CHAPTER IX 

 SOME LAST THINGS 



" The man who has planted a garden feels that he has done some- 

 thing for the good of the world. He belongs to the producers. 

 It is a pleasure to eat of the fruit of one's toil, if it be nothing more 

 than a head of lettuce or an ear of corn." — Charles Dudley Warner. 



ATI ME comes in every garden, carried on 

 through the summer months, when interest 

 flags. Usually this happens in August. The 

 first joyous sense of proprietorship has quieted 

 down into a full assurance of ownership of crops 

 that are rapidly maturing. The weeds have been 

 pretty thoroughly discouraged or the plants seem 

 sturdy enough to hold their own against them. 

 The daily harvest may be offering only slight re- 

 turns outside of the now familiar supply of greens, 

 like Swiss chard, or pickings of late sown radish and 

 lettuce. It is still too early to plan for the day 

 when the little farmers will present their exhibits 

 at a county fair, a harvest home, or the annual 

 fete that should close the growing season of the 

 garden. It is the time when heat makes every 

 one sluggish and when the swimming pool is 

 especially dear; when ball games and picnics are 

 being planned by parents and children because 

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