Even the narrowest cottage patch looks pleasantly to those who come and go along the highway; it is well to stop now and then when walking, and look over the paling of such little gardens, and note what is going on there.
Potatoes, cabbages, and onions are grown here by every family as first requisites. Indian corn and cucumbers are also thought indispensable, for Americans of all classes eat as much maize as their Indian predecessors. And as for cucumbers, they are required at every meal of which a thorough-going Yankee partakes, either as salad in summer, or pickled in winter. We sometimes see men about the villages eating them unseasoned like apples. Peas and beans rank next in favor; some of each are generally found in the smallest gardens. Beets, turnips, and carrots are not so very common; they are not thought absolutely necessary; one sees gardens without them. Radishes do not thrive well in this soil, but the light green leaves of the lettuce are seen everywhere. There is usually a pumpkin-vine running about the corn-hills, its large yellow flowers and golden fruit showing, as a matter of course, below the glossy leaves of the maize; a part of the fruit is made into pies, the rest goes to the cow or pig. Sometimes you find squashes, also, in these small gardens, with a few tomatoes, perhaps; but these last are difficult to raise here, on account of the occasional frosts of May.
Flowers are seldom forgotten in the cottage garden; the widest walk is lined with them, and there are others beneath the low windows of the house. You have rose-bushes, sun-flowers, and holly-hocks, as a matter of course; generally a cluster of pinks, bachelor's buttons, also, and a sweet pea, which is a great favorite; plenty of marigolds, a few poppies, large purple china asters,
