connoisseurs of carrots, beets, onions, parsnips, and so on through
almost the entire list of such winter stock as was to be obtained at
our nearest green-grocery. We celebrated the day by nearly a dozen
dishes which the children aided my wife in preparing. Then I had
Merton figure the cost of each, and we were surprised at the
cheapness of much of country fare, even when retailed in very small
quantities.

This brought up another phase of the problem. In many respects I was
like the children, having almost as much to learn as they--with the
advantage, however, of being able to correct impressions by
experience. In other words, I had more judgment; and while I should
certainly make mistakes, not many of them would be absurd or often
repeated. I was aware that most of the homely kitchen vegetables
cost comparatively little, even though (having in our flat no good
place for storage) we had found it better to buy what we needed from
day to day. It was therefore certain that, at wholesale in the
country, they would often be exceedingly cheap. This fact would work
both ways: little money would purchase much food of certain kinds,
and if we produced these articles of food they would bring us little
money.

I will pass briefly over the period that elapsed before it was time
for us to depart, assured that the little people who are following
this simple history are as eager to get away from the dusty city
flat to the sunlight, breezy fields, brooks, and woods as were the
children in my story. It is enough to say that, during all my waking
hours not devoted to business, I read, thought, and studied on the
problem of supporting my family in the country. I haunted Washington
Market in the gray dawn and learned from much inquiry what products