The Hollow Tree Snowed-in Book

by Albert Bigelow Paine

  MR. CROW'S GARDEN

  THE HOLLOW TREE PEOPLE LEARN HOW TO RAISE FINE VEGETABLES

  ONE morning, right after breakfast in the Hollow Tree, Mr. Crow saidhe'd been thinking of something ever since he woke up, and if the 'Coonand the 'Possum thought it was a good plan he believed he'd do it. Hesaid of course they knew how good Mr. Rabbit's garden always was, andhow he nearly lived out of it during the summer, Mr. Rabbit being a gooddeal of a vegetarian; by which he meant that he liked vegetables betterthan anything, while the Hollow Tree People, Mr. Crow said, were alittle different in their tastes, though he didn't know just what thename for them was. He said he thought they might be humanitarians,because they liked the things that Mr. Man and other human beings liked,but that he wasn't sure whether that was the right name or not.

  Then Mr. 'Possum said for him to never mind about the word, but to go onand talk about his plan if it had anything to do with something to eat,for he was getting pretty tired of living on little picked-up thingssuch as they had been having this hard spring, and Mr. 'Coon said sotoo. So then Mr. Crow said:

  "Well, I've been planning to have a garden this spring like Mr.Rabbit's."

  "Humph!" said Mr. 'Possum, "I thought you were going to start a chickenfarm."

  But Mr. Crow said "No," that the Big Deep Woods didn't seem a healthyplace for chickens, and that they could pick up a chicken here and thereby-and-by, and then if they had nice green pease to go with it, or somegreen corn, or even a tender salad, it would help out, especially whenthey had company like Mr. Robin, or Mr. Squirrel, or Mr. Rabbit, whocared for such things.

  So then the 'Coon and the 'Possum both said that to have green pease andcorn was a very good idea, especially when such things were mixed withyoung chickens with plenty of dressing and gravy, and that as this was apleasant morning they might walk over and call on Jack Rabbit so thatthe Old Black Crow could find out about planting things. Mr. 'Possumsaid that his uncle Silas Lovejoy always had a garden, and he had workedit a good deal when he was young, but that he had forgotten just howthings should be planted, though he knew the moon had something to dowith it, and if you didn't get the time right the things that ought togrow up would grow down and the down things would all grow up, so thatyou'd have to dig your pease and pick your potatoes when the other waywas the fashion and thought to be better in this climate.

  So then the Hollow Tree People put on their things and went out into thenice April sunshine and walked over to Jack Rabbit's house, saying howpleasant it was to take a little walk this way when everything wasgetting green, and they passed by where Mr. and Mrs. Robin were buildinga new nest, and they looked in on a cozy little hollow tree where Mr.Squirrel, who had just brought home a young wife from over by the BigWest Hills, had set up housekeeping with everything new except theold-fashioned feather-bed and home-made spread which Miss Squirrel hadbeen given by her folks. They looked through Mr. Squirrel's house andsaid how snug it was, and that perhaps it would be better not to try tofurnish it too much at once, as it was nice just to get things as onewas able, instead of doing everything at the start.

  When they got to Mr. Rabbit's house he was weaving a rag carpet for hisfront room, and they all stood behind him and watched him weave, andby-and-by Mr. 'Coon wanted to try it, but he didn't know how to run thetreadle exactly, and got some of the strands too loose and some tootight, so he gave it up, and they all went out to look at Mr. Rabbit'sgarden.

  Well, Mr. Rabbit did have a nice garden. It was all laid out in rows,and was straight and trim, and there wasn't a weed anywhere. He hadthings up, too--pease and lettuce and radishes--and he had sometomato-plants growing in a box in the house, because it was too early toput them out.

  Mr. Rabbit said that a good many people bought their plants, but that healways liked to raise his own from seed, because then he knew just whatthey were and what to expect. He told them how to plant the differentthings and about the moon, and said there was an old adage in his familythat if you remembered it you'd always plant at the right time. Theadage, he said, was:

  "Pease and beans in the light of the moon-- Both in the pot before it's June."

  And of course you only had to change "light" to "dark" and use it forturnips and potatoes and such things, though really it was sometimeslater than June, but June was near enough, and rhymed with "moon" betterthan July and August. He said he would give Mr. Crow all the seeds hewanted, and that when he was ready to put out tomatoes he would let himhave plenty of plants too.

  Then Mr. 'Coon said it would be nice to have a few flower seeds, andthey all looked at Mr. 'Coon because they knew he had once been in love,and they thought by his wanting flowers that he might be going to getthat way again.

