Evening star., 1914-07-25


pinched of as soon as they sprout Some
of the more perfectly formed fruits We
have been tying up In paper bags. as
soon as they started to turn red, allow
Ing them to ripen there. The tomatoes
ripen evenly, and are solid meat all the
way through.
I didn't think 1t was possible crops
could suffer from drought so soon after
season of prolonged rains. but the sit
uation already is becoming serious.
put out some new strawberry plants just
before the rains started. and at the end
of two weeks only two or three out of
more than 800 had died. The past two
or three days they have been dying off
rapidly. and it looks as If might lose
all of them
Shell Beans a Luxury.
Shelled green beans are a luxury coun-
try people no doubt have always known
about, but I don't believe many people
who live in town were ever privileged to
eat them. know I never heard of them,
and 1 am certain they are not to be had
In the markets. We made their acquain-
tance by the merest chance. l had a
gone by" the pods having grown too
old and tough to eat. 1 mentioned the
fact to Capt Russell, at the Office, re-
marking that supposed the only way
r1pen and use them for baking next win
ter He let me into the secret of ''shell
BEANS. Taken when the pods are just
beginning to turn, shelled out and cooked
with a piece of corned pork. they make
dish you'd have to go many miles to
beat And cooked with corn cut from
the cob, they make the finest succotash to
be had for love or money. 1t seems to me
that beans such as these ought to bring
a fancy price in the Washington markets.
/
OF them in my garden scheme next year.
l am going to take back a good deal I
have said about it not being especially
lonesome for women in the country, that
1 hope it isn't as lonesome for Jane when
she is here and l am at the office as it
has been the days 1 have been here while
she is in Baltimore. 1 certainly have
been busy and 1 have kept the boys
right here with me, something Jane
doesn't attempt to do. but it has been al
fired lonesome at times. OF course, a
woman is more used to staying at home,
but just the same am going to see to it
that she gets into town to visit her
friends a little oftener. Jane never said
anything In particular about being lone
some. and maybe she isn't And then,
again, maybe she is and will not say So
l have missed Margery a lot. too, and
Will be glad when she gets home next
week; but l am just little anxious as
to how she will take the fact that 1 have
sold her pet calf. In two Of James daily
letters Margery has had inserted INQUIRIES
about the calf. SO l am afraid she is not
as near to forgetting 1t as 1 had hoped.
But 1t was wholly impractical for us to
raise the calf. and as was offered S25
cash, there didn't seem anything to do
but sell her.
Collie Puppy Mourns.
II Marsery knew how much her collie
puppy misses her, I don't think she'd
shed any tears over the calf. Every IT.
tie while the dog will get up and start a
hunt for Margery. whining his disap-
pointment when he is unable to find her.
Old Bill looks mighty mournful, too. but
1 can't make out whether it is because
he misses Margery or is suffering from
the heat. His appetite, which was so as
tonishing thing when we first got him.
has fallen Off and he doesn't exert him
self any more than he can help. 1 have
had to work him some this week. but I
had guilty feeling that the S. P. C. A.
might get after me. 1t Is barely possible
the thing that ails Bill is the debility of
age. ana if this should prove the case
James autcion bargain may not prove so
much of bargain after all. We don't
know how old Bill is. but certainly his
span of life has covered couple of
decades.
1t would seem calamity if Bill should
die or we should be forced to dispose of
him at his value for fertilizer. We might
have gotten along if we had never own
ed a horse. but I can't contemplate with
equanimity the notion of walking four
miles day to and from the station. So
far as this years garden work is con-
cerned, We could manage without a
horse. but l don't believe We would. If
we should lose Bill l am afraid another
would be bought. at the expense Of our
already dwindling savings.
1 thought 1 would be able to surprise
Jane with a bath tub and kitchen sink
when she got back home, but the project
has har to go over until next month. The
man who Is to make the installation has
a contract on hand which will require
two weeks yet to complete. 1t was with
a good deal of reluctance that Jane con-
sented to have one corner of her kitchen
partitioned off for a bath room, but there
was no other place it could be put. and
the need of a bath tub was too pressing
to allow any trivial objection to stand
in the way. I know I almost would have
given my right leg to have had tub
at the end of the hot days have worked
out of doors this week.
Sure Enough Farm Appetites.
There isn't any doubt, though. that
farm work agrees with me. l would
hate to take this appetite l have and the
appetites of the boys back to town and
have to pay city prices for the where
with to satisfy them. l eat three square
meals day. and each of them is good
big square. Fruit and a dish of cereal
used to suffice me for breakfast. Now
I eat the fruit and cereal and top them
off with four to six eggs and several
slices of bacon, couple of cups of
coffee and lots of bread and butter
generally biscuits. when Jane is here to
make them. By noon I am ready to sit
down to one of those tables they talk
about being loaded until they groan. and
1 can come right back and repeat in the
evening Unless l am in bed by 9 o'clock
l am apt to stow away big bowl of
cornbread and milk before, retiring. The
boys run me a close second and L am
not certain but that Jim is able to keep
a few laps ahead.
I can't figure out whether this exag
gerated appetite is because we are new
to country life or whether it is to be
a combined asset and liability for all the
future. I don't feel as if l ever would
lose mine, but Will Jarvis, who always
has lived in the country, is not a large
eater. and I heard Mrs Brown tell Jane
that her boy Bud" husky young chap
that he is. was a ''finnicky' eater.
But so long as it lasts I am thankful
T don't have to go to market and huy