HOUSE AND GARDEN | 
34 
M A V, 
1912 
great deal of Raffles’ and IMantell’s time from more important 
but less urgent work. 
As the summer wore on, and the long hot days came, the other 
vegetable crops began to mature quickly, and grew with a rapid¬ 
ity that was quite amazing. Mantell was often surprised to see 
the growth of various things when it chanced that other work 
had kept him from looking over the garden crops for a space of 
two or three days. And most wonderful of all was the growth 
that the weeds could make. In the onion bed, for instance, after 
their first back-breaking and knee-wearing encounter, it seemed 
that there could not be much trouble left—every small weed 
seedling had been conscientiously removed. But a two days’ 
rain followed by a “spell” of extra hot weather had come soon 
after, and within two weeks the rows, though kept clean in the 
center by Raffles’ energetic use of the wheel-hoe, were positively 
green. No wonder that the onion crop was not a favorite with 
many of the not over ambitious natives! At the second weeding, 
however, the work went much more quickly and comfortably: 
any other basis than that of the wildest cutthroat competition. 
It was very plain, however, that almost any pains which could 
be taken to procure an extra early crop would be made up for by 
the higher prices obtainable for the first few days’ sales. And 
this was another of the notes put down in the little “red book” 
which Mantell now kept—with notes, data, and cost accounts of 
the various farm and garden activities—as a basis for next year’s 
plans. 
Another of the summer excitements was getting in the hay. 
As they had no mowing machine or horse rake, arrangements 
were made with the Squire to “swap work” on the haying job. 
Mantell’s crop of hay was very light, and ready long before 
the Squire’s—in fact, if it had not been for the Squire’s kindness 
in keeping a friendly eye open, and getting him to cut it in time, 
he would have lost a good deal of what little value it had. They 
struck a couple of good summer days, and finished the job in 
short order, as the hay was dry enough to get in almost as soon 
as raked. They got three good sized loads, but iMantell figured 
From the Squire’s wide acres the burring click of the mowing machines floated over to Mantell’s place and filled the imagination of the former city 
« man with vivid pictures of haying time, that period of bustle and excitement which is one of the great events in the farmer’s summer 
and how pretty the patch did look after it, when the weeds had 
disappeared in the drying sun, and only the slender dark green 
of the onion, in the straight slim rows, was to be seen. It cer¬ 
tainly was worth the effort, and bore every promise of paying 
handsomely, when the crop was gathered, for all their trouble. 
Beans, sweet corn, tomatoes, and summer squash came on in 
season, and not only added to the list of marketable things, but 
brought great joy to the home table, where all good things from 
the garden were rendered doubly delicious by the skill and care 
with which the head bookkeeper and chief cook prepared them. 
In their marketing, however, Mantell noted one thing very 
quickly: the prices for the first few pickings made things look 
almost like money from the sale of a new issue of stock; but after 
that it was like trying to get into a competitor’s markets. Not 
that there was a surplus of garden stuff produced around Priestly, 
but the prices, based always on the city quotations, were sur¬ 
prisingly lower. Evidently the market gardeners supplying the 
larger cities had never learned to organize and keep prices on 
out that they had got just about one-fifth of a good crop, accord¬ 
ing to what the “literature” furnished by the United States Agri¬ 
cultural Department had to say about grass crops. 
Of course, under the circumstances, this was not Mantell’s 
fault, and yet he was loath to let any of his fields produce so little 
during a whole season. After studying the situation over as care¬ 
fully as he could he made up his mind to put in corn. The 
Squire thought it was too late, but Mantell finally decided to try 
it out. It was the first of July when they finished haying, and 
as most of the Squire’s grass was not yet ready, he was able to 
spare a team for a few days. The field was plowed and thor¬ 
oughly harrowed, and although very dry, worked up pretty well. 
They got seed from the Squire, and the use of a one-horse 
planter from another neighbor, and planted deep, in drills, for 
Mantell knew there would be no chance of maturing ears. The 
Squire, as usual, pretended to be entirely skeptical. 
“You won’t need so much fodder, anyway,” he said. “There 11 
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