  But Mr. Rabbit said he was fond of flowers, too, especially theold-fashioned kind, and he picked out some for Mr. 'Coon; and then hewent to weaving again, and the Hollow Tree People watched him awhile,and he pointed out pieces of different clothes he had had that he wasweaving into his carpet, and they all thought how nice it was to use upone's old things that way.

  Then by-and-by the Hollow Tree People went back home, and they begantheir garden right away. It was just the kind of a day to make gardenand they all felt like it, so they spaded and hoed and raked, and didn'tfind it very easy because the place had never been used for a gardenbefore, and there were some roots and stones; and pretty soon Mr.'Possum said that Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon might go on with the diggingand he would plant the seeds, as he had been used to such work when helived with his uncle Silas as a boy.

  So then he took the seeds, but he couldn't remember Mr. Rabbit's adageswhich told whether beets and carrots and such things as grow below theground had to be planted in the dark of the moon or the light of themoon, and it was the same about beans and pease and the things thatgrow above the ground; and when he spoke to Mr. Crow and Mr. 'Coon aboutit, one said it was one way and the other the other way, and then Mr.'Possum said he wasn't planting the things in the moon anyhow, and hethought Mr. Rabbit had made the adages to suit the day he was going toplant and that they would work either way.

  So then Mr. 'Possum planted everything there was, and showed Mr. 'Coonhow to plant his flower seeds; and when they were all done they stoodoff and admired their nice garden, and said it was just about as nice asJack Rabbit's, and maybe nicer in some ways, because it had trees aroundit and was a pleasant place to work.

  ONE SAID IT WAS ONE WAY AND THE OTHER THE OTHER WAY]

  Well, after that they got up every morning and went out to look at theirgarden, to see if any of the things were coming up; and pretty soon theyfound a good _many_ things coming up, but they were not in hills androws, and Mr. 'Possum said they were weeds, because he remembered thatUncle Silas's weeds had always looked like those, and how he and hislittle cousins had had to hoe them. So then they got their hoes and hoedevery morning, and by-and-by they had to hoe some during the day too, tokeep up with the weeds, and the sun was pretty hot, and Mr. 'Possum didmost of his hoeing over by the trees where it wasn't so sunny, and saidthat hereafter he thought it would be a good plan to plant all theirgarden in the shade.

  And every day they kept looking for the seeds to come up, and by-and-bya few did come up, and then they were quite proud, and went over andtold Jack Rabbit about it, and Mr. Rabbit came over to give them someadvice, and said he thought their garden looked pretty well for beingits first year and put in late, though it looked to him, he said, as ifsome of it had been planted the wrong time of the moon, and he didn'tthink so much shade was very good for most things.

  But Mr. 'Possum said he'd rather have more shade and less things, and hethought next year he'd let his part of the garden out on shares.

  Well, it got hotter and hotter, and the weeds grew more and more, andthe Hollow Tree People had to work and hoe and pull nearly all day inthe sun to keep up with them, and they would have given it up prettysoon, only they wanted to show Jack Rabbit that they could have a gardentoo, and by-and-by, when their things got big enough to eat, they we
reso proud that they invited Mr. Rabbit to come over for dinner, and theysent word to Mr. Turtle, too, because he likes good things and livesalone, not being a family man like Mr. Robin and Mr. Squirrel.

  Now of course the Hollow Tree People knew that they had no such finethings in their garden as Jack Rabbit had in his, and they said theycouldn't expect to, but they'd try to have other things to make up; andMr. Crow was cooking for two whole days getting his chicken-pies and hispuddings and such things ready for that dinner. And then when themorning came for it he was out long before sun-up to pick the things inthe garden while they were nice and fresh, with the dew on them.

  But when Mr. Crow looked over his garden he felt pretty bad, for, afterall, the new potatoes were little and tough, and the pease were smalland dry, and the beans were thin and stringy, and the salad was prettypuny and tasteless, and the corn was just nubbins, because it didn'tgrow in a very good place and maybe hadn't been planted or tended verywell. So Mr. Crow walked up and down the rows and thought a good deal,and finally decided that he'd just take a walk over toward Jack Rabbit'sgarden to see if Mr. Rabbit's things were really so much better afterall.

  It was just about sunrise, and Mr. Crow knew Jack Rabbit didn't get upso soon, and he made up his mind he wouldn't wake him when he got there,but would just take a look over his nice garden and come away again. Sowhen he got to Mr. Rabbit's back fence he climbed through a crack, andsat down in the weeds to rest a little and to look around, and he sawthat Mr. Rabbit's house was just as still and closed up as could be,and no signs of Jack Rabbit anywhere.

