144 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



own time waiting for the potatoes to 

 grow. My time in hoeing, fighting 

 weeds, &c., is put in at five days : it 

 may have been a little more. Nor have 

 I put in any thing for cooling drinks 

 while hoeing. I leave this out from 

 principle, because I always recommend 

 water to others. I had some difficulty 

 in fixing the rate of my own wages. It 

 was the first time that I had an oppor 

 tunity of paying what I thought labor 

 was worth ; and I determined to make 

 a good thing of it for once. I figured 

 it right down to European prices, 

 seventeen cents a day for unskilled la 

 bor. Of course, I boarded myself. I 

 ought to say that I fixed the wages 

 after the work was done, or I might 

 have been tempted to do as some ma 

 sons did who worked for me at four 

 dollars a day. They lay in the shade 

 and slept the sleep of honest toil full 



