ed to produce fruit, would yield us so much money, and
that this money would enable us to hire a man to keep the ground in the
best order. Besides, he said there was no knowing but we might be able
to sell a quantity of them. Fred's figuring--always done on paper--had
often disappointed us. But it continued to have some weight with me,
notwithstanding. It is probable my reluctance to parting with these fine
plants was the real turning-point in this dilemma. I had no hope of
finding purchasers for them, though it had once been so difficult for me
to find sellers. Nevertheless I followed Fred's advice, thinking this
time there might be something in it, and let the plants remain.

All these little matters are the result of personal experience: not, of
course, acquired in a single season; for even after the
strawberry-grower has planted one bed and harvested one crop, he will
discover that he is still only on the threshold of this branch of
horticulture. Many of them are the fruit of subsequent experience, while
much of all I ever learned is the result of careful study of as many
authorities as I was able to consult. Study combined with practice and
close observation, together with a passionate determination to learn,
and hope ever stimulating to perseverance, has been with me the secret
of success. I was now at the close of my first year's experiment. My
whole acre was in the best condition. The plants set out the first year
were certain to produce twice the former yield, such being the universal
experience with the strawberry; while now, with double the extent of
ground, and the first half-acre stocked with many times the number of
plants originally set, the promise was highly encouraging. I could think
of no possible chance of disappointment but a pinching frost that might
destroy the blossoms, or a parching drought that might blast the fruit.
No work that I had been required to perform had been too hard for me.
Most of it had been recreation, while all had been healthful to the body
and grateful to the mind. It is true that now and then my hands had been
a little roughened by wielding the heavy garden-tools; but we had
already determined that our next year's profits should furnish us with
new and lighter ones. Thus, satisfied with myself, and buoyant with
hope, the winter came upon us; but I passed through it without
impatience or anxiety, both my sister and myself continuing the while
steadily at the factory.

S