Daddy Takes Us to the Garden Read online

  THE DADDY SERIES FOR LITTLE FOLKS

  DADDY TAKES USTO THE GARDEN

  BY

  HOWARD R. GARIS

  _Author of_

  _Uncle Wiggily and Alice in Wonderland_, _Uncle WiggilyLongears_, _Uncle Wiggily and Mother Goose_,_Uncle Wiggily's Arabian Nights_

  ILLUSTRATED BY EVA DEAN

  MADE IN U.S.A.

  M.A. DONOHUE & COMPANY

  CHICAGO NEW YORK

  THE DADDY SERIES

  By HOWARD R. GARIS

  The stories tell of a little boy and girl who go to various places withtheir dear Daddy. Each book contains something of value regarding naturelore, outdoor sports and animal life.

  Price 50 cents per volume.

  HOWARD R. GARIS

  * * * * *

  Daddy Takes Us Camping Daddy Takes Us Fishing Daddy Takes Us to the Circus Daddy Takes Us Skating Daddy Takes Us Coasting Daddy Takes Us to the Farm Daddy Takes Us to the Garden Daddy Takes Us Hunting Birds Daddy Takes Us Hunting Flowers Daddy Takes Us to the Woods

  Copyright, 1914, by R.F. FENNO & COMPANY

  * * * * *

  DADDY TAKES US TO THE GARDEN

  CONTENTS

  * * * * *

  CHAPTER PAGE

  I A New Game 9 II Making A Garden 20 III Upside Down Beans 34 IV The First Radish 49 V The Potatoes' Eyes 59 VI The Corn Silk 70 VII Early Tomatoes 78VIII The Children's Market 92 IX Sammie Plants Tomatoes 102 X White Celery 113 XI Gathering Crops 123 XII Pumpkin Pie 134

  CHAPTER I

  A NEW GAME

  "Mother, what can we do now?"

  "Tell us something to play, please! We want to have some fun!"

  As Harry and Mabel Blake said this they walked slowly up the path towardthe front porch, on which their mother was sitting one early Spring day.The two children did not look very happy.

  "What can we do?" asked Hal, as he was called more often than Harry.

  "There isn't any more fun," complained Mab, to which her name was oftenshortened.

  "Oh, my!" laughed Mother Blake. "Such a sadness! What doleful faces youboth have. I hope they don't freeze so and stay that way. It would bedreadful!"

  "It can't freeze," said Hal. "It's too warm. Daddy told us how cold it hadto be to freeze. The ther--ther--Oh, well the thing you tell how cold itis--has to get down to where it says number 32 before there's ice."

  "You mean the thermometer," said Mab.

  "That's it," agreed Hal. "And look, the shiny thing--mercury, that's thename of it--the mercury is at 60 now. It can't freeze, Mother."

  "Well, I'm glad it can't, for I wouldn't want your face to turn into icethe way it looked a little while ago."

  "But there's no fun, Mother," and Mab, whose face, as had her brother's,had lost its fretful look while they were talking about the thermometer,again seemed cross and unhappy. "We can't have any fun!"

  "Why don't you play some games?" asked Mrs. Blake, smiling at the twochildren.

  "We did," answered Hal. "We tried to play tag, but it's too muddy to runoff the paths, and it's no fun, staying in one place. We can't play ball,'cause Mab can't throw like a boy, and I'm not going to play doll withher."

  "I didn't ask you to!" said Mab quickly. "I was going to play doll bymyself."

  "Yes, but you'd want me to be a doctor, or something, when your doll gotsick--you always do."

  "I should think that would be fun," said Mother Blake. "Why don't you playdoll and doctor?"

  "I'm not going to play doll!" declared Hal, and his face looked crosserthan ever.

  "Oh, it isn't nice to talk that way," said his mother. "You ought to beglad if Mab wanted you to be a doctor for her sick doll. But perhaps youcan think of something else--some new game. Just sit down a moment andwe'll talk. Then perhaps you'll think of something. I wonder why it is sowarm to-day, and why there is no danger of anything freezing--not yourfaces of course, for I know you wouldn't let that happen. But why is it sowarm; do you know?"

  "'Cause it's Spring," answered Hal. "Everybody knows that."

  "Oh, no, not everybody," replied his mother. "Your dog Roly-Poly doesn'tknow it."

  "Oh, yes, Mother! I think he does!" cried Mab. "He was rolling over andover in the grass to-day, even if it was all wet like a sponge. He neverdid that in the Winter."

  "Well, perhaps dogs and cats do know when it is Spring. The birds do, I'msure, for then they come up from the South, where they have spent theWinter, and begin to build their nests. So you think it is warm to-daybecause it is Spring; do you, Hal?"

  "Yes, Mother," he replied. "It's time Winter was gone, anyhow. And thetrees know it is going to be Summer soon, for they are swelling out theirbuds."