  So then Mr. Crow stepped out into the corn patch and looked along at therows of fine roasting ears, which made him feel sad because of thoselittle nubbins in his own garden, and then he saw the fine fat pease andbeans and salads in Jack Rabbit's garden, and it seemed to him that Mr.Rabbit could never in the world use up all those things himself.

  Then Mr. Crow decided that he would thin out a few of Jack Rabbit'sthings, which seemed to be too thick anyway to do well. It would be toobad to disturb Mr. Rabbit to tell him about it, and Mr. Crow didn't havetime to wait for him to get up if he was going to get his dinner readyon time.

  So Mr. Crow picked some large ears of corn and some of Mr. Rabbit's bestpease and beans and salads, and filled his apron with all he couldcarry, and climbed through the back fence again, and took out for homewithout wasting any more time. And when he got there Mr. 'Coon and Mr.'Possum were just getting up, and he didn't bother to tell them aboutborrowing from Mr. Rabbit's garden, but set out some breakfast, and assoon as it was over pitched in to get ready for company. Mr. 'Coon andMr. 'Possum flew around, too, to make the room look nice, and by-and-byeverything was ready, and the table was set, and the Hollow Tree Peoplewere all dressed up and looking out the window.

  MR. CROW DECIDED TO THIN OUT A FEW OF JACK RABBIT'STHINGS]

  Then pretty soon they saw Mr. Turtle coming through the timber, and justthen Jack Rabbit came in sight from the other direction. Mr. Turtle hadbrought a basket of mussels, which always are nice with a big dinner,like oysters, and Mr. Rabbit said he would have brought some things outof his garden, only he knew the Hollow Tree People had a garden, too,this year, and would want to show what they could do in that linethemselves. He said he certainly must take a look at their gardenbecause he had heard a good deal about it from Mr. Robin.

  Then Mr. Crow felt a little chilly, for he happened to think that if Mr.Rabbit went out into their garden and then saw the fine things whichwere going to be on the table he'd wonder where they came from. So hesaid right away that dinner was all ready, and they'd better sit downwhile things were hot and fresh.

  Then they all sat down, and first had the mussels which Mr. Turtle hadbrought, and there were some fine sliced tomatoes with them, and Mr.Rabbit said he hadn't supposed that such fine big tomatoes as thosecould come out of a new garden that had been planted late, and that hecertainly must see the vines they came off of before he went home,because they were just as big as his tomatoes, if not bigger, and hewanted to see just how they could do so well.

  And Mr. Crow felt _real_ chilly, and Mr. 'Coon and Mr. 'Possum bothsaid they hadn't supposed their tomatoes were so big and ripe, thoughthey hadn't looked at them since yesterday. But Mr. Rabbit said that agood many things could happen over night, and Mr. Crow changed thesubject as quick as he could, and said that things always looked biggerand better on the table than they did in the garden, but that he'dpicked all the real big, ripe tomatoes and he didn't think there'd beany more.

  Then after the mussels they had the chicken-pie, and when Mr. Rabbit sawthe vegetables that Mr. Crow served with it he looked at them and said:

  "My, what fine pease and beans, and what splendid corn! I am sure yourvegetables are as good as anything in my garden, if not better. Icertainly _must see_ just the spot where they grew. I would never havebelieved you could have done it, never, if I hadn't seen them right hereon your table with my own eyes."

  Then Mr. Turtle said they were the finest he ever tasted, and Mr.'Possum and Mr. 'Coon both said they wouldn't have believed itthemselves yesterday, and it was wonderful how much everything had grownover night. Then the Old Black Crow choked a little and coughed, andsaid he didn't seem to relish his food, and pretty soon he said that ofcourse their garden _had_ done _pretty_ well, but that it was aboutthrough now, as these were things he had been saving for this dinner,and he had gathered all the biggest and best of them this morning beforeMr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon were up.

  When Mr. Crow said that, Jack Rabbit looked the other way and made avery queer face, and you might have thought he was trying to keep fromlaughing if you had seen him, but maybe he was only trying to keep fromcoughing, for pretty soon he did cough a little and said that the earlymorning was the proper time to gather vegetables; that one could alwayspick out the best things then, and do it quietly before folks were up.

