A LITTLE PLACE IN THE COUNTRY. 



21 



as upon the lawns ; or in applying to young plants, 

 where only a limited amount is wanted, it may be 

 done with large sprinkling cans. 



The vegetable garden will be the most directly 

 benefitted by the water supply, and after that the 

 strawberry beds. So, especial care should be taken 

 to have tanks so located that these may be easily 

 reached. 



We have now progressed far enough, and reached 

 that season of the year, when we must determine 

 upon our plans of work for the spring and summer. 

 That we shall have a garden, and a good garden, is 



for a good garden does always pay. But so long 

 as the care, the labor and the expense must attend 

 the venture, if we are to get anything worth hav- 

 ing, it will be wise to increase the quantity of each 

 of these somewhat, and endeavor to get a money 

 product that will leave as clear profit whatever we 

 may use in home consumption. 



To do this will require the services of a good 

 vegetable gardener as a helper, and here it will not 

 pay to be "penny wise and pound foolish." A 

 good gardener, one who can use his eye and his 

 brain, is worth incomparably more, especially to 



a foregone conclusion. But just what its extent 

 shall be, and whether it shall be solely for supply- 

 ing our own table, or whether we shall make its 

 scope sufficient to afford a surplus for sale, may 

 be yet an open question. In suggesting the loca- 

 tion which was outlined in the first of these papers, 

 the idea was not only to select a place where the 

 first outlay will not be large, but where the subse- 

 quent income from our labors might reimburse us, 

 in part at least, for our expense in maintaining a 

 country home. 



To have a good garden, such an one as will be 

 satisfactory throughout the season, and competent 

 to meet all demands upon it, even for the home 

 table, from lettuce to late celery, will entail no 

 small amount of labor and expense. I do not 

 mean an amount that the product will not repay — 



the beginner, than the man who can only hoe and 

 dig; a knowledge of the "short cut" in planting^ 

 and in cultivating, and in preparing vegetables for 

 market, may save more than the difference in 

 wages. While the more proficient a man is, the 

 more wholesome pride will he have in his occupa- 

 tion, the greater desire to prove his value. But for 

 the price which it will be wise to limit ourselves to, 

 this first season of superintending, we must not ex- 

 pect too much. Do not look for an experienced 

 fruit grower, a competent florist, and half a dozen 

 other things in connection. If he is a good gar- 

 dener, that must suffice. 



Having found such an one, and become satisfied 

 as to his habits of industry and sobriety, employ 

 him at once. His services will be needed as early 

 as the first of February in hot-bed work, preparing 



