236 FIVE ACRES TOO MUCH. 



turned to the city ; Patrick, however, said they were 

 excellent. Our spinach was so abundant that I should 

 have turned Cushy into it if I could have restricted 

 her attentions to that alone. The cucumbers were 

 very numerous, our cabbages innumerable, and our 

 cauliflowers nowhere. 



It was clear that this must be changed. The Limas 

 must be made to emulate the pole-beans, the spinach, 

 beets, and onions must be kept down to proper limits, 

 the cucumbers and cabbages must be eliminated, and 

 the cauliflowers encouraged. How to effect these 

 changes, however, was not entirely clear to my mind. 



Our corn grew remarkably well. Fresh sweet corn 

 is a dish of which I am particularly fond ; it is lus 

 cious, healthful, and appetizing ; it contains much 

 milk the human being s natural nourishment ; it is 

 excellent boiled or roasted on the cob, stewed in milk, 

 or mixed with beans into succotash ; even corn juice 

 is good occasionally but that requires age. Patrick 

 had planted a goodly lot of it. I watched the stalks 

 rise and the broad leaves spread out with infinite 

 pleasure. The ears formed with their long silky 

 tops, and swelled, as they reached maturity ,_ like a 

 budding maiden. It was with great anticipations 

 that w r e awaited our first meal of new corn. This was 

 admirably cooked, and came on the table smoking 