  Then Mr. Crow felt a cold, shaky chill that went all the way up anddown, and he was afraid to look up, though of course he didn't believeMr. Rabbit knew anything about what he had done, only he was afraid thathe would look so guilty that everybody would see it. He said that hishead was a little dizzy with being over the hot stove so much, and hehoped they wouldn't think of going out until the cool of the evening, asthe sun would be too much for him, and of course he wanted to be withthem.

  MR. CROW WAS ALMOST AFRAID TO BRING ON THE SALAD]

  Poor Mr. Crow was almost afraid to bring on the salad, but he was justas afraid not to. Only he did wish he had picked out Mr. Rabbit'ssmallest bunches instead of his biggest ones, for he knew there were nosuch other salads anywhere as those very ones he had borrowed from Mr.Rabbit's garden. But he put it off as long as he could, and by-and-byJack Rabbit said that there was one thing he was sure the Hollow Treecouldn't beat him on, and that was salad. He said he had never had suchfine heads as he had this year, and that there were a few headsespecially that he had been saving to show his friends. Then the 'Coonand 'Possum said "No," their salads were not very much, unless they hadgrown a great deal over night, like the other things--and when Mr. Crowgot up to bring them he walked wobbly, and everybody said it was too badthat Mr. Crow _would_ always go to so much trouble for company.

  Well, when he came in with that bowl of salad and set it down, Mr.Turtle and Jack Rabbit said, "Did you ever in your life!" But Mr.'Possum and Mr. 'Coon just sat and looked at it, for they thought itcouldn't be true.

  Then pretty soon Mr. Rabbit said that he would take back everything hehad told them about his salad, and that he was coming over to take somelessons from the Hollow Tree People, and especially from Mr. Crow, onhow to raise vegetables. He said that there were a good many ways toraise vegetables--some raised them in a garden; some raised them in ahothouse; some raised them in the market; but that Mr. Crow's way wasthe best way there was, and he was coming over to learn it. He said theymust finish their dinner before dark, for he certainly must _see_ justwhere _all_ Mr. Crow's wonderful things came from.

  The
n Mr. Crow felt the gray spot on his head getting a good deal grayer,and he dropped his knife and fork, and swallowed two or three times, andtried to smile, though it was a sickly smile. He said that Mr. Rabbitwas very kind, but that Mr. 'Possum and Mr. 'Coon had done a good dealof the work, too.

  But Jack Rabbit said "No," that nobody but an industrious person likeMr. Crow could have raised _those_ vegetables--a person who got upearly, he said, and was used to taking a little trouble to get the bestthings.

  Then Mr. Crow went after the dessert, and was glad enough that therewere no more vegetables to come, especially of that kind.

  And Mr. Rabbit seemed to forget about looking at the garden until theywere all through, and then he said that before they went outside hewould read a little poem he had composed that morning lying in bed andlooking at the sunrise across his own garden. He said he called it:

  ME AND MY GARDEN

  Oh, it's nice to have a garden On which to put my labors. It's nice to have a garden Especially for my neighbors.

  I like to see it growing When skies are blue above me; I like to see it gathered By those who really love me.

  I like to think in winter Of pleasant summer labors; Oh, it's nice to have a garden Especially for my neighbors.

  Everybody said that was a nice poem and sounded just like Mr. Rabbit,who was always so free-hearted--all except Mr. Crow, who tried to say itwas nice, and couldn't. Then Mr. Rabbit said they'd better go out now tosee the Hollow Tree garden, but Mr. Crow said really he couldn't standit yet, and they could see by his looks that he was feeling pretty sick,and Mr. Turtle said it was too bad to think of taking Mr. Crow out inthe sun when he had worked so hard.

  So then they all sat around and smoked and told stories, and wheneverthey stopped Mr. Crow thought of something else to do and seemed to getbetter toward night, and got a great deal better when it got dark, andMr. Jack Rabbit said all at once that now it was too late to see theHollow Tree garden, and that he was so sorry, for he knew he could havelearned something if he could just have one look at it, for nobody couldsee those vegetables and that garden without learning a great deal.

  JACK RABBIT CAPERED AND LAUGHED ALL THE WAY HOME]

  Then he said he must go, and Mr. Turtle said he guessed _he_ must gotoo, so they both set out for home, and when Jack Rabbit got out ofsight of the Hollow Tree and into a little open moonlight place, he justlaid down on the ground and rolled over and laughed and kicked his feet,and sat up and rocked and looked at the moon and laughed; and he caperedand laughed all the way home at the good joke he had all to himself onMr. Crow.

  For Mr. Rabbit had been lying awake in bed that morning when Mr. Crowwas in his garden, and he had seen Mr. Crow _all_ the time.