Lettuce and teans or peas were being shipped daily now. Imperfect heads, or those not quite 

 hard enough for market were sent to hospitals, Y. M. C. A.'s and the Sunshine Society. 



le<\ found time in the evenings to work on the shower bath we had long intended for the men. 

 A space beside the engine was partitioned olT, cement floor laid on a slant, pipe connections made and 

 a spray att:-rhed. 1 his was thoroughly enjoyed by the Englishman, but Italian and American natures 

 seemed to "dodge." 



1 he li:,st day of June found us preparing to fill acre Xo. S with cabbage and cauliflower from our 

 own seed-bed. .luly 1st fell on Sunday, a second one destined to be a work day. Early morning in- 

 spection showed the cabbage so full of worms we were afraid to leave them until morning, so faithful 

 Mike, who knew the danger as well as we, "passsed" them with paris green. It took us sometime to 

 quite unLlerst;.nd this phr:',se of his: 



"i\ir. luller' 1 think best I pass cauliflower to-morrow, what you think — of course, you boss," 

 with a shrug of the shoulders. 



AV e ( iially gathered that he wished to spray the cauliflower. 



The last time 1 saw him I said: 



".\.ike, how's the cauliflower?" 



"My gaw! A.iss Fuller' I pass them 11 time and they no good, I never see such worms." And hie 

 eyes snapped with true Italian tire. 



'1 his s.-ime ^UIlday night more plants arrived from the South. 



"I don't dare look at them," I said. "Of all the times of year to travel these past three hothouse 

 days are the wotst They must all be dead." 



.\nd a sorry looking sight they were; celery, more sweet potatoes and late cabbage. The«e plants 

 had been ordered of a Long Island nurseryman who said he could supply us. Irony of fate! They 

 were from the s;.ine Maryland grower! 



'1 he follow ing day foreboded rain, so the entire farm turned out to plant. By no means least 

 amonji the nutiiber were the wee ones. The proccs.sion moved like this: i\like and Buckeye making a 

 furrow. 'I ed following drawing a ph'-nk to smooth the top a bit. Uncle Roger making dibble holes, .John 

 and \^ alter sorting out the plants that might possibly grow, Hope with a basket of plants upon her 

 arm drojiping one at each hole, Eleanor placing the [ilant in the hole and .Mike coming after and firming 

 them, the .Junior Partner marking each row, while the Senior Partner with a camera made the scene a 

 part of history. It wj^s hard work, but many hands made it light, while good will and bantering fun 

 made the time seem shorter. As a test of speed, Mike. Walter, Hope, and Nettie planted 4!)> drutnhead 

 cabbage in 'S> ninutes. The small ones grew pretty tired but did not desert until the last plant was in. 

 Rain cati^e and we were all glad the good work had been accomplished. 



Blight w:us spreading fast, aided and abetted by continued damp, warm weather. It kept 2 men 

 busy "passing" the various crops. 



(.'n the '.id. n:eloris were ready to be thinned and radishes pulled from the hills. They had fulfilled 

 their mit-sion and strange to relate many were still in fine marketable condition; from the field we sorted 

 1,L0() !,s f ne as het'.rt could desire. 



'I he 4lh could not pa.ss w ithout some celebration and a case of fireworks made the little ones long 

 for e\ening. Bifi ones enjoyed the day as it passed. A diminutive cannon gave the grown-up boys 

 much iilei'.sure and the national salute of 21 guns echoed from the surrounding hills. 



1 arget practice has always been our "fourth" habit, for I think a woman should know how to shoot 

 as well ;.s n m;-n. A target was placed in the swale to the south of the barn: we took our turns using 

 revohers N: ike and I took honors, while for the sake of my se.\ I must say I led, but the shots showed 

 all of us would have "winged our man." Shotguns followed, firing at a can thrown in the air; that 

 weapon is not to my liking, so I withdrew before I lost prestige. Mike is a fine shot, while Ted followed 

 a close second. (;ld Incie had a glorious time but most of his shots went wild. I have no doubt the 

 contest «a.* a good thing; the melon patch w.as let .severely alone. The evening's display was a delight 

 to all and although our neighbors had been invited, but few appeared. 



Cn the Cith, crops began coming in in earnest, early cabbage and young carrots were added to the 

 list. 



There are days with the best of us when everything goes "dead wrong" The 0th of .July was one 

 such with the Railroad Farmer. Everything was dead wrong from the time he arose; when a young 

 chicken having escaped from the chicken yard got into the seed-bed, that was the "dead wrongest." 

 A dive for the chi'kt'n. a catch of the foot in some huckleberry roots, and the Farmer lay prone. The 

 knee had been wreiuhed and then began 3 months of limping and bandaging; a sad and unfortunate 

 mishap in the midst of .such a strenuous season. No amount of persuasion would keep him quiet and 

 as the limp grew worse the children dubbed him: 



"Cld ^cr. N;icklejolui had a leg of hickory on." 



Several di'.ys h'.ter Aunt Sophie, who had been steadily growing lazier, about decided she had had 

 enough of country life, so much to T'ncle Roger's digust, we sent them back to the city. 



"M hy I's just gettin' my hand in, boss, and I likes it powerful; but Sophie she always does this 

 yere w.%y." 



1 hree weeks followed, in which but for Nettie's willing help I should have been in a bad way, for 

 no cook could be procured. 



Cabbage louse vv.-is tormenting the life out of us, spreading day by day, from sprouts to cabbage, 

 from c.-.bbage to cauliflower, kale, and kohl rabi until it seemed as though nothing would stop them. 

 Their natural enemy is the ladybug's child, they help man keep the fuzzy louse down. But ladybugs 

 were \ery scarce this year. 



Elei.nor r.nd I were walking down the middle road one afternoon when a ladybug happened to light 

 on her stocking. She looked down and said in her sweet baby voice: 



""W hy, you cunning tiling, do you think I have aphis on me?" Their love of benign and animosity 

 toward malign insects is very strong. 



43 



