The Watertown weekly leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1912-1917, 1916-08-30

Us, Twin Fires took on new aspect,
and one to US greenhorns indescribably
thrilling. In the first place, our field
OF corn rustled perpetually as we
walked past it, and down in the green
fsh- golden lanes beneath we could see
the orange CLEAN OF pungkins q shall
so spell the word lest it be mispro-
nounced by the ignorant. Great ears
of the Stowells evergreen were ripe,
for Mikes prediction about the early
frost bad not come true, and we ate
the succulent food clean to the cob ev-
cry day at dinner, besides selling many
dozens of ears to the market. In the
long light Of afternoon, Stella loved TO
90 along the path by the bayfield, wall
and then turn in amid the corn losing
sight at once Of all the universe and
wandering in q new world of rustling
leaves She felt. she said, just as Alice
must have felt after she had eaten the
cake; and once a rabbit bounded
across her foot. to her unspeakabl de-
light She looked to see If he had
dropped his glovesl
Then there was the potato field. We
Cow. Often Stella dug them.
"It seems so funny to go and dig up
potato" she declared. 1--WE always
felt that potatoes just were. But to
see the whole process of growth is
quite another matter. Oh, John. it
makes them so much nicerr'
Especially when you are getting
seyenty-five cents a bnshel for them. ~
| laughed
The loaded tomato vines. too with
the red fruit hanging out from the wire
frames and sending a pungent odor
into the surrounding air, appealed TO
Stella endlesslV. | used TO see her now
and then, as | glanced from the south
room OF morning, eating raw to-
mato like an apple, her head bent for
ward so that the juice would not spoil
her dress.
And there were the apples. Already
red astrachan tree invited us on
every trip TO the brook, and other old
trees were bearing fast-reddening
fruit. | had wanted to set out more
orchard, but we agreed that we could
not afford it that year, if we were to
build chicken houses against the
spring, so | reluctantly gave up the
idea. But our old trees, in spite of
Tor perhaps because of my spring
pruning. were doing fairly well. We
had enough for baked apples and
cream all winter. anyhow. Stella reck-
oned, smacking her lips at the thought.
Every day. on our way to the pool,
one or the other of us took a hoe along
and scraped a tree for five minutes,
gradually getting the old bark off, and
making q final preparation for a thor
ough spraying the next winter just so
much easier used to prune Bit too,
in spare moments, so that by the end
of the summer considerable renovation
had been accomplished.
And now came the foxglove trans
planting. According to the gardeners
directions, we took two long rows
where the early peas had stood land
where Mike had disobeyed my instruc-
tons TO spade the vines under, that
being a form of green manuring your
0ld-time gardener will not see the
value of, | have discovered), trenched
them, put in manure and soil. and set
out at least three hundred foxglove
plants six inches apart 1t was a cool,
cloudy day. and they stood up as
though nothing had happened. Then,
as an experiment, we moved scores of
tiny hollyhocks from the crowded seed
beds into their permanent position as
screen between the south kitchen
n no
n border on the west side of the same
lawn. They, too. were quite unaffect-
ed by the change.
Meanwhile, we ordered our bulbs
hyacinths. daffodils (Which in our eli
mate refuse to take the winds Of March
with beauty, cowardly waiting till
May, a few crocuses. Narcissus poeti-
Gus. Empress narcissus, German iris,
Japanese iris and Darwin tulips We
ordered the iris and tulips in named
varieties.
''They have such nice Names" said
Stella, especially the Japanese iris
kimi-no megumi. Shirataki, Mono
chiguma! The tulips are nice, too.
Here is Ariadne and Kate Greenaway
hobnobbing with Professor Rauwen-
hoff. What's the use Of having plants
that aren't named? We must show
them as much respect as Antony and
Cleopatra, or Epictetus and Luella!"
We also experimental with lilies
lemon lilies for the shady north side
of the house. tigers for the border be-
yond the pool, and two or three of the
expensive Myriophyllums just to show
that we. too. could go in for the exotic.
Ike our neighbors on the big estates.
When the bulbs came. in October,
we looked at the boxes sadly.
"Whew!' said Stella, you can't be
lazy and have garden, can you?"
L don't work tomorrow, l guess"
said |. 'Shall we ask Mikes Joe to
help u.s."
Never said my wife We'll put
these bulbs in ourselves. If had any
help, | should feel like the Eckstroms.
which God forbidr'
So the next day at seven-thirty we
began. We hinged the pool with Ger
man and japanese iris. alternated for
succession. and planted a few Jana
nese both below and above the nooI
close to the brock. We-set the Nsrois-
sus poeticus bulbs where, if they srrew
the flowers could look at themselves in