138 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



tempt to put in a few modest turnips near 

 the close of the season. I sowed the seeds, 

 by the way, in the most liberal manner. 

 Into three or four short rows I presume 

 I put enough to sow an acre ; and they all 

 came up, came up as thick as grass, as 

 crowded and useless as babies in a Chinese 

 village. Of course they had to be thinned 

 out ; that is, pretty much all pulled up ; 

 and it took me a long time ; for it takes 

 a conscientious man some time to decide 

 which are the best and healthiest plants 

 to spare. After all, I spared too many. 

 That is the great danger everywhere in this 

 world (it may not be in the next) : things 

 are too thick* ; we lose all in grasping for too 

 much. The Scotch say that no man ought 

 to thin out his own turnips, because he 

 will not sacrifice enough to leave room for 

 the remainder to grow : he should get his 

 neighbor, who does not care for the plants, 

 to do it. But this is mere talk, and aside 

 from the point : if there is anything I desire 

 to avoid in these agricultural papers, it is 



