My Garden 89 



the raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and 

 currants for the summer; all the peas, beans, 

 beets, lettuce, spinach, and tomatoes that will 

 be needed in summer. And I can do this with 

 an expenditure for manure not exceeding $12, 

 provided the ground is in reasonably good 

 condition. I think that the reader will admit 

 that this is something well worth knowing. 

 The trouble with most men who go into gar- 

 dening upon a small scale is that they pay out 

 money for what they should do themselves to 

 men who are often lazy or dishonest, and that 

 while they themselves may work very hard for 

 a few hours or a few days, the work is inter- 

 mittent, and that is the worst sort of work for 

 a garden. With a garden, the maxim, ' ' a stitch 

 in time saves nine," is particularly true. I 

 have seen pieces of ground in such a condition 

 that in half an hour's work with a steel hoe I 

 could kill every weed there ; three weeks later 

 to do the same thing would have required a 

 day's work or more, and then it would not have 

 been well done. To manage a small garden 

 scientifically is a matter for the most systematic 

 kind of work. Three hours a day of steady 



