68 OLD-FASHIONED GARDENING 



coarse stalk serves as a bean-prop and the beans run 

 upon it. They increase together and thrive ex- 

 tremely well, and thus two crops are gathered at the 

 same time." 



Thus we see how quick to adopt as their own the 

 devices and methods of the red men, the Dutch were. 

 And these, grafted upon their hereditary skill and 

 knowledge, speedily developed a husbandry suited to 

 the climate and conditions in which they were settled. 

 It was not long before travelers who visited New 

 Amsterdam and the outlying farmsteads which dotted 

 the island of the Ma-na-atans — or the Manhates, or 

 Manna-hatas; there is variety enough to choose from 

 — exclaimed at the abundance on every side, and 

 lamented the peaches lying in such quantities every- 

 where upon the ground that even the hogs surfeited 

 of them and could devour no more. 



As to the ancient name of the island, I must digress 

 long enough to explain that I have adopted the form 

 which appears to have the strongest claim to being 

 correct, alhough it is the form least used. Many 

 fanciful and far-fetched derivations for "Manhattan" 

 have been advanced by scholars — and others — and re- 

 pudiated by scholars. I must confess I cannot bring 

 myself to agreement with the necessity which most 

 of those who have studied the question seem to feel 

 themselves under, of limiting their interpretation by 



