88 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
November 4. I 
the amateur must, as carel'ully as he can, remove 
a great part of it, and after getting at the good soil, 
■ vvliicli for distinction I will call “natural,” ho must 
endeavour to bring that to tlio surface, burying a deal of 
the waste matter at least two feet below the surface, 
providing he cannot afford to take it away altogether. 
In this operation, bo it remembered, that all opening or 
porous substance might with advantage be retained, and 
tiicse being mixed with the clay, will produce an effect 
tending to its amelioration. This class of fertilizers 
includes all the waste mortar that can be had, chippings 
of stones, and bricks; and even wooden chips are not 
without their uses. Supposing the clay to be buried 
beyond the ordinary reach of cultivation, yet it is better 
tliat the subsoil should be to a certain extent ])orous, 
and the articles above-mentioned are the best of any for 
making it so. I have said nothing of draining, because 
1 apprehend that the welfare of adjoining buildings had 
rendered that important object necessary before garden¬ 
ing was thought of; if not, some little dilKculties may 
exist in the way of disposing of the water; but this can 
only be arrived at on the spot. 
'J'his preliminary operation being performed, it is better 
to wait awhile before advancing much further, if circum¬ 
stances will allow of delay. Ground that has been trod¬ 
den upon, and covered up beneath a mass of impenetrable 
matter, requires exposure to the atmosphere before it re¬ 
gains those fertilizing properties it held previous to its 
interment; and at whatever time of year the operation 
of raising it to the surface is performed, a more or less 
period of jtreparation is required before it be lit to sup- 
])ort vegetation, or to afford it those nutritious juices 
so necessary to its support. This process is more slow 
in autumn tlian at any other period of the year; and, 
perhaps, it may bo more active in the hottest 2)art of the 
summer. The cold drying winds of s^ning are not with¬ 
out their uses, neither are the winter frosts; the last, 
perhaps, being the best for extracting all jiernicious 
matter, and loosening those hands of adhesion, a loosen¬ 
ing so essential to soils becoming fertile. Now the 
same rule holds good here, which we have so often laid 
down for the trenching or tilling of ground — it must 
be often done; — the rough turned-up eartli, after being 
partially dried, or otherwise benefited by the atmo- 
sjihere, &c., may be further improved by having other 
jiortions of it e.xposed to the action of the elements. 
I let it, therefore, be digged over in dry weather; or, if in 
winter, when its surface is partially frozen, so as to 
bear the treading on; and at all times avoid treading 
upon the dry portion during this probationary process, 
and by-aud-by you will bo rewarded by the fine condi¬ 
tion the ground is left in; and, eventually, planting and 
other duties may be done; at the same time taking care 
that nothing be done until you have contemjdated in your 
mind’s eye the ulterior effects such jdairtiug will liave. 
In fact, before commencing planting at all, it is better to 
consider where the principal and subordinate walks are 
to bo, and any other arrangement that may be deemed 
advisable had better be done before any extensive 
cropping be gone into; and first of all, the wall-trees, if 
there be any intended, might be j)lanted, and the walk, 
edging, &c. formed, and other work done which may be 
))roperly called the foundation of the whole ])lan, and, 
like every other foundation, supports and maintains the 
I whole superstructure ;' it is, therefore, im[)erative that it 
be good, and that nothing bo introduced calculated to 
mar the affair; but as the subject is one deserving parti- 
cidar attention, 1 will a 2 ) 2 icnd some more observations 
next week. J. Robson. 
WILLIAM AND ANN JONES. 
By the Jiillwrcss of '‘My Floircrs," dc. 
“ liEMEMBEE, rcmemher, that thou keep holy the Sabbath 
day.” "Who among us remembers this as we ouglit? Those 
who most diligently seek to Itonour the Sabbath will be the 
most ready to confess that they come short of this slrong 
i and remarkable command. They will feel most deeply the 
j requirements of God’s holy law, and theii' own forgetfulness ; 
how must it then really be with those who neither remember 
! the charge, nor mourn over their guilty disregard of it ? 
! It is wholesome and instructive to mark tlie dealings of 
! God wltli men, in judgment as well as in mercy—not in the 
I spirit of uncharitableness, but as warnings and calls to 
! our.selves, to take heed lest we fall into the same condernna- 
1 tion, and to glorify our merciful God because He hath 
i hiilierto spared us. 
William and Ann Jone.s liave lived, with a young family 
growing up around them, “ without God in tho world.” 
They have always been respectable, hard-working, well- 
behaved, honest pieoide, and, therefore, the world thought 
well of tliem; but still, when we live in quiet, res2)ectable 
defiance of God's commands, wo are living without Him in 
the world. William Jones did sometimes go to church, to 
be sure, but very seldom, and his wife never. She. lived for 
years at the churchyard gate, within fifty yards of the free 
sittings, but she never went in. She had a large family, a 
baby, little children to look after; she could go out to work 
in the fields veiy often indeed, but somehow, on Sundays, 
her cottage and her childi'en could not be left; she had a 
great deal to do. It was very strange, hut so it was; and 
she remained contentedly at home. 
A lady who had known Jones and his wife from their 
! being little children, and had a great regard for them, 
1 always employed Ann about her pretty cottage, and engaged 
j her as a kind of “unattached” servant, to come and be 
useful whenever she was wanted, and a very honest creature 
j she was; but this lady strove in vain to persuade her to 
: lieop holy the Sabbath day, and go to church. She warned, 
exhorted, and reasoned, but all in vain. The heart was not 
j in Ann Jones to honour the Sabbath, and she civilly listened, 
but did her own way after all. Her mistress would not turn 
I her away because of her guilty obstinacy, for she hojied in 
, time to prevail; and she knew that more was to he done 
j while she had influence over her than if she wholly gave 
I her ui); but she very often spoke very seriously to her, and 
pressed the subject home where a mother alway.s feels 
it most. 
“You will be i^unished in your childi’en, Ann; some 
j judgment will certainly come upon you for your determined 
■ refusal to go to church. Dejiend U2)on it the daj' will come 
when you will bitterly feel it; you have no excuse : your 
; eldest girl can mind the children when yon are out at work, 
' and therefore once on the Sunday she might mind them 
I while you are worshipping God.” 
: No; Ann Jones liked to earn money, and there was no 
: pay at the church door. She served her mistress well, 
' because she knew her, and felt her kindness in a thousand 
* ways: she saw and touched the money, the clothes, tho 
; broth, the gruel, &c., that she received from tho arm of 
j fiesh; but she “knew not God,” nor noticed the ble.ssings 
1 Ho showered down upon her, and therefore she did not 
’ care to servo Him, or to go into His presence. She made 
I Ilis day a day of business, that she might make her own 
j days days of gain, and went on very quietly and contentedly 
in her sin. One of the little boys was placed as cowboy to 
! a neighbouring farmer, who was a steady attendant at 
; church himself, with all his family, but who forgot, or did 
j not consider, th.at he wa.s bid to “remember” tiiat his 
' servants also should keep holy the Sabbath day; so little 
Willy spent one whole year, Sabbaths and week-days, in tho 
midst of his cows, and was never for that whole time sent 
once to church. 
One day, about a month ago, we suddenly heard that one 
of Jones’ little boys was dead. Scarlet fever had attacked 
the child, and in a very few days he was taken from them, 
llcfore the funeral took place, another sickened and died. 
The third who was struck with the disease was poor little 
AVilly, who had on that very Sunday, through the strong 
representations of a lady, been sent for the first time to 
