166 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[June 12. 
I to be yet observed affected with bulgings, gangrene, or 
decomposition, there seems a better prospect at this 
: moment of a bountiful crop than there has been for the 
j last seven years. Thunder-storms or frosty mornings, 
J which have sometimes followed June storms in former 
years, fogs, and close, dark days, may have a very un- 
! favourable effect, and yet blight our best hopes, for 
atmospheric influence has a wonderful and sudden effect 
with regard to this disease. 
Ridge Cucumbers, Vegetable Marrow, &c. —The 
, soil about these should be well surface-stirred and 
I mulched; the hand-glasses, when full of bine, and 
i after having been lifted up by raising the corners, and 
j filling up with earth between to prevent draughts, should 
1 have at first the south side raised to let out the bine, 
| and, after remaining thus a few days, the glasses should 
We are sometimes permitted to see scriptural illustrations 
in the lives and experiences of those around us, as well as 
in our own. We sometimes see very remarkable proofs 
that the human nature is unchanged, that the ways of men 
are the same now that they were in the days when He, who 
alone was “ without sin,” “ taught in our streets,” and that 
the Word and judgments of God are as plainly and 
powerfully displayed in the rural, secluded, parishes and 
villages of England, as they were in the splendid city of 
Jerusalem, and on the rich plains of the Holy Land. 
Joseph It- had been all his life a farmer, and a 
prosperous one. He never married, but his sister lived 
with him and kept his house, and they grew old quietly 
together. When I first remember him, a great many years 
ago, he was an athletic, hale, middle-aged man, with an 
attempt at half-gentleman-ism about him, which is never 
pre-possessing, and frequently arises from a mind lower in 
its feelings than the station in which it has been placed. 
He used to wear a sort of green sporting coat, with what 
were formerly called top-boots , and a hat set knowingly on 
one side, a dress altogether unseemly for a sensible, steady 
man, as all British farmers ought to be. Occasionally he 
came to church, but so rarely, that we used to remark the 
occurrence when it happened; and his look when there was 
vacant and unconcerned. After a few years even this 
attendance was given up, and as his farm lay quite on the 
other side of the extensive parish, some years elapsed 
before I saw him again. 
He was a man notorious for hoarding his grain; stacks 
after stacks were made, and allowed to stand in his rick- 
yards and fields. He could not bear to thrash them out, 
prices were never high enough for him, he would wait and 
sen what another year would produce, and even in times 
when wheat was so high that every one brought their stores 
to market, and the poor were literally wanting bread, 
Joseph It-- went about with his hat on one side, unmoved, 
and immoveable. It cannot literally be said that he pulled 
down his barns to build greater, but his stacks were obliged 
to be put in the fields because there was no room for them 
at the farm. 
In the course of time rats became so numerous, and 
there appeared so much damage done to the corn, that the 
fanner was obliged to look into the matter, and throw open 
some of the stacks to see what was going on; and as a labourer 
expressed it, whose way to work lay by the farm, “ the noise 
of the rats and mice among the stacks was like hounds in 
full cry.” When the stacks were examined, a very great 
number of them were nothing more than so many hollow 
shells,—the entire centre of each was crumbling dust; andthe 
refuse straw was thrown into the farm-yard to form manure. 
A large barn full of thrashed wheat which had been 
suffered to remain there for years, was “ minted,” as the 
country people said, and Avas nothing but chaff, so that the 
be lifted on to three or four brickbats, and the bine be 
trained out regularly all round, pegged and stopped. Ridge 
Cucumbers should not at first be too suddenly exposed 
to the open atmosphere and draughts, but gradually, by 
first increasing the air, and then mulching them. When 
first let out they will escape sudden checks, the effects oi 
which very often produce canker, rust, mildew, &c., &c. 
Melons may still be ridged out; also, Frame Cucumbers, 
and another sowing made. Both Cucumbers and Melons, 
in full fruit-bearing, should have occasional assistance 
with liquid manure. Give air at all times previously to 
the sun’s shining on the structure. Apply a sufficiency 
of good tepid Avater at shutting-up time, which should 
be early. Never apply it over the foliage or limit, and 
neither canker, mildew, and red spider will be seen. 
James Barnes. 
“ moth and rust ” had indeed destroyed the treasure which 
poor Joe R- had been laying up for himself on earth. 
Still his love of hoarding, and hope of gain did not forsake 
him, he followed the same course, forgetting that his soul 
might be required of him before the day of prosperity came. 
When I next saAV him I scarcely knerv him, he was grown 
so old, and dirty and grey. His hat no longer sat smartly 
on his head, but Avas pulled over his eyes, his sporting coat 
Avas exchanged for an old brown one, and his boots, which 
he still Avore, looked as if they had never been cleaned or 
mended since the days of his youth and pride. In fact J 
death had placed his seal upon him, although, perhaps, lie did 
not knoAV it, for the first approaches of the sure, but stealthy 
foe, Avere silent and soft. He Avas at this very time nego- 
ciating a matrimonial treaty with the AvidoAV of a baker, Avho 
Avas left Avith houses and land, Avhich poor Joe probably 
thought would add to the gains he Avas heaping up, not 
knowing who should “ gather them ; ” but the AyidoAv was 
cautious and Avary, and so much time passed in preliminaries, 
that all hope of Avorldly happiness faded and died. An icy 
hand lay heavily upon him, and he at last took to his bed 
to rise from it no more. 
The closing scene, alas ! Avas such as might be expected. 
Joseph R-had sown to the world and to the flesh, and ive 
are told by lips “ that spake as never man spake,” that lie that 
“ soAveth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption. ’ 
His bodily anguish was severe—excruciating; but the 
torment Avithin must have been yet more terrible, for he 
Avould not let his sister move out of his sight, nor would he 
suffer any one but his medical attendant to go near him; 
no one Avas permitted to enter the room, not even the 
servant, and he resolutely refcised to see his clergyman.. In 
this state of agony and desolation he lingered for some time, 
and it Avas only one day before liis death, Avhen his weakness 
of body and mind had reached its lowest pointy that he 
consented to the clergyman’s visit being paid. The interview 
Avas, of course, short and unsatisfactory, and in the course of 
a very feAv hours from its occurrence he breathed his last. 
The poor of the neighbourhood were much struck at the 
circumstances attending the death of Joseph R-. They 
knew Avell all that he had done, and all that he had not 
done, and their plain and simple acquaintance with the 
Word of God, untortured and untwisted by the subtleties of 
human wisdom, enabled them to see at once the affecting 
parable performed before their eyes;. Oh, that Ave Avould all 
lay to our hearts such solemn semes as these, and draw 
from them the instruction and rep roof they so abundantly 
convey ! It is not among our m< ire loAvly brethren only 
that Ave find these passions at Avorlc^ the rich and the great 
man has them too. 
Not a great many years ago, a m an of large estates and 
Avealtli dreAv near to the dark valley through Avhich we all 
must pass. His state of health ob liged him to leave his 
MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION, 
OUR VILLAGERS. 
By the Authoress of “ My Flowers ,” dc. 
