I think I shall plant asters, stock
and sunflowers."

"Why sunflowers?" asked Philip.

"I want the seed for my squirrel's feed next winter. Then, too, I think
sunflowers make a pretty nice background for a garden."

"If you wish to drop in to see me before the next week's meeting we'll
have plans for the coldframe worked out to explain to the boys then. You
measure the space where you are going to put the frame and ask your
father about the lumber. As lumber is your father's business, I should
almost think you could get us some soft wood, say white-wood, for our
stakes and markers," suggested The Chief.

"Of course, I can," promised Jack.

"Now Peter," said Jay.

"My garden is to be just potatoes."

"Peter and potatoes!" jeered Albert. "Oh, Peter!"

"I don't care, I'm for potatoes and profit."

"Peter always does make money. So I suppose his potatoes will turn into
money, too," volunteered Philip.

"My stunt," said Myron next, "is to be strawberries. I want to raise
strawberries. Mr. Marsh, on the Longmeadow Farm, has offered to give me
some plants. I'll do the corn stunt; aren't you going to, Pete?"

"Of course, that was understood, and Philip will have his corn at
grandfather's too, for a city backyard is no place for corn."

"Now, Albert, you may talk for both of us," said Jay.

"Our land has to be drained, but it is not exactly the same proposition
that George has. Water stands on our land. We had thought of putting a
drain pipe in. It seems as if there should be an easier way, but we
don't know one," Albert stopped and looked at The Chief, who leaned back
in his chair and thought a minute.

"I guess, boys, we had better stop and talk over the matter of drainage.
There are three kinds of drains, namely: the open drain, the blind
drain, and the tile drain. Each one has worked out of the other. The
simplest sort and the one man first used is the open ditch. A piece of
land was covered with water. A ditch was dug through the land at the
place or places where water was standing. Usually a little stone is
thrown into the bottom to help drain the water off.

"Such a drain put out of use quite a bit of land. So partly because of
this a second sort of drain was worked out. A good body of stone was put
into the drain, then earth filled in over this. Water percolating down
through the soil followed along these drainage courses. Formerly it
settled in spots and made boggy land. Finally a more systematic sort