136 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



Cr. 



Two thousand five hundred mealy pota- 

 toes, at 2 cents $50.00 



Small potatoes given to neighbor's pig . .50 



Total return 50.50 



Balance, profit in cellar 32.90 



Some of these items need explanation. 

 I have charged nothing for my own time 

 waiting for the potatoes to grow. My time 

 in hoeing, fighting weeds, etc., is put in at 

 five days : it may have been a little more. 

 Nor have I put in anything for cooling 

 drinks while hoeing. I leave this out from 

 principle, because I always recommend water 

 to others. I had some difficulty in fixing 

 the rate of my own wages. It was the first 

 time that I had an opportunity of paying 

 what I thought labor was worth ; and I de- 

 termined to make a good thing of it for 

 once. I figured it right down to European 

 prices, seventeen cents a day for unskilled 

 labor. Of course, I boarded myself. I 

 ought to say that I fixed the wages after 

 the work was done, or I might have been 

 tempted to do as some masons did who 



