ABOUT MAKING GARDENS 95 



My Ideal is always a plant that does not grow 

 more than two or two and a half feet high, yielding 

 heavily and of the finest flavor. For a long while 

 I found nothing better than May Queen and A No. 

 i. Dainty Duchess is the newest claim to favor, and 

 I know enough about it to give it special room in my 

 next garden and highly recommend it. Onions and 

 a few other vegetables, I have already told you I 

 leave entirely to the market gardener, of whom I 

 can purchase. 



I have named enough to set you at work, and I 

 can see you getting up very early in the morning 

 all through the summer months to take a look at your 

 growing things. I can see also the pride with which 

 you carry in your first tomatoes or a bunch of golden 

 carrots. Your rhubarb will make earliest spring joy- 

 ous, and your string beans, following my directions, 

 will not be all picked before November. You recall 

 what the Emperor Diocletian said when asked to 

 resume his crown, " Come and see my cabbages." 



By the way, I do not think that I have said enough 

 about beans, but I have told you how they enrich 

 the soil instead of impoverishing it. I advise you 

 to grow them liberally and only of the best. My 

 crossbreeds are my pride. The best of them will some 

 day be placed on the market. I have reduced the 

 selected sorts to five well-established kings of the 

 legume kingdom. My advice is that you use much 

 of your enthusiasm in starting new sorts yourself. 

 There is nothing quite so noble as making this world 



