YOU AND YOUR GARDEN.

Cromwell Argus, Volume LXI, Issue 3161, 4 May 1931, Page 7

YOU AND YOUR GARDEN.

. "Know thyself" may be good advice, but so far as gardening is concerned, "know your land" is better. My land is on the heavy side, and excessive rain has beaten it down to an almost solid consistency. Where beds have been undisturbed a coating of green mould covers them, the soil is cold and sad. Heavy land always suffers after a prolonged period of wet, and therefore nothing is more important than to break it up early. No land is more improved by winter's frost, while for manure, what is wanted is the coarse sort, with plenty of straw in it. Moss litter is good, and lime is very beneficial. For plants which 'do best in light, dry soil one tries to add sand. All this is aimed at breaking up that heavy mass which holds the moisture too long and affords delicate roots but a poor chance.of travelling in search of food. A light soil, on the other hand, will stand lots of moisture, for it the danger lies in drought. Heavy farm manure with a binding tendency is what such soil needs, and deep digging is not so essential as in the former case. A nice medium loam is what we all want, and painstaking work between now and next spring may go far to procuring it.

The young hopeful had been a source of trouble all through the meal, and at its finish a woman friend turned to the child's mother and said: "If your boy belonged to me I shouldn't stand his nonsense at meal times. I should give him a good thrashing. "But," said the mother, "you cannot spank the poor little chap on a full stomach."

"No," was the repiy, "but you can turn him over."

The lady had done a journey by aeroplane and was talking about It to a friend who had come to tea. "Yes," she went on, "It was quite a good trip, and I had the little dog with me all the time for company!" "But," said the friend, "I wonder he wasn't scared in an aeroplane!" "Ah, well, you see," said the lady, "he's a skye terrier!"

Old Beak, a road foreman, had often been up before the Bench on petty charges, and the magistrate on each occasion had fined him. One day he got a job at the entrance of a dangerous bridge. The first car to be held up was driven by the magistrate. When Beak saw him he smiled. "I've got orders to stop all traffic, but, seeing it's yer worship, go right ahead, sir."

An American tourist was admiring the Landseer lions in Trafalgar Square. Wishing to make a joke at the expense of his guide, a dour Londoner, he asked how often the lions were fed.

"Every time they roar, sir." was the quiet reply.