Tenth Paper.

IN FAIR MAY, in May fair, in the month of fair May, we should find the hey-day of both work and pleasure in our country home. Now we may "smell to sweet flowers," taste the first fruits of the garden, feel the yielding of the green velvet of the lawn beneath our feet, and on every hand see the budding promise of reward for all our past and present toil. It is only a pleasure now to work in the garden, for the soil is soft and warm; it crumbles readily as we ply our tools ; it yields before us; as soon as seed is committed to its care its life-giving virtues center there, and the seed is warmed and moistened until it germinates ; then while the soft breath of May blows above it, and the soft showers of May fall upon it, the plant grows and fruits as though it had been magically nourished.

There are some tender things that we cannot commit to the ground until this month is well advanced and danger from frost is passed, unless we protect them with covers. This we may do in order to have the satisfaction and profit of some early specimens, but it would be too expensive work for the main crops. As these cannot be put in until so late, we must do what we can to offset this, by extra careful cultivation and fertilizing.

We shall not endeavor here to give a detailed "book of the garden," with minute instructions regarding each crop that can be grown therein; but we shall aim rather to suggest such as may enable some profit to accrue from the garden while it is supplying our table with its bounties.

Few fruits of the garden can afford the cultivator more pleasure than the tomato. The poison "Love apple " of half a century ago, only fit to ornament some shelf high above the reach of curious children, has been evolved into "a thing of beauty and a joy forever" to eye and palate. If, as will likely be the case, we are by this time pressed for space in our little garden, we shall have all the greater incentive for doing as much as possible with the remainder. We will make labor take the place of land, and thus get from much work upon a little space what we might otherwise try to get, with larger chances of failure, from less work upon more land. Of course, if we have it, we still want our sandy loam to work upon; but failing in that we may take a piece of clay soil and by careful work obtain as good or even better results than we should upon the other.

In preparing this clay land for tomatoes, after spading it up or plowing and harrowing, we will mark off hills four feet apart each way. Space • could be economized by putting the plants somewhat nearer, but the vines should not be so crowded that the free circulation of light and air would be impossible throughout the season. At each hill throw out soil enough to leave a hole as large as a half bushel measure; then mix with the soil which has been thrown out, and which will be used for refilling the hole, half its bulk of moderately coarse coal ashes. These will keep the soil in good mechanical condition, loose and friable, and insure perfect drainage - an important point with the tomato, as it will not do well if its roots are cold and water-soaked. As the hill is made, the hole being filled and heaped up, as it may be, by the addition of the ashes to the soil, a good quantity of old manure should be worked in. If this is not available, a little good commercial fertilizer could be substituted and more of the same be worked in at each cultivation of the plant. This may seem like taking a good deal of trouble, just for a few tomatoes; and it is. The plants could be set in the ordinary manner with much less cost and trouble.

Yet an active man could prepare several hundred hills in this way in a day, and 500 plants set out thus, and occupying less than one-fifth of an acre, should produce as much fruit as an acre would under ordinary field cultivation, and in taking into account the question of profit, it must be kept in mind that subsequent cultivation will cost less than if a larger area was to be worked, and the cost of the land is less. As a rule, the smaller the area from which a crop of certain amount is taken, the less the crop will cost per unit of measure.

If the plants are not to be protected by covering, nothing will be gained by setting them out until warm weather is assured. If taken directly from the hot-bed, cold, dark weather, even without frosts, will stunt the plants and prevent their future rapid development. The proper course is to remove them from the hot-bed to a cold-frame in which they may be exposed to the air and the sun throughout the day, but protected at night. In this frame they should also be free from bottom heat, and be given more room than they had in the hot-bed. Being kept in this frame until settled warm weather, they should then be transplanted to the hills with as little disturbance of the roots as possible. If the bed is well watered with a fine rose sprinkler, the plants may be taken up with a good ball of earth about the roots. Transplant in the evening if possible, and the functions of the plant will hardly be interrupted.

