We soon learned to know when they were in their
prime, and when over-ripe and mealy. Also that if a second crop was
taken from the same ground without fertilizing it, the melons would be
small and what we called soapy; that is, soft and smooth, utterly
uncrisp, and without a trace of the lively freshness and sweetness of
those raised on virgin soil. Coming in from the farm work at noon, the
half-dozen or so of melons we had placed in our cold spring were a
glorious luxury that only weary barefooted farm boys can ever know.
Spring was not very trying as to temperature, and refreshing rains
fell at short intervals. The work of ploughing commenced as soon as
the frost was out of the ground. Corn-and potato-planting and the
sowing of spring wheat was comparatively light work, while the nesting
birds sang cheerily, grass and flowers covered the marshes and meadows
and all the wild, uncleared parts of the farm, and the trees put forth
their new leaves, those of the oaks forming beautiful purple masses as
if every leaf were a petal; and with all this we enjoyed the mild
soothing winds, the humming of innumerable small insects and hylas,
and the freshness and fragrance of everything.
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