240 FIVE ACRES TOO MUCH. 



drawn : one, that I must plant more of these ener 

 getic vines ; the other, that I must build a chicken- 

 coop. The latter would cost heavily, probably more 

 than many years supply of both berries and chick 

 ens ; and, to save the expense of applying to the 

 nurseries for the former, I must encourage our own 

 vines to run and propagate. To effect this, when 

 July drew toward a close, and they put out suckers 

 in every direction, I pinned these down with small 

 forked sticks, so as to compel them to take root. 

 This was an original idea of my own, of which I was 

 particularly proud. Weeville ridiculed it, saying that 

 there would be young plants enough without that 

 trouble; but I determined to help Nature which 

 the doctors have lately ascertained is the true prin 

 ciple in encouraging human plants to grow and dis 

 couraging them from dying. The work kept me 

 quite busy, for it was astounding how many runners 

 started off and how fast they ran. They took root 

 finely, and soon made the entire patch a mass of 

 nourishing plants. They grew and grew, and inter 

 laced and twined round one another, and, unfortu 

 nately, the weeds grew with them, till, when I under 

 took to transplant them in the fall, I could not tell 

 the old plants from the young. This was rather un 

 lucky ; for, unless the old stools, as they are called, 



