There was little skepticism this season about the worth of the methods we had followed last. Everyone had had better crops than ever before, even if in some cases they hadn’t come up to all that had been hoped for. Also there had been a good deal of swapping of experiences during the winter with a result of much information in regard to seeds that was of value. I realized that in a general way we already were beginning to sift out the things for which our land was best adapted. It was the beginning of specialization. I hoped, however, that this wouldn’t be carried too far, because I believed and still believe that our success would lie more in the line of general farming than special farming. Above all things I believe that every community should first of all supply itself. That is a pioneer idea that spells safety. Every dollar saved is more than a dollar earned in most cases; it often amounts to two dollars earned. I had had such success last year with my potatoes that I determined to put in another five acres, making ten in all. I expected Hadley to approve of this inasmuch as results had contradicted every prophecy he had made. However, he only shook his head. “I say let well ’nuff be. Ye was just plumb lucky last year, but ef ye try again ye’ll lose all ye made.” You can’t beat Hadley’s pessimism. If you fail he’ll tell you he knew you would; if you succeed he’ll advise you not to tempt fate again. So far as I know he was the only man in the village who was still stuck in his tracks. I tried once more to persuade him to till his own soil but he refused. He was living fairly comfortably on the wages I paid him and was content to let matters rest there. Even in the face of the profits he had seen me reap, he only replied, “Ain’t no use farmin’ round here. Farmin’s dead.” I kept my vegetable garden much as I had it before, but I put in another acre of white beans. Beans and potatoes--it looked to me as though any farmer in New England ought to make a living from those two things alone. They are as staple as gold and the market for them is unlimited. That is especially true of beans, for they keep indefinitely. I ought also to say that my apple trees this second spring showed the result of the care that had been given them. They looked so hardy and strong that it was almost impossible to believe that they had the burden of fifty years’ neglect back of them. They blossomed well and I expected a good deal from them. In the meanwhile Holt was working harder than ever with a view to providing us with the best possible market. We talked over any number of schemes. We considered the advisability of hiring a market stall in the city market for our own produce, but that involved not only a good deal of expense but active competition with men who made retail selling their business. We couldn’t afford to hire more help and it looked unwise to attempt to undertake this without the aid of an experienced man.