120 FARMING IT 



I had six rows of these plants, and it was my 

 custom every morning, just after finishing groom- 

 ing Polly and Lady M. and Jack, to go down on 

 my knees, and with a pair of shears prune one 

 row of trailers before breakfast. Thus the begin- 

 ning of the next week would find me at the start- 

 ing-point, with just as many, if not more, trailers 

 to cut and weeds to disentangle and pull up than 

 ever before. However, I persevered with the hope 

 of bountiful berries the second year. 



A few days after the Fourth we had a terrific 

 storm of wind and rain which lasted all one 

 night. The next morning, when the sun rose, I 

 was early on hand to see the results of the storm 

 on the garden. Although partially protected by 

 a high board-fence, my corn was badly damaged 

 and a good deal of it prostrate. My other vege- 

 tables had suffered less. 



I retired to the barn and communed bitterly 

 with myself. "Ingenui, et duplicis tendens ad 

 sidera palmas talia voce retuli: ' O terque quater- 

 que beati quis ante ora patrum Troise sub mceni- 

 bus altis contigit oppetere !" Was it for this that 

 I had worked, and slaved, and dug, and hoed, 

 and pruned, and scratched, and raised blood- 

 blisters on my hands ? Was it for this that I had 

 spent evening after evening with lantern, wheel- 

 barrow, tub, pail and dipper, faithfully coaching 

 the struggling plants through a dry spell ? Was 



