WHAT I KNOW ABOUT GARDENING. 21 



plants or sow seeds early, you fret continu- 

 ally ; knowing that your vegetables will be 

 late, and that, while Jones has early peas, 

 you will be watching your slow-forming 

 pods. This keeps you in a state of mind. 

 When you have planted anything early, you 

 are doubtful whether to desire to see it above 

 ground, or not. If a hot day comes, you 

 long to see the young plants ; but, when a 

 cold north wind brings frost, you tremble 

 lest the seeds have burst their bands. Your 

 spring is passed in anxious doubts and fears, 

 which are usually realized ; and so a great 

 moral discipline is worked out for you. 



Now, there is my corn, two or three inches 

 high this 18th of May, and apparently hav- 

 ing no fear of a frost. I was hoeing it 

 this morning for the first time, - it is not 

 well usually to hoe corn until about the 18th 

 of May, when Polly came out to look at 

 the Lima beans. She seemed to think the 

 poles had come up beautifully. I thought 

 they did look well: they are a fine set of 

 poles, large and well grown, and stand 