  "And after a while there'll be flowers," added Mab. "Didn't we have fun,Hal, when Daddy took us hunting flowers?"

  "Yes, and when he took us to the woods, and to see the different kinds ofbirds," added the little boy. "We had lots of fun then."

  "I wish we could have some of that kind of fun now," went on Mab. "When'sDaddy coming home, Mother?"

  "Oh, not for quite a while. He has to work and earn money you know. He hasto earn more than ever, now that everything costs so much on account ofthe war. Daddies don't have a very easy time these days."

  "Do Mothers?" asked Mab, thinking of how she played mother to her dolls.Maybe, she thought, she could make up a new game, pretending how hard itwas for dolls' mothers these days.

  "Well, mothers have to do many things they did not have to do when thingsto eat and wear did not cost so much," spoke Mother Blake. "We have tomake one loaf of bread go almost as far as two loaves used to go, and asfor clothes--well, I am mending some of yours, Hal, that, last year, Ithought were hardly useful any more. But we must save all we can. Sothat's why Daddy has to work harder and longer, and why he can't come homeSaturday afternoons as early as he used to."

  It was a Saturday afternoon when Hal and Mab found so much fault about nothaving any fun. Almost any other day they would have been in school, andhave been busy over their lessons. But just now they wanted to play andthey were not having a very jolly time, for they could not think ofanything to do. Or, at least, they thought they could not.

  "What makes it Spring?" asked Hal, after a bit, as he watched his motherputting a patch on his little trousers. Hal remembered how he tore a holein them one day sliding down a cellar door.

  "Tell us what makes Spring, Mother," went on Mab. "That will be as muchfun as playing, I guess."

  "The sun makes the Spring," said Mrs. Blake "Spring is one of the fourseasons. I wonder if you can tell me the others?"

  "Which one starts?" asked Hal.

  "Spring, of course," exclaimed Mab. "You have to start with somethinggrowing, and things grow in the Spring."

  "That is right," said Mrs. Blake. "Spring is the beginning of life in theworld, when the flowers and birds begin to grow; the flowers from littlebuds and the birds from little eggs. What comes next?"

  "Summer!" cried Hal. "Then's when we can have fun. The ground is dry, sowe can play marbles and fly kites. And we can go in swimming and have along vacation. Summer's the jolly time!"

  "It is a time when things grow that start in the Spring," said MotherBlake. "What comes after Summer?"

  "Autumn," answered Mab. "Some folks call it Fall. Why do they, Mother?"

  "Because the leaves fall from the trees, perhaps. It is a time when the
trees and bushes go to sleep, and when most birds fly down to the warmSouth. And what comes after Autumn or Fall?"

  "Christmas!" cried Hal.

  "Yes, so it does!" laughed Mrs. Blake. "And I guess most children wouldsay the same thing. But I meant what season."

  "It's Winter," Hal said. "Let's see if I know 'em. Spring, Summer, Autumn,Winter," he recited. "Four seasons, and this is Spring. I wish it wouldhurry up and be Summer."

  "So do I," agreed Mab. "You can't have any fun now. It's too wet to gowithout your rubbers, too cold to go without a coat and almost too hot towear one. I like Summer best."

  "And I like Fall and Winter," said Hal. "But let's do something Mab. Let'shave some fun. What can we do, Mother?" and back the children were, justwhere they started.

  "Why don't you get Roly-Poly and play with him?" asked Mrs. Blake.

  "He's gone away. I guess he ran down to Daddy's office like he doessometimes," said Mab.

  "Let's go down after him," exclaimed Hal. "That'll be some fun."

  "I don't want to," spoke Mab. "I'd rather play with my doll."

  "You never want to do anything I want to play?" complained Hal. "Can't shecome with me after Roly-Poly, Mother?"

  "Well, I don't know. Can't you both play something here until Daddy comeshome? Why don't you play bean-bag?"

  "We did, but Hal always throws 'em over my head and I can't reach," Mabsaid.

  "She throws crooked," complained Hal.

  "Oh, my dears! I think you each must have the Spring Fever!" laughedMother Blake. "Try and be nicer toward one another. Let me see now. Howwould you like to help me bake a cake, Mab?"

  "Oh, that will be fun!" and Mab jumped up from the porch, where she hadbeen sitting near her mother's rocking chair, and began to clap her hands."May I stir it myself, and put the dough in the pans?

  "Yes, I think so."

  "Pooh! That's no fun for me!" remarked Hal. "I want to have some fun,too."

  "You may clean out the chocolate or frosting dish--whichever kind of acake we make," offered Mab. "You always like to scrape out the chocolatedish, Hal."

  "Yes, I like that," he said, smiling a little.

