Mr. and Mrs. Johnson and their eight-year-old son Billy, lived on a farm, out in the country, down a gravel road, many miles from the city.

Mrs. Johnson had a large vegetable garden.   She also had a strawberry and raspberry patch, near the garden.   She sold some of the vegetables and jams and jellies she had made from the berries, from a fruit stand at the end of the driveway.

Mr. Johnson worked all day out in the fields on his big tractor.   He planted wheat, corn, and cut and baled hay for the animals to eat during the winter.   At night, he had to milk the fifteen cows they had.   Mrs. Johnson made butter from the milk and they all enjoyed drinking the milk with their meals.

It was up to Billy to help his mother plant the vegetable garden, as Mr. Johnson was far too busy.

Mrs. Johnson loaded her wheelbarrow with a rake, hoe, trowel, string, two small wooden stakes, and a watering can.   Billy trudged along behind her with a basket full of packets of seeds for the garden.

Mrs. Johnson said, "Billy, it is a wonderful day to plant our garden.   The sun has warmed the soil and the seeds will find a nice bed to grow in.   Do you think we will get the garden all planted today?"

"I dunno, Mom, but we sure can try.   Daddy said it was going to rain tonight.   If we get all the seeds planted, the rain will help them start to grow."

Mrs. Johnson pushed a short wooden stake into the ground.   She tied a piece of twine to the top of it and walked the length of the garden.   She pushed another stake into the ground and tied the other end of the twine to it.

"This string will help me keep the rows straight," she explained to Billy.

Mrs. Johnson raked the soil smooth on each side and under the string.   Then she picked up the hoe and dragged it along the smoothed-out soil directly under the string.   Billy watched as his mother made a straight ditch for the seeds to rest in.

"Billy, I will go along the row and push in a small hole with the handle of the hoe.   Will you please put one seed in each hole for me?"

"What are we going to plant in this row?" asked Billy.

"I think we should put the corn here.   It is on the back side of the garden and that way, when the corn grows tall, it won't shade the rest of the vegetables."

Mrs. Johnson walked along the row she had dug.   She made a small hole with the end of the hoe handle.   She took a step and made another hole.

"I think we should plant four rows of corn this year," she said.   "Remember the problem we had last year with the crows digging up our corn seeds?"

"Mom, why don't I put two corn seeds in each hole?   That way the crows will have one to eat and we will have one left to grow.   Okay?"

"That's a wonderful idea, Billy," laughed Mrs. Johnson.

Billy bent over and dropped two corn seeds in each hole.

As he walked along he sang, "Two seeds in the hole, one for me and one for the crow."

That night at the supper table, Mrs. Johnson said to her husband, "Will, Billy had a great idea today."

"What was that son?" asked Billy's father.

"Well," answered Billy, "last year the crows ate some of our seeds.   This year, I planted two seeds in each hole.   That way...well...maybe...the crows will leave one seed for us to grow."

Mr. Johnson threw back his head and laughed.

"Billy, that IS a great idea!"