44 The Life Worth Living 



My triumph was brief. I got 75 cents a 

 crate for my first shipment. They cost a 

 dollar at the most conservative estimate. 

 The next shipment brought 25 cents a crate, 

 and the next one was held for the freight 

 charges and dumped by the transportation 

 company. I sent the ploughs into the field 

 and tenderly turned under for fertilizer my 

 crop of cabbage over which I had toiled and 

 yearned and dreamed. I quietly determined 

 to let somebody else raise cabbage. 



My cantaloupes grew beautifully. I'm 

 especially fond of a fine cantaloupe and I 

 determined, for the sheer love of the thing, 

 to grow the finest melon New York ever 

 tasted. I did it. The first shipment, how- 

 ever, gave me a chill. Instead of $3 a crate 

 I had expected, I got an average of 85 

 cents a crate. They cost me $1.25. The 

 next shipment brought 50 cents, and the 

 next 25 cents. 



I had nervous prostration and went to 



