28 HOW TO LIVE IN THE COUNTRY 



may be needed until eight o'clock at night. iVe a 

 pretty acre, just half a mile from the city lamps, and 

 there I've as fine a garden as one may wish. I'd be 

 glad to have you taste our asparagus, and later our 

 string beans and fresh corn. There's a small bed of 

 strawberries, too, and along the fence some raspber- 

 ries not many, but enough for us and a few for 

 my friends. 



" I get three cuts of alfalfa from my yard and 

 from the lot in the rear, and it nigh feeds my horse. 

 There are three pear trees for shade, half a dozen 

 plum trees, and a lot of cherry trees besides, in the 

 garden. The wife tends all these, as well as her 

 hens, and it's not seldom that she gives me a basket 

 of eggs for the market. Since we began to earn and 

 to save, and to sleep well, I drink less, and there is 

 a bank account slowly creeping on. 



" The children are out of the streets, with a chance 

 to be helpful in the garden. They have as much 

 fruit as they like, and flowers in the bargain. I like 

 nothing better myself than to sit on the turf with 

 them, unless it be to see how clean and healthy they 

 be growing." 



I know two maiden ladies old maids if you 

 please (for they were growing old very fast) who 

 came out of the city about eight years ago, and 

 bought a cottage half a mile from me. They were 

 very poky and full of ailments. They planted 

 flowers and lettuce, and soon had their own pie plant 

 and greens and fresh peas and a good deal else to 



