake these also: “ Whosoever shall give to 
drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only 
in the name of a disciple, verily, I say unto you, ho shall in 
no wise lose his reward.” 
The poor widow was dwelling in a coal-shed when last 1 
wrote about her, but “ a friend indeed,” struck with the 
circumstances narrated, sent the writer a sovereign to be 
laid out in any way advisable, to add to the poor widow's 
comfort. This was a gracious gift sent from on high, and 
it was employed towards the rent of a little cottage, the 
remainder being made up by another friend. It was, or 
rather, is, a snug, quiet little spot, very small, and very cold 
in winter; but still it is a real cottage, and not a coal-shed. 
The friend who made up her first year’s rent met with 
a loss just after the second year began, but has been 
enabled still to pay it on, somehow or other , as the world 
would say; and there the poor widow sits in “ quietness and 
confidence,” with her Bible before her, and deep-settled 
peace in her heart. Her anxiety for the bodies and souls 
of men continued unabated, and having no home duties to 
employ her time, she can put the house-key in her pocket, 
and betake herself, for any time, to do good, as opportunity 
oilers, to those around her. 
There is always something to be done for God, and He j 
will send us orders according to our several ability, when j 
fust He has engaged us in His blessed service. 
The spring of 1855 was one of long and excessive rigour, j 
and the poor widow sat shivering and shaking in her chilly j 
cottage, not knowing how she could possibly endure the j 
intensity of the cold; but He to whom she belonged took j 
care of her. 
A lady of very small means, who could not venture upon 
any enterprise, received a small sum of money at that very 
time ; and a wish, that had been almost breaking her heart, 
was thus put within her power to accomplish. A small 
soup-kitchen, during the bitter weather, was immediately 
set on foot, and no one could be so safely trusted as tho 
poor widow; so the lady called, consulted her, told her she 
could offer no remuneration, except a daily portion of the 
soup, and then asked her whether she would work for God, 
and trust Him for payment. 
The aged servant of an absent Lord sprang forward like 
a willing horse to the collar, and joyfully undertook what 
was to her infirmities fatigue and effort. It was “ the day 
of small things,” this poor little soup concern, but it was 
useful in its way ; for many a poor man would stop and buy 
a basinful of hot nourishing food, and eat it by the fire 
which was kept going by the cooking process. It was 
partly a self-supporting affair, or it could not have gone on 
so long; but, though the applicants were not so numerous 
as they would have been in a free state, yet it went off as 
fast as the poor widow, with her aches and pains, could get 
it ready. Perhaps no one really reaped the benefit so fully 
as herself; for the fire which was required for the soup kept 
her completely warm, and the daily portion for her dinner 
was marrow to her bones, weak as she was, and unable to 
obtain needful sustenance. The cooking days were sadly 
“ cadcllirig ” days to her. The “ apparatus ” was woefully 
simple—nothing but a great iron pot lent by a neighbour; 
and, what with small space, want of gear, a smoky 
chimney, and customers coming in all over snow, and the 
heat turning it into water and mud, the poor widow was 
sometimes ready to tear her hair. Still she kept on her 
kindly way with firm resolution and untiring patience. It 
was a labour of love, and, in spite of weariness and infirmi¬ 
ties, she felt it good to be “ the handmaid of the Lord.” 
With the clear eye of a true believer, she saw how merci¬ 
fully the Lord had wrought fttr her in the matter. But for 
the poor little “ soup-kitchen,” she would, humanly speak¬ 
ing, have died with cold during that pitiless spring, and 
with fervent love and adoring gratitude, she traced it all, 
step by step, to Him, “ without whom not a sparrow falletli 
to the ground unnoticed.” 
The soup was continued until the open weather come, 
and the flowers began to appear on the earth. It had beeu 
of special service to another, besides the poor widow, of 
whom I shall speak in my next paper. It is wonderful— 
no, not wonderful, but blessed and heart-stirring—to mark 
the dealings of God in His Providences. Nothing is 
wonderful that the Lord has declared shall come to pass. 
It is only wonderful that we do not expect or believe them. 
It is wonderful that the declarations of the “ High and 
Holy One ” nre not accepted, and acted upon, as men's 
declarations are. Our Queen’s Proclamations are attended 
to, believed, and obeyed; but the Lord God’s Proclamations 
are so lightly considered, and so little trusted in, that we 
count it “ wonderful ’’ when our eyes behold them come to 
pass!!! 
Oh, reader, reader! this should not bo. 
In my next paper 1 will set forth the Lord’s dealings 
with a young man, who was, by the instrumentality of the 
poor little soup-kitchen, brought especially under the notice 
of the poor widow. My readers have already made his 
acquaintance in the lad whoso arm was broken by a roller, 
through an act of disobedience, and who grew up in the 
ways of ungodliness. The “day of small things” is not to 
be despised, if it brings good to the poorest and vilest of 
God’s creatures. Dear readers, let us sow, if it be but a 
pennyworth of seed; let us work, if it is but hewing of 
