June 1G. 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER 
203 
tanees in tlie row, ready for the singlers to follow and 
complete the work. This plan, in some cases, has ad¬ 
vantages over any other, it being both expeditions and 
effective; but it must be borno in mind, that it cannot 
be carried out unless the plant of Turnips are regular 
and thick in the rows. I think it is the exception, to 
find a sufficient plant to make Mr. Pusey’s mode avail¬ 
able, and that it cannot be adopted as a rule, without 
causing, oftentimes, a serious destruction and loss of 
plant. 
T have, in some cases, when circumstances have pre¬ 
vented the use of the drill, sown Turnips rather thick 
broadcast, and horse-hoed them out into lines, and 
found it answer a good purpose. 
Before the second hand-hoeing is done, it is best to 
use the horse-hoe between the rows of either Turnips, 
Mangold, or Carrots, especially if heavy rains have 
occurred, otherwise the plants will not derive the full 
benefit from the second hand-hoeing. In this case, the 
single horse-hoe will prove superior to that made the 
width of the drill, and hoeing a number of rows at 
once, because, at this stage of the growth of the crop, 
the earth often becomes settled and hard round the 
plants, requiring the deep action of the single liorse- 
hoe, for which purpose it is the most effective implement. 
The second hand-hoeing should not be deferred too 
long; generally, about a fortnight after the plants are 
singled will be the best time, the object of the second 
hand-hoeing being to destroy the remaining weeds, and 
cut up any plants which may have been left double. 
The crops may now be left to make their growth, and, 
as they proceed towards maturity, weeds will continue 
to spring up, which should be hand-pulled, and removed, 
together with bastard plants, or those running to seed. 
Having gone into the detail of hoeing, &c., I would 
observe, that space must be given between the rows 
sufficient to carry out the inter-culture, and at the same 
time secure the greatest crop. I think the best distance, 
in ordinary culture, for Swedish Turnips, is twenty 
inches between the rows, and fifteen inches between the 
plants in the row. For Mangold Wurzel, two feet apart 
between the rows, and eighteen inches distance in the 
row. For Carrots, the best distance is eighteen inches 
between the rows, and seven or eight inches apart in 
! the row. 
The foregoing observations apply to ordinary culture 
and soils in general, any variation from which must be 
I left to the judgment of the cultivator, who should be 
j guided by the nature and condition of the soil, and the 
climate in which it is situated. Joseph Blundell. 
WILLTAM ADAMS. 
By the Authoress of “My Flowers." 
On, the sufferings of the poor! the sorrows that flesh is 
heir to! the sad, the melancholy evidences of the fall of 
man! Wherever we turn our eyes we see the consequences 
of our first parents' disobedience; the fruits of the first 
crime. AY as not the earth cursed for their sakes? AVe 
cannot tell what the beauty of nature was before the fall; 
to our eyes it is now exquisitely lovely, and we can hardly 
desire it to ho brighter and fairer than it is. AA e do not see 
or understand fully the curse , until we leave the sunshine, 
and flowers, and waving glory of the grass and trees, and 
enter the houses that are raised upon the face of the ground 
to be the dwelling-places of men. Then we see it in all its 
fearfulness, often sweetened and brightened by the Hand of 
Infinite love; but still terrible and appalling. AVhat would 
become of us, if there had not been found “ a ransom !” 
I have never seen a more distressing case of. bodily 
suffering than that of AVilliam Adams. He has an internal 
cancer in the back, which is quietly and slowly consuming 
him, literally killing him by inches. He was a sufferer for 
a great length of time before he gave up his work, 'the 
poor cannot afford,to lay by so long as they can possibly 
stand upright and'drag themselves along. Adams worked 
when ho could not stand upright, and only gave in when 
the torture overpowered him. The case was not clearly 
ascertained in the country, and he was sent to the County 
Hospital. In three days he was discharged as incurable; 
the cancer could not be operated upon; he must wait for 
death without relief or hope. It is not possible to describe 
the ceaseless agony in which he lingers. He can neither 
sit, stand, nor lie down so as to rest his poor racked body. 
In fact, he cannot sit, or stand, except bent double; and 
when he is weary of tossing on his bed, he can only stand 
leaning one hand upon a table, and the other passed through 
the noose of a rope that hangs from a beam. His bed is 
fixed in the corner of the little clean kitchen, just under the 
window, where a flower pot or two are placed; and he can 
see all that passes by, and beyond the road, a green hedge, 
and the open air; but his sufferings are too great to allow 
of interest in anything but “ the covenant ,” to which he 
clings with all his spiritual powers. “I have known the 
Lord forty years,” he said, one day; “AVhatshould I do,if I 
had to seek him now?” It is affecting and amazing to see 
his perfect composure under the deadly pangs that distract 
him. His face wears a kind of customary smile, and the 
forehead never contracts, nor do the lips utter one single 
murmur. “ Sometimes I feel that I shall despair,” he says, 
“ such is my terrible agony, but the Lord keeps me from it. 
People come and tell me I must not give way; but they 
don’t know my sufferings; they talk like those who have 
never suffered ; bless you, ma’am, they can’t understand it. 
Poor Adams ! none, indeed, can understand it, but Pie who 
was the “man of sorrows;" who in all our afflictions is 
Himself afflicted; “ by whose stripes we are healed.” The In¬ 
finite AYisdom that heats the furnace for us; the love that sits 
by, like a refiner tempering the fire, can alone know and feel 
the weight and deadliness of the needed process. Men 
cannot know what others feel; they may talk wisely and well, 
but their talking is all moonshine; it is only the Hand that 
made us that can understand our frames, and enter into the 
secrets of our trials. “I, even I, am He that comforteth 
you,” is the experience of men, as well as the assurance of 
the Lord. Those that do not know Him, have no comfort; 
those that do , need no other. 
Poor Adams is likely to continue some time yet among 
the living. His general health and spirits aie good, the 
fangs of°tlie cancer have not yet seized upon a vital part, 
and until they do, or until it wholly stops the functions of 
life he will linger on. He sometimes trembles to think how 
long he is likely to suffer; but his fears and shudderings 
are, indeed, only those of the flesh, “his heart is fixed, 
trusting in the Lord.” 
His wife is obliged to go out to day’s-work when she can get 
employment. The poor cannot afford to wait upon each other 
as they wish ; the daily bread is required, and where theieis 
sickness there is more expence. Many days, one after the 
oth er, Adams suffers in solitude. His food is placed on a little 
table near him, covered over with a cloth, so that when the 
meal-time comes, he can contrive to shuffle to it and help 
himself. Sometimes a neighbour opens the door, and 
speaks a few words to him ; but he is otherwise quite alone, 
till his wife returns from work. There is this to be said for 
a true believer, that he is never alone. _ He knows “the 
fellowship of Christ’s sufferings,” but he is also partaker in 
Christ’s consolations. He can say, “ and yet I am not alone, 
because the Father is with me! ” AVe may be quite sure of 
this, that if we knew Christ as we ought to know Him; if 
we were living up to His commands, and our privileges, as we 
