Norwich bulletin., 1918-10-18
THE FARMERS TALK TO FARMERS
rttE rHREe MEN IT LAKES To RUN A FARM

errand it turned out that he wanted to buy of me some peppers and canli- flower for his women folks to maAe mixed pickle withi Newcastle send | ing out an s. o. s. call for cOaE I had raised and sold some little ! sweet corn and few peppers mysen. But I was mighty humble with him. T have to grow a good many varie1es l of a good many different vegefab4es' told him, but not vEy much Of any one. I can't compete with really DE fellow like you. My peppers and early caufiffower are all sold out and my late cauliflower hasn't headed yet. He was sorry, and was sorry, and we parted with mutual expressions or condolence. After which 1 put in. solemn half hour wondering whether oughtn't to have asked him if thai wonderful Bantam Evergreen corn of his was yellow in the forenoon and white in the afternoon, so he couH suit any sort of customer according to the time of day.
 have another neishbor who grows potatoes. Nothing suits him better than to drop in on some small chap 1 like me with an acre or two planted;
 look them over critically, and then remark that he planted four. hundred bushels last spring and, really, some of 'em weren't much better than the best of mine.
 When that has had time to soak in, he'll add, patronizingly, that he thinks I'm doing pretty well, ''considerin'"
 Considering just what, I don't know; my comparative ignorance and linexpertness; probably.
 Oh, land, yes; there are plerey dogs of the brag breed running loose over a a O They make a tremendous amount of noise. too. But, after all, there's lsomething breezy and ingratiating about them. I'd rather meet two of them in a day than just one of the chronic apologists, whose talk is one lcontinuous whine and whtnper.
 For some reason or other, none of our New England summers seems to be good for all sorts of plant growth. A year will be fine for one crop and Ialmost deadly for another. One season will be good for grass, and we'll all have whacking hay crops. The same season may be marked by a practical failure of corn or oats or potatoes. Or Ia gardener like myself may have a
 bunkum yield of fine potatoes and no lturnips. His onions may turn out eX-
 cellent and his cabbage poor.
 l Why this should be so, 1 don't un-
 dertake to explain. There must be a reason for it, out whatever that req son, as it seems to lie quite beyond 1.-the field of my control, it's discovery would be only of academic interest subserve no immediately useful pur- pose. The fact remains undeniable, and practical farming has to take it
 into daily consideration
 Let's see; in my gardens this year
 I've tried to grow asparagus and let tuce and spinach and mustard and lradishes and rhubarb and peppers and egg plant and cucumbers and beets land beans (Lirna, cranberry, marrow land strong) and carrots and parsnips and salsify and potatoes and peas and
 sweet corn and squash and onions iand tomatoes and cabbage and cauli- flower and Brussels sprouts and pumpkins and turnips and mangels and ruta bagas and celery and musk melons, and perhaps 8 few other things
 ] don't this minute think of There's Itwenty different sorts of vegeta- 1 bies at least. Out of the lot turnips land Brussells sprouts have proved ab-
 solute failures: pumpkins and musk
 melons and caulhiower partial fail
 ures: onions and tomatoes and celery
 below the average. The rest have
 either done as well as usual or a Httk
 better
 Of course, Pm having call for thu
 turnips and Brussells sprouts ant pumpkins and melons and caulifowel
 --perhaps rather more call thar
 usual, for my failure with them arr
 no worse than the general failure
 throughout the neighborhood
 But I'm making no excuses becaus' 2 I haven't got 'em: no excuses eithe, e for myself or my gardens or eanythin, . else. In this world of sin and sor pc row we cant have everything to pleas 7 us; at least we never do. If I'v, l scored twenty one successes out of II possible twenty eight, seems to me Tv n done pretty well for common hay ]. seed.
 s I'm not disposed to bras abou b those successes; not one little bit No any more disposed to make excuses fo - those failures. They're all part of tn r days work and the years results. Iv 2 done the best I knew how in ever 8 case. When man has done that h