82 Details and Dollars 



out to the country, taking a little place with a 

 small garden. Meantime I bought every popu- 

 lar book bearing upon the subject of garden- 

 ing, and I subscribed to several agricultural 

 newspapers, which I read with conscientious 

 thoroughness. I have quite a little library 

 upon agricultural matters, collected that spring 

 and summer. 



My garden, to begin with, was in the most 

 rudimentary condition, having been allowed to 

 run to grass. After digging up a spot about 

 ten feet square in the turf, taking the early 

 morning for the work, I decided that it would 

 require all summer to get the garden fairly 

 spaded up, and so I hired a stalwart Irishman 

 to do the work for me, which he did in a week, 

 charging me nine dollars for the job. As he 

 professed to be also an expert in planting vege- 

 tables, I bought a supply of seeds in the city 

 and entrusted them to him, assuring myself 

 that once in the ground the rest of the work 

 would fall to me ; if I could not keep a garden 

 patch fifty feet square clear of weeds, I had 

 better abandon the business at once, and all 

 hopes of making a living out of scientific gar- 



