scheme himself. A crate holding six "four-quart" baskets was selected. The three baskets in the 

 bottom contained beets, newly dug potatoes (the kind you can eat boiled in the skin) and cabbage. 

 A partition over these and the top three contained peas, lettuce, and cucumbers in one box, young 

 carrots and young onions in the third box. 



As a test for this package they were shipped to friends with the urgent request for criticism. The 

 criticism usually came in the request for more, although many friends helped us with the suggestion 

 that tomatoes be packed tight and that peas and beans be wrapped in paper as they spilled through 

 the crate. 



Mike had brought his wife to cook for us. She is a delicate colored woman with some Indian 

 blood in her veins. She has children; one a baby of months, the oldest 14 years, and she is 28. 

 She was too sick to work, therefore, after having a doctor see f.nd prescribe for her, I sent her home 

 with strict injunctions to rest all she possibly could. 



A regular cloud-burst occurred on the 21st with sharp lightning and heavy thunder nearby. We 

 dreaded lest all the corn be knocked flat, especially the fodder corn which was becoming, together 

 with the alfalfa, the pride of our hearts. Thank fortune little damage was done. 



The potatoes' growth was bothering us considerably. Some varieties were extrem.ely dwarf and 

 turning brown early. There was no sign of blight, which puzzled us all the more. We went into the 

 field taking up hills here and there and found many of the potatoes scarred, but without any apparent 

 cause for it. 



Finally reward came. One potato stuck full of huckleberry roots proved to our satisfaction that 

 this was the cause of the scars. The "State of Maine," the last to be dug, was the first to bloom, while 

 the "Extra Earlies" were the last to bloom. Queer things potatoes! Uncle Gideon's Quick Lunch 

 suited us very well. We dug some on July 23d, finding them medium sized, nearly round, shallow- 

 eyed flecked with carmine, and a delicious "eater." At this season 40 feet yielded one peck. Some 

 day all vegetables, fruits, and eggs will be sold by the pound. I hope the day is not far distant, for 

 that is the rational method. ^^ eigh a dozen measly store eggs against a dozen fine fresh ones and you 

 will see where the buyer would gain. The "Extra Earlies" gave a greater yield, but were not nearly 

 so fine either in appearance, shape or flavor. 



Almost every day after this saw a "home hamper" going on a mission. 



Early in June or just after the bird bath had been placed, we "doctored" the lawn a little. In 

 patches it was still bare, so Ted raked them over, then rolled the entire lawn. Again raking it he sowed 

 more seed and rolled a second time. The sprayers were started immediately, and by the 27th the song 

 of the lawn-mower was heard in the wilderness. As pretty a lawn with a goodly showing of white 

 clover had been procured as many sections could show at the end of two j^ears. 



Mike succeeded in getting three agricultural Italians at last. One had been on the section gang, 

 passing the farm every day all the season and had become much interested in it; one came from "Easter 

 New Yorker," a young fellow whose father had been a farmer; while the third had been for some time 

 with neighbor Tesla at his "wireless" station. Their names were Antonio Bignoni, Martino Luliccio, 

 and Pedro Centro. 



They made for themselves a bunk in the work shop and a cook house along the eastern fence. They 

 are quiet, content, polite, and faithful, and are still with us. They learn quickly, and after once being 

 shown a thing can be trusted to do it alone. 



There were times when we were glad to borrow them from the dairy, for the entire farm needed 

 cultivation, while picking could under no circumstances be neglected. 



For the 2Sth the diary says: "The entire farm is this day thoroughly cultivated"; and as that was 

 Saturday, a sense of rest naturally pervaded the entire farm family. In fact one of the things that 

 struck me most forcibly this summer was e\ eryone's enjoyment of Saturday afternoon after mid-summer. 

 No picking and packing to attend to, just getting to rights for the Sabbath and cultiva,ting the crops 

 that everyone had been aching to get at for days. There were no Saturday half holidays and there 

 were no kicks. 



Rainy days were always filled clearing the barn and shops, putting together crates and doing indoor 

 work, often these chores were saved for a rainy spell and many times the buildings looked neglected 

 and uncared for, but we knew their turn would come in good season. 



At the end of July invitations went to the same "history makers" and ex-perts who visited the 

 farm on its first blasting day. They went in the form of a "home hamper" and a call to come and see 

 the vegetables growing. August 7th was set as the date, 11 months and a day from their last visit, 

 when they had begged us not to attempt the problem. 



A hint from the diary for August 1st is as follows: "We picked and packed a bushel of wax, and 

 three-quarters of a bushel of green pod stringless beans, beautiful in color and form, rnd so tender 

 and brittle it was difficult to handle them." Well I remember them, for they were the fiist pick from 

 the third planting and we were glad that we had persisted in our efforts to grow them free from disease. 



That same day we had a flying visit from a member of the New York City Board of Education. 

 He came, he said, because he could not credit the stories he had heard of such marvelous development 

 in so short a time. He frankly confessed as he went over the farm that it was almost beyond the powers 

 of conception to realize that 11 months before the place was in its primeval state. 



And truly it was a sight during August. Such wealth of growth, such a variety of vegetation one 

 seldom sees. 



A three days' rain from the northeast in the first part of this month gave us opportunity of doing 

 many small indoor jobs. Seed boxes were made, more crates put together, engine room straightened 

 out, baskets piled and between showers wire put up for berry and grape vines. But at the end of the 

 third day "Mike cultivated the pea patch on acre No. 3, John drilled in red top and Aberdeen turnips, 

 Ted cut the lawn and trimmed up borders," which shows what a truly remarkable soil this is. 



The 6th was spent in preparing for the morrow's distinguished visitors. The day bemg clear 

 they were to feast in the open upon the farm's products. Ted also drilled in some spinach between the 



