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either by loot or by gift ; the remaining plants were 

 annuals, and wild things borrowed from fields, woods 

 and swamps. 



For the sake of other beginners who want to do 

 the thing gradually and make a modest beginning 

 in gardening, I can't do better than tell them of our 

 annuals that first season, and how much beauty we 

 surrounded ourselves with by sowing only the best- 

 known seed. 



To start with, we found an old chicken yard on 

 the place; and as we couldn't undertake chickens 

 we removed the chicken houses and stored the lum- 

 ber for the making of toolhouse and hotbed the fol- 

 lowing spring, reserving one long stretch • of the 

 chicken wire for the support of sweet peas. 



The rich soil of the former fowl yard made an 

 ideal place to start our seedbeds, and here we sowed 

 in May, blue ageratum. Marguerite carnations, cos- 

 mos, asters, marigolds, mignonette and pansies. We 

 planted at each column of the front porch wild 

 clematis found in a brush tangle near a brookside. 

 The clematis is a long-legged vine which remains as 

 bare about the knees as a Highlander, so we planted 

 nasturtiums to cover the lower part of these vines; 

 and sweet alyssum plants were invited to do the same 



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