h in the boxes had warmed up for several days he put in the
long-germinating seeds, like tomato, onions, the salads, leek, celery,
pepper, eggplant, and some beet seed to transplant for the early garden.
It was too early yet to put in cabbage and cauliflower.

These boxes caught the sun for a good part of the day. In the afternoon
when the sun had gone, Hiram covered the boxes with old quilts and did
not uncover them again until the sun shone in the next morning. He had
decided to start his early plants in this way because he hadn't the time
at present to build frames outside.

During the early mornings and late afternoons, too, he began to make the
small repairs around the house and outbuildings. Hiram was handy with
tools; indeed, a true farmer should be a good mechanic as well. He must
often combine carpentry and wheelwrighting and work at the forge, with
his agricultural pursuits. Hiram was something better than a "cold-iron
blacksmith."

When it came to stretching the wire of the pasture fence he had to
resort to his inventive powers. There are plenty of wire stretchers that
can be purchased; but they cost money.

The young farmer knew that Mrs. Atterson had no money to waste, and he
worked for her just as he would have worked for himself.

One man working alone cannot easily stretch wire and make a good job
of it without some mechanism to help him. Hiram's was simple and easily
made.

A twelve-inch section of perfectly round post, seven or eight inches
through, served as the drum around which to wind the wire, and two
twenty-penny nails driven into the side of the drum, close together,
were sufficient to prevent the wire from slipping.

To either end of the drum Hiram passed two lengths of Number 9 wire
through large screweyes, making a double loop into which the hook of a
light timber chain would easily catch. Into one end of the drum he drove
a headless spike, upon which the hand-crank of the grindstone fitted,
and was wedged tight.

In using this ingenious wire stretcher, he stapled his wire to post
number one, carried the length past post number two, looped the chain
around post number three, having the chain long enough so that he might
tauten the wire and hold the crankhandle steady with his knee or left
arm while he drove the holding staple in post number two. And so repeat,
ad infinitum.

After he had made this wire-stretcher the young fellow got along
famously upon his fencing and could soon tu