CHAPTER XII 
THE YOUNG FARMER’S ALMANAC 
" Tell you a story,” my beautiful dear, 
” Of nixies and pixies and fairies with wings ! ” 
Well, curl up close in the corner here. 
And I ’ll show you more astonishing things. 
Celia Thaxter 
Gardening is an all-the-year-round occupation, yet some 
of us, who see how rushed a farmer is when spring comes on, 
might well think of it as his busy season and ask what a 
farmer does the rest of the year to kill time. The joyous 
call of all growing things in the springtime is really only a 
part of the story ; spring happens to be the climax of a 
year of strenuous preparation, and during those months his 
industry is just as real, though not so striking. The spring 
planting, upon which so many hopes hang, is actually antici- 
pated weeks — yes, months — before a single seed goes into 
the ground. Several important pieces of work must have 
been satisfactorily done ; any one of these by itself would 
keep mind and muscle steadily employed. Take merely the 
preparation of the farm land, and consider what skill and en- 
durance is necessary to get it into shape. Consider also the 
planning necessary in growing plants under glass. Prepara- 
tion cannot be made a week too early nor a day too late ; the 
right moment waits upon the weather. To tell ''when” takes 
a good guesser. Looking ever forward, mapping out work, 
readjusting his plans to events as they come along, becomes 
second nature to the expert. There is no month in the cal- 
endar when he can afford not to '' watch out.” One market 
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