140 HAPPY HOLLOW FARM 



a clean six-foot swath behind you; and when 

 you turn at the fence to look proudly back over 

 what you Ve done, there the pesky things stand, 

 four times as thick as when you started. If 

 you think that's an exaggeration by way of a 

 joke, come on down here and try it. 



"Why 'n't ye do yer sproutin' in dog days?" 

 the hill people used to ask of us. "If ye git 

 'em in the dark o' the moon in dog days, the 

 sop '11 sour, so's they won't come up no more." 



So we tried it in the dark of the moon in dog 

 days, and they came up thicker than ever. 

 We tried it on Washington's birthday, and 

 Thanksgiving, and the Glorious Fourth, and 

 every other day on the calendar; and each time 

 we tried it they came up thicker than ever. 

 We'd get into a rage sometimes and try grub- 

 bing them out by the roots; but that was a 

 hopeless job. Do you know the story of the 

 little boy who was annoyed by the roar of the 

 ocean, and who set out to stop it by dipping 

 up all the water in his little pail and pouring 

 it out on the sand? Well, it was something 

 very like that with our sprouting. The little 

 boy's remedy for his distress was simplicity it- 

 self. So was ours. All we had to do was to 

 keep on chopping, and by and by there 



