132 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
tion of clear liquid-manure, brewed from the excrements 
of the cow, sheep, or deer. Mushroom Spawn should 
now he provided for another season. To prepare, take 
equal portions of fresh horse and cow-dung, and add 
one barrow or basket of good fresh holding loam to 
eight of the dung; incorporate it well together, by turn¬ 
ing and beating it with the back of a three tilled fork, 
or other tool, to break the lumps ; after which, it should 
be moistened sufficiently, and worked over to the con¬ 
sistency of stiff mortar, when it may be moulded into 
bricks or cakes of any desired size and thickness, or it 
may be spread on an even floor, two inches thick, 
making it smooth and even all over, and allowing it to 
remain till solid enough to cut into cakes, which should 
then be stood up edgeways to dry. When moderately 
dry, they should be secured and packed in some snug 
[May 29. | 
corner of a shed, and each cake or brick of every alter- ! 
nate layer should have a small piece of spawn placed in 
it, by scooping orrt a very small hole; if maiden spawn 
can be procured from a mill-track or other place, so 
much the better; and after the whole is packed, it should 
be covered over with good stable mulch, in order to 
maintain a moderate warmth, and prevent the effects of 
draughts, &c. Great care must be taken to maintain j 
only a moderate warmth, from 75° to 80°, if more, it 
will perish the spawn. If all goes on well, the spawn ; 
will have sufficiently run in about a month or six weeks 
to unpack and take out the greater part of it, which 
should be placed in a moderately dry place, to prevent 
its further running or exhausting itself. If properly 
taken care of, mushroom spawn may be kept for years 
good. J. Barnes. 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION. 
OUR VILLAGERS. 
Ihj the Authoress of “ My Flowers&c. 
It is remarkable how people are influenced by their early 
habits, even under the greatest disadvantages, and to their 
extreme old age. How important, therefore, it is, that the 
poor should be taught, as far as possible, to be clean and 
comfortable in their habits from their earliest youth, that 
when they are old they may not be objects of disgust to 
their fellow men. 
There is a poor old man in our parish, who has for many 
years received the scanty relief that is afforded to paupers 
in this district, which, in his case, is only sixpence a week 
and a loaf. He is alone in the world—his wife and children 
are dead, and, as parish relief forbids labour in every case, 
old T-is obliged to be content with his pittance and sit 
with his hands before him. He is quite able to earn 
sixpence or shilling now and then, although unequal to 
support himself by regular work; but he must not do this, 
because if any actual work is done the parish pay is stopped. 
Poor old T-is one of the cleanest old men I ever saw. 
He is always neatly dressed—no rags; and, what is equally 
agreeable, no snuff and no tobacco about him. How lie 
manages to be kept so clean I cannot tell; but the old 
proverb “ where there is a will there is a way,” will be found 
true while the world lasts, and is strongly exemplified in 
this old man. We were surprised, one day, when taking a 
long walk, to find T-sitting at a gate that opens from a 
road upon a large common. There is no cottage near the 
place, and carriages and persons on horseback are constantly 
passing through this gate, which is a very strong and heavy 
one, and they are a good deal inconvenienced by the inter¬ 
ruption. At this gate, which is nearly two miles from the 
village, old T-- had planted himself, in the hope of 
picking up a penny or two by opening it for passengers. It 
was a bitterly cold day, the wind swept over the common 
with keen severity; but the old man had scooped out a sort 
of nook in the thick hedge, and was tolerably screened from 
the cold. On expressing surprise at seeing him so far 
from home, he said his weekly money was so little he could 
scarcely get along, and he thought if he could earn a penny 
or two only in the week, it would do to buy soap to wash his 
clothes, We were very much struck by the old man’s 
words. No one before had ever troubled themselves to 
obtain soap; beer, and tobacco, and snuff have been wished 
for, and have often been bought with money that ought to 
have found bread; but soap was altogether a new want, and 
it took us quite by surprise. It, however, explained the 
secret of the man’s tidiness of dress. He was fond of 
cleanliness, and therefore he could be clean. 
Now, on the other hand, there is an old man who is a 
favourite with us, because he is so quiet, and harmless, and 
inoffensive, but whose love of soap has never yet developed 
itself. He is a religious minded man, and therefore it 
seems the more remarkable; but his want of cleanliness is 
sad and striking; his appearance is more that of a figure 
set tip to frighten birds than any other thing, and from 
having terribly inflamed eyes, his first impression upon 
strangers is one of extreme unpleasantness. Yet his meek 
and lowly disposition, his kindly smile and grateful- 
lieartedness make friends for him, in spite of the imper¬ 
fections of the outward man. He is so content with having 
nothimj; for many, many months he had nothing allowed 
him but a loaf, and was entirely dejiendant upon the 
daughter, who earned only three and sixpence a week; he 
is so grateful for the most trifling kindness, and so humbly, 
yet confidently rests upon the mercy and faithfulness of 
God to those who trust in His Word and promise, that it is 
impossible not to feel a kindly interest in all that concerns 
him. Yet, I remember, the first time I saw him, a great 
many years ago, when no one cared much about him, and 
he was certainly worse-looking than he is now—I was both 
astonished and alarmed for a moment or two. Now these 
two men have lived in the same parish all their lives, they 
are much about the same age, and their station in life is 
the same. Yet the difference between them in outward 
things is great and marked, and it is all caused by the love 
of cleanliness and the love of dirt. 
When people are idle, and wicked, and given to drink, 
and regardless of God and His laws, we are not at all 
surprised to find they are dirty and wretched in their looks 
and dress; but we rarely find people possessing godliness, 
who do not look neat and clean, as well as cheerful and 
happy. Order and decency in person, and dress, and house, 
almost necessarily come on when the heart is turned to 
God, because idleness, sloth, and negligence are by degrees 
put away, as His commandments prevail with us and 
influence our conduct. 
The poor should remember that no animal loves or 
thrives in dirt. The cottage gardener and the humble 
labourer may take a lesson from what passes under their 
own observation. Pigs are said to be dirty animals by 
nature, but we have only to examir e the difference there is 
in them when they are kept clean, or suffered to be dirty, to 
convince ourselves that they do not thrive in uncleanliness. 
When the sty is clean and dry, and there is plenty of nice 
straw in the shed, the animal looks wholesome, and healthy, 
and happy; but when suffered to “ wallow in the mire,” 
there is a sickly appearance in the poor creature, and a 
dejected expression in its face that we perceive in a moment, 
when we have been in the habit of seeing pigs carefully 
and delicately kept. It is just the same with human beings; 
and as they have reason and understanding, it is very 
shocking to see them more inclined to live and be haj>py in 
dirt, than the beasts that perish. All animals take pains 
and delight in keeping themselves clean, birds and beasts 
will lick themselves, or pick their feathers and plume them¬ 
selves daily; but human beings are to be found who will go 
day after day without washing themselves or their clothes, 
thereby not only making themselves disgusting to their 
fellow-creatures, but causing many diseases, increasing 
