September, 1912 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
i /3 
when so many things were in crying need 
of attention. Then there was the meadow 
land out of which they had cleaned a lot 
of brush the previous fall and winter, 
which gave them a good deal more to cut 
there. This was second quality hay at the 
best, good only for bedding, if it was not 
taken in time. Of course, it all had to be 
cut by hand and then “poled out,” three or 
four tumbles on a couple of long slim 
poles, held parallel beneath them. 
Nevertheless, by dint of extra hard 
work made more efficient by Mantell’s 
careful supervision, they were able to get 
the upper hand. Much to Mantell's sur¬ 
prise, it was the onion field again which 
gave them the closest call. It did not 
seem, after the first thorough cleaning 
they had given it, that it could require any 
further attention except with the wheel 
hoe, and the pulling out of an occasional 
bold and belated weed. This was so far 
from the case, however, that just in the 
midst of their busiest time everything had 
to be dropped to save the onions again. 
First those rows done by the Squire’s two 
men, who had been new at the work, be¬ 
gan to look green again, and they were 
more than twice as hard to clean out as 
the others; weeds had been broken off in¬ 
stead of being pulled out, in spite of Man- 
tell's instructions to the men, and the re¬ 
sult was that these were now stocky 
masses of roots with little top growth, 
which frequently brought one or two 
onions along with them when they came 
up. The ground was beginning to get a 
little hard, too, and that made the work 
much more difficult. 
This hardness was the first indication 
to Mantell that the ground needed water 
again. For the last week or two people 
had been saying that “a good rain would 
help everything.” Mantell had realized 
that this was so, but had not given it 
further consideration. Now he began to 
scan the sky anxiously on the lookout for 
rain-laden clouds, for the memory of last 
year’s dry time was fresh in his mind. 
None came, however, or at least all 
which came sailed on to other lands. Four 
weeks had passed and not a drop had 
fallen. Everything still looked well from 
the fine start it had had in the spring, but 
unmistakable signs that the turning point 
was near at hand made themselves evi¬ 
dent. The second planting of peas dried 
up with their pods half formed; on the 
high spots the corn leaves rolled up a lit¬ 
tle earlier in the forenoon each day and 
the squash leaves looked more and more 
limp, although this year the borers did not 
get them. Shower after shower blew up, 
with no end of lightning and thunder, only 
to pass with a few pattering drops or none 
at all. On every hand the drought be¬ 
came more universally the subject for con¬ 
versation. It became the bete noir of a 
whole section of the country, as the re¬ 
sults of a season’s investments and work 
began to dwindle toward nothingness from 
the best outlook for years. 
The Mantells did everything within 
their power. But day by day the dust 
The Nile System—The Bell System 
For thousands of years Egypt wrestled 
with the problem of making the Nile a de¬ 
pendable source of material prosperity. 
But only in the last decade was the Nile’s 
flood stored up and a reservoir established 
from which all the people of the Nile region 
may draw the life-giving water all the time. 
Primitive makeshifts have been super¬ 
seded by intelligent engineering methods. 
Success has been the result of a compre¬ 
hensive plan and a definite policy, dealing 
with the problem as a whole and adapting 
the Nile to the needs of all the people. 
To provide efficient telephone service in 
this country, the same fundamental principle 
has to be recognized. The entire country 
must be considered within the scope of one 
system, intelligently guided by one policy. 
It is the aim of the Bell System to afford 
universal service in the interest of all the 
people and amply sufficient for their 
business and social needs. 
Because they are connected and working 
together, each of the 7,000,000 telephones 
in the Bell System is an integral part of the 
service which provides the most efficient 
means of instantaneous communication. 
American Telephone and Telegraph Company 
And Associated Companies 
One Policy 
One System 
Universal Service 
PALISADES—POPULAR—P ERENNIALS 
To Grow Hardy Perennials and 
Old Fashioned Flowers Successfully: 
They should be planted in September and October, 
like Spring flowering bulbs. 
They make roots during Fall and Winter, establish¬ 
ing themselves for Spring and Summer blooming. 
Hardy Perennials our specialty. We grow thirty 
acres. Get our net wholesale prices with all neces¬ 
sary cultural directions and largest list of Novelties, 
for the asking. 
PALISADES 
Telephone 200 Piermont 
A Palisade Hardy Border 
A perfect picture in your garden to last for years 
will be the result if you allow us now to plan a 
scheme, whether of contrasts or of harmonies, to be 
carried out this Fall. 
Our “Artistic” Border, ioo ft. by 3 ft., costs $ 25.00 
only. 
Consider what is “saved” by this system, and what 
is gained in true beauty. 
Visitors always welcome at our Nurseries, where they can make 
selections from more than a thousand varieties of Hardy Plants. 
Inc., Perennial Growers 
Sparkill, N. Y. 
NURSERIES, 
In writing to advertisers please mention House and Garden. 
