74 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



NINTH WEEK. 



I AM more and more impressed with the 

 moral qualities of vegetables, and contem- 

 plate forming a science which shall rank 

 with comparative anatomy and comparative 

 philology, the science of comparative veg- 

 etable morality. We live in an age of pro-- 

 toplasm. And, if life-matter is essentially 

 the same in all forms of life, I purpose to 

 begin early, and ascertain the nature of the 

 plants for which I am responsible. I will 

 not associate with any vegetable which is 

 disreputable, or has not some quality that 

 can contribute to my moral growth. I do 

 not care to be seen much with the squashes 

 or the dead-beets. Fortunately I can cut 

 down any sorts I do not like with the hoe, 

 and, probably, commit no more sin in so do. 

 ing than the Christians did in hewing down 

 the Jews in the Middle Ages. 



