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 said he'd been thinking of something ever since he woke up, and if the 'Coon and the 'Possum thought it was a good plan he believed he'd do it. He said of course they knew how good Mr. Rabbit's garden always was, and how he nearly lived out of it during the summer, Mr. Rabbit being a good deal of a vegetarian; by which he meant that he liked vegetables better than anything, while the Hollow Tree People, Mr. Crow said, were a little different in their tastes, though he didn't know just what the name 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 on and 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 things such as they had been having this hard spring, and Mr. 'Coon said so too. 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 chicken farm."
But Mr. Crow said "No," that the Big Deep Woods didn't seem a healthy place for chickens, and that they could pick up a chicken here and there by-and-by, and then if they had nice green pease to go with it, or some green corn, or even a tender salad, it would help out, especially when they had company like Mr. Robin, or Mr. Squirrel, or Mr. Rabbit, who cared for such things.
So then the 'Coon and the 'Possum both said that to have green pease and corn was a very good idea, especially when such things were mixed with young chickens with plenty of dressing and gravy, and that as this was a pleasant morning they might walk over and call on Jack Rabbit so that the Old Black Crow could find out about planting things. Mr. 'Possum said that his uncle Silas Lovejoy always had a garden, and he had worked it a good deal when he was young, but that he had forgotten just how things should be planted, though he knew the moon had something to do with it, and if you didn't get the time right the things that ought to grow up would grow down and the down things would all grow up, so that you'd have to dig your pease and pick your potatoes when the other way was the fashion and thought to be better in this climate.
So then the Hollow Tree People put on their things and went out into the nice April sunshine and walked over to Jack Rabbit's house, saying how pleasant it was to take a little walk this way when everything was getting green, and they passed by where Mr. and Mrs. Robin were building a 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 Big West Hills, had set up housekeeping with everything new except the old-fashioned feather-bed and home-made spread which Miss Squirrel had been given by her folks. They looked through Mr. Squirrel's house and said how snug it was, and that perhaps it would be better not to try to furnish it too much at once, as it was nice just to get things as one was able, instead of doing everything at the start.
When they got to Mr. Rabbit's house he was weaving a rag carpet for his front room, and they all stood behind him and watched him weave, and by-and-by Mr. 'Coon wanted to try it, but he didn't know how to run the treadle exactly, and got some of the strands too loose and some too tight, so he gave it up, and they all went out to look at Mr. Rabbit's garden.