THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
259 
July'6. 
much to say that cure can he had for all these evils, yet, 
by attending to a few points in culturo which boar on 
the matter, much may be accomplished in the way of 
lessening the evil. 
Having just observed that the Pea is more subject to 
misfortune when planted to come into use at a late 
period than when done sooner, it follows, that the season, 
i.e. the atmosphere, and the state of the ground generally, 
is not suited to the wants of the Pea; the former being 
charged with something favouring disease rather than 
vigour, while the latter is deficient of that qualification 
necessary to ward it off; hence the liability to suffer. 
1 Now, in order to preserve it against such a misfortune, 
wo must tako all the pains we can to secure the plant 
such an amount of good wholesome food, that it will not 
suffer from the lack of proper nourishment; tho state of 
the ground ought to be so regulated as to admit all this, ! 
which is accomplished by breaking it up to such a depth 
as to admit the roots of tho Peas so far down as to be 
below the immediate action of the dry weather ; tho stiff 
ground must bo mixed with such as consists of a finer 
texture, while very light, hungry soils and gravels must 
have a corresponding addition made to them of stiff and 
retentive nature, so as to ensure a healthy action to roots 
deep enough to be below the immediate range of an 
ordinary summer’s drought; but this latter is a more 
difficult duty than flie other, for the dry nature of a 
sandy, chalky, or gravelly, sub-soil, is such as to suck out 
the moisture from any ordinary substance buried in it, i 
consequently, the means of restoring that moisture must 
bo made available; in other words, where a soil of the 
above description has to be operated on, it would bo ; 
better if the subsoil was removed to at least ensure a 
depth of eighteen inches of good loamy soil of a kind that 
was sweet and well-pulverized by its exposure to the 
atmosphere; if this cannot be had in sufficient quantity 
to do the whole plot, then let the rows be so done to tho 
breadth and depth of at least eightoen inches each way, 
and tho Peas being sown at the proper time, tho moisture 
of this space must be kept up by repeated waterings as 
wanted, not forgetting to supply liquid-manure when tho ; 
plants have advanced one-half their height and after¬ 
wards. By attending to this, and allowing them a free, 
open, airy situation, a tolerable crop of Peas may be I 
depended on, which in an ordinary way might have 
fallen a prey to mildew when just beginning to form 
their pods. 
When land of an entirely opposite character has to be 
acted upon, a contrary course must be adopted, for here 
wo have the plant supplied with a superabundance of fluid 
matter, and that, perhaps, of a sour and improper kind. 
Incases of this kind, where the ground is wet, clayey, and 
unkind, what farmers would call a good fallow is necessary 
hero, i.c., it must bo exposed to the vicissitudes of the 
elements for somo time before sowing, and frequently 
turned over during that time; and when tho proper time 
arrives for sowing, let areverse way to the one noted above 
be adoptod; in fact, instead of sowing the seed in rows of 
earth that had been deepened to receive abetter material, 
let the material in this case bo heaped on the surface, and 
I the seed sown in a sort of ridge, more or less high, as the 
' wetness of the ground may seem necessary; but observe, 
this plan is only necessary in extreme cases; for though it 
is common enough to sow Peas, and other things in that 
way, in early spring, &c., the ground must want drain¬ 
ing very much that requires this precaution in Juno or 
July. Howover, I have here advised its being done in 
extreme cases; and, if very dry weather occur, moisture 
can easily bo supplied to it—only, in this case, tho 
watering must be performed in the early stages of the 
crop, aud not in the latter; for by the time tho plants 
have advanced one or two feet high, their roots will also 
have penetrated down to tho ground in which water 
abounds in sufficient quantity to meet their wants; 
consequently, they will not be benefited by hand-feed¬ 
ing in that caso, and may derive much harm by a 
superabundance of water, which, as is well known, is 
more deleterious in its effects when applied in an 
artificial way than in a natural one. However, the 
season, and other circumstances, will, in general, point 
that out. 
I cannot conclude this article without urging on the 
amateur tho necessity of ensuring a good quality in the 
seed he selects for his late crop. It has been customary 
to sow the early white kinds at this season, and they are 
certainly less liablo to misfortune than the more delicate 
green varieties; but such as present a robustness of 
habit ought to be selected, such as Thurston's Reliance, 
which I have found do very well. Even the British 
Queen sometimes bears well at a late period; but, as 
there is generally some peculiarity in each individual 
soil, or a something which operates on the crop, that 
each place has its favourite variety which succeeds 
better than others. But when pains are taken, as above, 
to ensure a healthy and vigorous growth, there is every 
prospect of obtaining good Peas, even in the most un¬ 
promising situation ; and I earnestly request our young 
friends to attempt their growth in such a way, aud 
though, in extreme cases, they may bo disappointed, 
yet, usually, they will be successful ; aud as it is 
easier in the Pea to ward off disease than to cure it, 
1 herewith warn the amateur not to depend on sulphur, 
or any other nostrum affecting a remedy for this crop. 
J. Robson. 
THE DYING ERENCHMAN. 
By the Authoress of “ My Flowers." 
The following narrative has been sent by a kind and now 
well-known writer. It is one of real interest; and at this 
time, when France and England are so closely united; when 
their bravo sons are fighting side by side in the cause of 
liberty and independence, and the whole world, as it were, 
spectators of tho honourable struggle; at this time it is 
doubly interesting to mark and detail the little history of 
one of our French brethren, and to place him among those. 
“ Villagers ” who have a natural claim upon our hearts. 
“ It is hoped that the solemnization of the late day of 
humiliation and prayer may be long impressed upon the 
minds of the British nation, and that they may evidence, by 
their national conduct, that the acknowledgment then made 
of the Loi’d's supremacy was not an awful mockery, and an 
hypocritical bending of the knee. Who will readily forget 
the brightness and sunshine of that glorious day, as though 
the Almighty had already vouchsafed a gracious reply to the 
prayers of his people, being ‘ always more ready to hear 
than we are to pray?’ 
“jit was between tho services appointed for that occasion, 
that, in the absence of some friends who had been accus¬ 
tomed to call upon an old Frenchman then lying at the 
point of death, I paid a visit, at their request, to tire dying 
man. His history was singular and affecting. His father 
was a zealous loyalist, and a captain in the naval service of 
France at the time of the great and fearful Revolution; and, 
like hundreds of others of his countrymen, he sought pro¬ 
tection on the shores of Britain from the persecution of 
the insurgents. He landed at an obscure port in Wales, 
with his wife and only child—tho poor man in whose case 
my Mends were interested. Worn down with poverty, and 
overwhelmed with anxiety for the future, the captain died in 
London in obscurity; and the mind of his widow, racked 
with distress, gave way, and she became a liarmloss lunatic, 
in humble lodgings in a provincial town of one of the mid¬ 
land counties. 
“ Whether the son, while a youth in France, had picked up 
a knowledge of the art he practised in after-life, or whether 
he was initiated into its secrets in England, I am not aware; 
but with tho ready skill so proverbial in our lively neigh¬ 
bours on the other side of tho channel, ho became a pro¬ 
ficient in the art of glass-spianing, and picked up a tolerable 
