WHAT 1 KNOW ABOUT GARDENING. 61 



is that the ladies should crochet nets to 

 cover over the strawberries. A good-sized, 

 well-managed festival ought to produce nets 

 enough to cover my entire beds ; and I can 

 think of no other method of preserving the 

 berries from the birds next year. I wonder 

 how many strawberries it would need for a 

 festival, and whether they would cost more 

 than the nets. 



I am more and more impressed, as the 

 summer goes on, with the inequality of man's 

 fight with Nature ; especially in a civilized 

 state. In savagery, it does not so much 

 matter ; for one does not take a square hold, 

 and put out his strength, but rather accom- 

 modates himself to the situation, and takes 

 what he can get, without raising any dust, 

 or putting himself into everlasting opposi- 

 tion. But the minute he begins to clear a 

 spot larger than he needs to sleep in for a 

 night, and to try to have his own way in the 

 least, Nature is at once up and vigilant, and 

 contests him at every step with all her inge- 

 nuity and unwearied vigor. This talk of 



