ADVICE FOR LACKLAND. 31 



Lackland, " how much ground do I want to grow all 

 the fruit and vegetables I may need for my family ? " 



" That depends altogether upon your mode of 

 culture. If you mean to trench and manure thorough- 

 ly, and have good soil to start with, and keep it up 

 to the best possible condition, a half acre will more 

 than supply you." 



" Call it two acres," says he, " and what shall I 

 plant upon it ? " 



What shall a man plant upon his two acres of 

 ground, on which he wishes to establish a cozy home, 

 where his children can romp to their hearts' content, 

 and he take a serene pleasure in plucking his own 

 fruit, pulling his own vegetables, smelling at his own 

 rose-tree and smoking under his own vine ? If he 

 goes up with the question to some high court of Hor 

 ticulture, he comes away with a list as long as my 

 arm in which are remontants that must be strawed 

 over, vines that must be laid down, vegetables that 

 must be coaxed by a fortnight of forcing, rare shrubs 

 that must have their monthly pinching, monster ber- 

 ries that must have their semi-weekly swash of guano 

 water, and companies of rare bulbs that, after wilting 

 of the leaves, must be dug, and dried, and watched, 

 and put out of reach, and found again, and replanted. 



And my friend Lackland reporting such a list to 

 me, sees a broad grin gradually spreading over my face. 



