PRIZE PICKINGS 295 



the material eight or ten feet high, so that the tops of 

 all my grapes and gooseberries are easily reached. 



With a whitewash brush we smeared all the 

 grapevines from the ground to the outer ends of the 

 stems with the blue vitriol solution, with enough lime 

 in it to show quite white. We also did the trunks of 

 all the young trees, clearing away the soil slightly and 

 extending up beyond the first crotch. — [F. J. Bell, 

 New Jersey. 



Poles and Brush. — I cut my bean poles when get- 

 ting wood in the winter, and sharpen them, leaving 

 them handy to the garden. I bring down my pea 

 brush also on top of the wood, sharpen and trim them 

 and put them in small heaps with a weight on them, 

 so they will flatten out and be in shape to set better in 

 the rows. Much time and hurry is saved by doing 

 this work in winter and having everything ready when 

 the plants require it. — [C. E. K., Connecticut. 



Experience has taught us that pinching back the 

 vines causes them to bear twice the amount of melons. 

 — [L. C. Wright, x\ew York. 



Mistakes. — The season seems too short for brush 

 lima beans. We shall not plant potatoes between rhu- 

 barb rows, as they receive too much shade. We should 

 have provided the tomatoes with a trellis. — [Miss Bar- 

 bara Brown, Indiana. 



The Struggle That Wins. — This bit of biography 

 by a New Hampshire prize winner, A. E. Ross, shows 

 of what stuff successful contestants are made : "I 

 remained at home till I was twenty-one and then went 

 to work for one of my neighbors, and continued to 

 work out until 1889. When in search of a place 

 where I could get more money, I came to Somersworth 

 and entered the Great Falls Manufacturing company. 

 I went into the dress room, where I soon learned, and 

 by steady habits I soon secured one of the best jobs 



