MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 141 



Of course, there is no such thing as 

 absolute value in this world. You can 

 only estimate what a thing is worth to 

 you. Does gardening in a city pay? 

 You might as well ask if it pays to keep 

 hens, or a trotting-horse, or to wear a 

 gold ring, or to keep your lawn cut, or 

 your hair cut. It is as you like it. In 

 a certain sense, it is a sort of profana 

 tion to consider if my garden pays, or 

 to set a money-value upon my delight 

 in it. I fear that you could not put it 

 in money. Job had the right idea in his 

 mind, when he asked, &quot; Is there any 

 taste in the white of an egg ? &quot; Sup 

 pose there is not ! What ! shall I set a 

 price upon the tender asparagus or the 

 crisp lettuce, which made the sweet 

 spring a reality ? Shall I turn into mer 

 chandise the red strawberry, the pale 

 green pea, the high-flavored raspberry, 

 the sanguinary beet, that love-plant the 



