THE NEW AGRICULTURE. 197 



same time in a way which seemed rather to discourage than en- 

 courage me to look into it. I saw clearly that the author of " The 

 New Agriculture" took every man who came to ask him questions, 

 as coming more from curiosity to see what he would say, than to 

 obtain information. The more Mr. Cole said, the deeper became 

 my interest in his conversation, since I saw at a glance the man 

 was talking of a subject on which he was well posted. 



" Looking me over, he concluded I was hardly stout enough to 

 work in his trenches, but after some hesitation engaged me to 

 work for a few days setting strawberry plants. He gave direc- 

 tions that no plant should he set till every stone, big or little, 

 lying in reach of the roots was removed, giving as a reason, that 

 if the root struck a stone, it would be attacked by fungus, and 

 that the plant would languish, if not die, and would bear little or 

 no fruit. He pointed out plants having a sickly appearance, and 

 directed me to pull them up, dig down for the cause of unthrift, 

 and removing it, set a new and healthy one in its place. 



" I soon found an abundance of work, since fully one-third of his 

 plants, set by careless or inexperienced laborers, gave evidence of 

 fungus at their roots. Security from fungus, seemed to me at 

 first a large part of Mr. Cole's system. 



" ' Give your plants plenty of water, removing obstructions, so 

 that the roots will not strike them,' he said, ' and there will be no 

 fungus, unless it is planted in the soil by decaying wood or un- 

 composted and fermenting manures, or by water-logged lands.' 



" I saw at a glance that Mr. Cole's system removed difficulties, 

 giving his plants an opportunity of eating and drinking all they 

 wanted, making their own selection. I had not been a month at 

 work before becoming more deeply interested in Mr. Cole's me- 

 thods of cultivating the soil, than in anything I had ever worked 

 at. "While I worked for wages, I worked also to get knowledge, 