Now, as to the uses and value of the tomato in our garden : First, we may have the delicious and healthful fruit upon our table from August until November. For the surplus product we can easily find a market; first, among those who have no gardens and desire them for the table; second, many families who prefer to put up their own supplies of canned tomatoes and catsup, rather than buy of manufacturers; and third, among the manufacturers or canners, if there are any in your neighborhood.

The first tomatoes that may be grown out-of-doors, by means of single, glass-top plant covers, will ordinarily be ready for market in time to bring three or four dollars per bushel. The earliest high prices can be obtained only for Southern shipments or Northern hot-house products: but the next highest will be secured for the product of our early protected vines. But from that on the price declines very rapidly, so that we may be fortunate enough if we can start our main crop at even two dollars per bushel, and work off the bulk of it at 60 to 80 cents. For a few days during the height of the season, and when selling to families in quantities for canning, 40 to 50 cents may be the ruling price, and after that the later and poorer fruit will sell at even less for making catsup. Prices, however, are largely dependent upon the season. Within my own experience I have sold at a minimum price of $1, and again found my crop drag at 25 to 40 cents. Even at the lowest of these prices I consider it a paying crop, for it is easily cultivated and handled. If 500 hills are planted, as I have suggested above, they should produce 200 bushels of fruit.

This amount should easily be disposed of in a small village, as I have frequently sold 20 bushels in a day, in a manufacturing town of 3,000 population.

Another product which we may grow with the certainty of being able to dispose of all surplus at a profit, is the Lima bean. The chief expense in this is in getting good poles, and the chief difficulty is to get the seed started. If only a few days of cold or wet weather follow the planting, the seeds will be almost sure to rot. They should be examined every few days after planting until they are up, and as soon as they show signs of decaying new seeds should be put in. This may be done without disturbing the hills, as the seeds are merely thrust a little below the surface by the thumb and finger.

Cucumbers for pickles, summer cabbage for a succession crop, the first planting of celery, the last one of peas, and other things which go to complete a well-stocked garden will all be "on the list" for this month, and will all help to make May one of the busiest of the year. Yet with all this work we must not forget that there is another aspect besides that of profit and pure utility to be considered. Although we may have a "cottage with a double coachhouse," lawn, fruit, shrubbery, a garden, etc., unless we have flowers, we shall miss an essential factor in our scheme of rural happiness. Having begun in the autumn, and having so much crowded into our first year, has given probably little opportunity for elaborate preparations for floriculture. But with little work and less expenditure of money we can make amends for this by sowing beds of annuals wherever and whenever opportunity offers. By commencing early and making successive sowings each week, we may have an abundance of bloom the whole season through.

The list of valuable annuals is too long to be given here, but any florist's catalogue will guide one, not only as to sorts but as methods and times of sowing Borders can be made with these as well as with bedding plants, and they will last long after the latter have been cut down by frost. While* doing this, we may also be preparing for the future by selecting now and then some good location for a rose bed, setting therein some of our favorites, and giving them good culture, that they may repay us with bloom next year; or putting a hardy climber about the veranda ; or a few bulbs - as our purse may allow - in a rich bed. But let us not try to do too much of this at once; let us rather allow something of it to remain to be done each year, that we may have each season some new interest to attract us out-of-doors.

We have already suggested the value of reading and study as an aid in the work which we have undertaken. But the studying must not all be within doors. The things that we learn from books can benefit us most only when we try their practical application to every-day life. Our garden should be an experiment station in which to test varieties, and fertilizers and methods of cultivation. A note-book should be our constant companion, and not only should dates be put therein, but every seemingly trival circumstance connected with our work. If we fail, this note-book book should show us why; if we have any special success, it should show the reason for that as well, and be our guide in the future. Nothing should be left to chance, and no result should be achieved without our being able to recall the processes and repeat the same conditions, or vary them, as may seem most needed.