  "Well, you may have it all alone this time, if I make the cake," went onMab. Nearly always she and Hal shared this pleasure--that of scraping out,with a knife or spoon, the chocolate or sugar icing dish from which MotherBlake took the sweet stuff for the top and inside the layers of the cake."Come on, Hal!"

  Hal was willing enough now, and soon he and his sister were in thekitchen, helping Mother Blake with her cake-making. Though, to tell thetruth, Mab and Mrs. Blake did most of the work.

  While the three were in the midst of their cake-making, into the kitchenrushed a little poodle dog, whirling around, barking and trying to catchhis tail.

  "Oh, Roly-Poly, where have you been?" cried Hal. "Did Daddy come home withyou?"

  "Bow-wow!" barked Roly-Poly, which might mean "no" or "yes," just as youhappened to listen to his bark.

  "Oh, don't get in my way, Roly!" called Mab as the little dog danced aboutin front of her, while she was carrying a pan filled with cake doughtoward the oven. "Look out! Oh, there it goes."

  Just what Mab had feared came to pass. She tripped over the poodle dog,and, to save herself from falling, she had to drop the pan of cake dough.Down it fell, right on Roly-Poly's back.

  "Bow-wow-wow!" he barked and growled at the same time.

  "Oh, look at him!" laughed Hal "He's a regular cake himself."

  "Don't let him run through the house that way!" called Mother Blake."He'll get the carpets and furniture all dough. Get him, Hal!"

  Hal made a grab for the little pet dog, and caught him by his tail. Thismade Roly-Poly howl louder than ever, until Hal, not wishing to hurt hispet, managed to get him in his arms. But of course this made Hal's waistall covered with cake dough.

  "Never mind," said Mother Blake, as she saw Hal looking at himself indismay. "It will all wash off. Better to have it on your waist than on thecarpets. Why, Mab! What's the matter?" for Mab was crying softly.

  "Oh--Oh, my--my nice ca-cake is all spoiled," she sobbed.

  "Oh, no it isn't!" comforted Mother Blake. "Only one pan of dough isspilled, and there is plenty more. The kitchen floor can easily be washed,and so can Roly Poly.

  "Hal," went on his mother, "you take the dog up to the bath tub and givehim a good scrubbing. He'll like that. Take off your own waist and let thewater run on that. I'll wipe up the floor and you can fill another pan andput it in the oven, Mab. Don't cry! We'll have the cake in time for supperyet."

  So Mab dried her tears and once more began on the cake, while Mrs. Blakecleaned up the dough from the floor. In a little while the cake was bakingin the oven, and Hal came down stairs, rather wet and splattered, butclean. With him was Roly-Poly, looking half drowned, but also clean.

  "Well, we did a lot of things!" said Hal, when he had on dry clothes, andhe and Mab were waiting for the cake to be baked, after which thechocolate would be spread over it. "It was fun, wasn't it?"

  "I--I guess so," answered Mab, not quite sure. "Did I hurt Roly when Istepped on him?"

  "I guess not. He splashed water all over me when I put him in the bathtub, though. I pretended he was a submarine ship and he swam all around."

  "I wish I had seen him."

  "I'll make him do it again," and Hal started toward the stairs with Rolyin his arms.

  "No, please don't!" laughed Mother Blake. "One bath a day is enough.Besides, I think it's time to take the cake out, Mab."

  When the chocolate had been spread on, and Hal had scraped out the dish,giving Mab a share even though she had said she did not want any, thefront door was heart to shut.

  "Here comes Daddy!" cried Mab.

  "Oh, I wonder if he brought anything?" said Hal, racing after his sister.

  Daddy Blake did have a package in his arms, and he was smiling. He put thebundle down on the table and caught up first Mab and then Hal for a heartykiss.

  "Well, how are you all to-day?" he asked.

  "I just baked a cake," answered Mab.

  "And the dough went all over Roly-Poly, and I made believe he was asubmarine ship in the bath tub," added Hal. "We had lots of fun."

  "Before that we didn't thought," spoke Mab. "We wanted to play somethingnew but we didn't know what. Did you bring us anything, Daddy?"

  "Yes, I brought you and Hal a new game."

  "A new game? Oh, goody! May we play it now?"

  "Well, you can start to look at it now, but it takes quite a while to playit. It takes all Spring, all Summer and part of the Fall."

  "Oh, what a long game!" cried Hal. "What is it?"

  "It is called the Garden Game," said Daddy Blake, smiling. "And aftersupper I'll tell you all about it."

  "The Garden Game," murmured Mab.

  "It must be fun," said Hal, "else Daddy wouldn't laugh around his eyes theway he does."

  "Yes, I think you'll like this new game," went on Mr. Blake. "And whoeverlearns to play it best will get a fine prize!"

  "Oh! Oh! Oh!" cried Hal and Mab in delight. They could hardly wait to findout all about it.