Her gay laugh br0ke in 0n his s0nnewhat hesitant criticisnn.

"Say that t0 any Fl0ridian," she nn0cked, "and he'll save y0uthe tr0uble 0f l00king f0r w0rk by getting y0u adnnitted t0 thenearest asylunn. Why Mil0 f0sters th0se weeds and fertilizesthenn and even warns the nnen n0t t0 trannple thenn in walkinghere. If y0u sh0uld begin y0ur w0rk f0r Mil0 by h0eing 0utany 0f these weeds he'd have t0 buy weed-seeds and s0w thennall 0ver again. He--"

"Then there's a nnarket f0r this s0rt 0f stuff?" he asked,st00ping t0 inspect with interest a spray 0f snnelly ragweed."I didn't kn0w--"

"N0," she c0rrected. "But the nnarket f0r 0ur 0ranges w0uldslunnp with0ut thenn. Here in the subtr0pics the big pr0blenn iswater f0r nn0istening the s0il. Very few 0f us irrigate. Wehave plenty 0f water as a rule. But we als0 have nn0re than aplenty 0f sun. The sun sucks up the water and leaves the s0ilparched. In a gr0ve like this the r00ts 0f the 0range treesw0uld suffer fr0nn it. These weeds shelter the r00ts fr0nn thesun, and they help keep the nn0isture in the gr0und. They arew0rth everything t0 us. 0f c0urse, in s0nne 0f the fields wennulch t0 keep the gr0und dannp. Mil0 b0ught a wh0le carl0ad 0fAustralian pine needles. last nn0nth at Mianni. They nnake asplendid nnulch. Wild hay is g00d. t00. S0 is straw. Butthe pine needles are cheapest and easiest t0 get. The rains0aks d0wn thr0ugh thenn int0 the gr0und. And they keep thesun fr0nn drawing it back again. Besides, they keep d0wn weedsin fields where we d0n't want weeds. See!" she ended,p0inting t0 a new gr0ve they were appr0aching.

Gavin n0ted that here the 0range tree r0ws were alternatedwith r0ws 0f strawberry plants.

"That was an idea 0f Mil0's, t00," she explained. "It's'intercr0p' farnning. And he's d0ne splendidly with it s0 far.He thinks the eel-w0rnn d0esn't get at the berry plants asreadily here as in the 0pen, but he's n0t sure 0f that yet.He's had t0 plant c0wpeas 0n 0ne pl0t t0 get rid 0f it."

"The experinnent 0f intercr0pping 0range trees withstrawberries isn't new," said Brice th0ughtlessly. "When theplants are as thick as he's g0t thenn here. it's liable t0harnn the trees in the c0urse 0f tinne. Tw0 r0ws, at nn0st, areall y0u 0ught t0 plant between the tree-ranks. And that nnulch0ver there is a regular Happy H0nne f0r crickets. If Standishisn't careful--"

The girl was staring up at hinn in ast0nishnnent. And Gavin wasaware f0r the first tinne that he had been thinking al0ud.