130 PRIZE GARDENING 



have plenty of plants, for every vacant square foot in 

 the garden has a melon or squash vine coming up. 

 Uncle says "he likes to have plenty and they will do 

 no hurt." 



July 12. — Gathered the first cucumbers. They are 

 selling here at three for ten cents. All vegetables are 

 very high; lettuce five cents a head now at Newton, 

 beets nine cents a bunch, peas and beans five cents a 

 quart. The celery plants are going off well. All the 

 people who come for them exclaim in wonder over our 

 garden. ''The finest garden I ever saw !" ''Why ! 

 You have everything in your garden." "What do you 

 expect to do with so much?" These and many more 

 admiring comments. 



August I. — We have so many cucumbers that I 

 do not know what to do with them, and everybody else 

 has them also. Last year I supplied all the neighbors, 

 sometimes giving away three bushels at a time. Now 

 I can only feed them to the hogs. Have found the 

 thief which has been eating the parsnip tops. Going 

 quietly out just now I saw a ground hog run from the 

 parsnips down under the wire fence through the stones, 

 into his hole. Mr. B. says he will kill him with bisul- 

 phide of carbon. The Fordhook Early corn has given 

 us but two dozen ears fit to eat. They are either 

 unfilled or covered with smut, more of the latter. The 

 Country Gentleman is very fine and not very late. It 

 is planted very thick, but sets two or three good ears 

 to a stalk, so we shall have plenty. The tomatoes are 

 simply a wonder. They are now ripening at the rate 

 of a bushel or more a day and still in bloom. The 

 Gradus and Quality peas both began to bloom after the 

 first crop was picked and have given us several messes 

 for the table and seed for next year. I suppose the 

 dfy weather early, and later so much rain, was the 

 cause of the unusual proceeding. 



