200 GARDENS AND THEIR MEANING 



He knows very well that the plow will be required for at most 

 a few days, and the harrow for certainly not longer. Spray- 

 ing machines and large forks and spades, although at times 

 imperative, would only be brought out occasionally and might 

 not be used more than two weeks, all told. So, what with the 

 delay of too few tools on the one hand and the extravagance 

 of needless expense on the other, it is a toss-up between the 

 rocks and the whirlpool. 



Let us suppose, however, that our farmer has managed to get 

 rich crops without too great an outlay. He has hit the happy 

 medium of buying a few first-rate tools and hiring some of 

 the heavy labor. It is safe to say, then, that the stuffs he has 

 raised will generously feed the family, and allow, besides, a 

 good deal over. This overflow must find sale, if possible, in 

 his own neighborhood. If not, the packing and shipping of 

 perishable goods to a distant market seriously complicates the 

 whole business. Transportation all too often swallows up the 

 profits ; and so, little by little, our producer must withdraw 

 from a losing game. Not only that ; the habit grows upon 

 him of shutting his eyes to opportunities of every sort, until 

 he becomes too timid to take even the most innocent risks. 

 He settles down and becomes a perfect mollusk. 



Nearly every countryside furnishes illustrations of such 

 conditions. One illustration that recently came under the 

 writer's eye is the " petering out " of the strawberry business 

 in a New Hampshire county. The township lies about one 

 hundred twenty-five miles from Boston, plus four miles from 

 a railroad station. At such a distance country produce might 

 be supposed to be practically free from '" down-country " 

 competition. Besides, at the height of the strawberry season 

 summer residents arrive, eager to feast upon a generous diet 

 of native vegetables and fruit. The prices for strawberries 

 run as follows : native berries fifteen cents per quart, sold 



