No. 3 in the afternoon. These little hand implements are wonderful time savers, two sides of a row are 

 cultivated in the time it takes to walk down a row; in the new ground it took longer, for sometimes 

 huckleberry roots would check the progress, but as time permitted, all the rows were raked after culti- 

 vating, which gave the land a much cleaner appearance. In fact, the rakes attached to the cultivator 

 make about the best tool imaginable for this work. Ted always called it his "baby" and went whistling 

 down the rows, covering the ground in truly remarkable time. Even Uncle Roger got so he could 

 push one after his slow fashion, while we would see Aunt Sophie steal from the kitchen and run him a 

 race with one across the field. 



"You'all makes me tired goin' so slow wid dat ting, why don't you git along." 



"Haw! haw! haw! You tink I'm a spring chicken, don' you know I got de rheumatis powerful 

 bad? Go wan!" 



The spinach patch on acre No. 3 was ready for Mike and the horses. It did not need plowing, 

 so he went over it with the horse cultivator 5 times, with the leveler 3 times, then raked it, dragging 

 the fine roots to the road and finally gave it a good rolling, leaving the plot in perfect condition. This 

 latter operation is one that is seldom attempted in farm work. After cultivating, the soil is left in so 

 porous a condition the roots do not get a firm hold until rains have flattened it well. Ted and John 

 came right along with the seed drill and in 2 hours had the entire patch planted with onions, carrots, 

 peas, beans, and sugar beets, 76 rows, each 127 feet long. The rows were as straight as a die, the drill 

 did not check once, in fact, no 100-year-old farm could produce a plot in better seed-bed condition, and 

 this was not yet a yearling. 



This planting of peas and beans was the third one of each. The first planting of peas you will 

 remember we saw on our walk to the dairy. They matured very early, were extremely dwarf, and the 

 vines yellowed badly. It puzzled us much to know the cause. We irrigated (which no doubt saved 

 their lives during the drought of May) and we wood-ashed them. The second planting on acre No. 7 

 were taller but started to yellow also. 



"Well, it beats me," said the Farmer, "what do you suppose makes it? There is a patch in the 

 middle perfectly normal, tall, green, and luxuriant." 



"That's where a bonfire was last fall," I rejoined. "Don't you think they need more ashes?" 



"We've put more ashes on them. Don't you remember I had John sow them last week?" 



"Yes, but maybe they need it underneath; let's plant more down on the spinach patch and give 

 them a good dose of it." 



"All right, I'll go you," was the rejoinder. 



This crop was entirely satisfactory, the soil had been heavily sown with ashes, and when the peas 

 were about 4 inches high, more ashes were sown along the rows, then the little Planet Jr. plow attach- 

 ment was run through, hilling the vines up well. The crop was abundant and of high quality. 



Beans had been one of our greatest disappointments; we knew well their susceptibility to anthrac- 

 nose (so-called bean rust), and to guard against it had sprayed them with bordeaux. The vines were 

 superb, laden with pods and almost ready to gather; in a night they were gone with the dread disease. 

 Those next to the house, by the tower, were the first to go. A second application of bordeaux on the 

 second planting, acre No. 7, was promptly made, but it did not save the crop. Therefore beans went 

 in beside the peas with a firm resolve to spray them the minute they appeared above ground. In six 

 days they appeared. 



"John, those beans are up and you want to get bordeaux on them at once." 



"All right, sir, shall I use it dry?" 



"Not on your life! Use it wet and soak 'em for fair. I'm going to have some good beans ofT 

 this place if it takes a leg." 



In G more days they were wood-ashed and hilled-up like the peas; in another 2 weeks they were 

 bordeauxed again. The yield was perfect; beans in abundance, and while the other plantings had 

 received as many applications of bordeaux we feel they need it when very small, as this disease must 

 be prevented; it cannot be cured. This patch 127 feet long and 29 feet wide, yielded 12J^ bushels of 

 stringless and wax beans. 



Potato bugs and flea beetle were still making lace of potatoes and tomatoes, while the cabbage 

 worm was keeping us very busy as well. 



By the 14th of June we women folk were picking peas for shipment, while Mike was preparing 

 acre No. 7 for sweet potatoes. It required much cultivating and leveling to get it into anything hke 

 shipshape condition. Ted was cultivating lettuce and weeding the strawberries. 



"Mother, what shall we do?" came small voices. 



"Help us pick peas, won't you?" I answered. 



"0, yes, I'll help," said Hope and she promptly sat down in the patch and proceeded to eat all 

 she could reach. "That's great helping," I said, "the guests at the French restaurant will enjoy those." 



"0 well, never mind, mother, he can have the 'fatty, fatty, boom-a-latties' and I will eat the 'petit 

 pois.' They are sweetest," said the connoisseur, just turned seven. 



"Look, mammy, ain't I a helper?" piped the four-year old. An apron full of big ones disclosed 

 her efforts, but then she does not care for peas either raw or cooked. 



That night the plants arrived. Sweet potatoes, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, celery, 

 and lettuce from Maryland. They were taken from the basket carriers, spread upon the cellar earth 

 floor, and thoroughly sprinkled. 



The next day was very hot and the ground exceptionally dry. Mike took Texas out and plowed 

 up ridges for the sweet potatoes. They are always planted in this way, for they love dry soil and must 

 never have water stand in the roots; besides when so planted the vines are more easily raised to check 

 rooting at each vine joint. Uncle followed raking off roots while John and Ted planted, Walter help- 

 ing. A dibble hole was made, Walter filled it with water and dropped a plant; Mike came after, setting 

 them. A long hose attached to a standard at the center road and run across the fields gave them water 



