The Columbus commercial., 1903-03-03
The StGb-BOOk of
* His Garden. "
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THE scene is laid in Bota, the least
| of these beautiful villages which
form a wide semi-circle about the
Bay of Cudiz; but, although it is the
least. it is by 10 means insignificant.
The duke of Osana, bearing the title
of duke of ARGOS. wore it among the
pearls of his crown long ago, and had
there his ducaI castle, which 1 could
describe stone by stone.
But we are not speaking now Of
castles nor OF dukes, but Of the cele-
brated fields which radiate from
Rota; and particularly of very hum
bic gardener, whom we win call Uncle
Buscobeatas, although that was not
his real name.
The fields of Rota are so productive
that, aside from contributing TO the
duke Of Osuna many thousands bush
els of grain and furnishing wine for
the entire population, they supply
fruit and vegetables to Cadiz, often
to Huelva, and occasionally even to
Seville. This is especially true of
pumpkins and cabbage, whose excel
lent quality, surprising abundance
and consequent cheapness evoke the
highest praise-insomuch that in
lower Andalusia they dub the in
habitants of Rota "pumpl1in-raisers"
and "cabba age-raisers, which they ac-
cept with noble pride.
And in truth they have reason to be
proud of such encomiums, for those
gardens OF Rota which are so pro-
ductive, the land which produces both
for consumption and expectation,
that land which yields three or four
haryests year, is not earth at all,
but pure, clean sand. 1t is ceaselessly
expelled by the turbulent ocean, is
whirled away by the furious western
winds, and scattered all over the dis
trict of Rota, like the ashes in the
vicinity of Nesuvius.
But the incessant toll of man more
than compensates for the ingratitude
of Nature. 1 do not believe that in all
the world there is a laboring man
who tolls so much as the Rotanese.
Not even a tiny stream of sweet
water flows through those melan-
choIy fields What does it matter?
The pumpkin-raiser perforates his
draws out-here by hand, there by
buckets-the precious fluid which
serves as blood to the vegetables. The
principles of fertilization are also
wanting in sand. What does it mat
ter? The tOmato-raiser passes half
his life seeking and removing sub
stances which viii serve as guano.
converting even the sea-weeds into
manure! Once possessed of these two
precious elements, the son of RotG
proceeds patiently to fertilize not his
entire estate, but little circles of
ground as large as a small plate; in
each of these fertiIized circles he
sows n grain of tomato or pumpkin
seed. which he then waters from
small jar, just as one would give q
drink to a little child.
From the time of planting until the
harvest. he tends the plants daily, one
bv one, treating them with the fond
ness and pains comparable only to
the soIicitude of a spinster for her
f4ower-pots. Now he adds a little
handful of manure; now he pours on
n little stream of water; now he
clears them of caterpillars and other
insects: now he cares for the inffrm,
splinting the fractures and placing
bulwarks of sand and straw beside
those which cannot resist the rays of
the sun or the blasts of the wind. He
counts the stems, the leaves, the
flowers and the fruit of the most
preeocious, and talks to them, kisses
them. blesses them, and even gives
them expressive names to distinguish
them in his mind.
This Is no exaggeration. 1t is al
ready a saying (and | have heard it
many times in Rota) that the garden
er of that country touches no less
than 40 times with his own hand
every single plant which he raises in
his garden. And this explains why
the old gardeners of that locality go
about bent double, until their boards
touch their knees. 1T is the posture
in which they have spent their noble,
meritorious lives.
Wen, then, Uncle Buscobeatas be-
Ionged to the class of gardeners I
have Just described. He was always
bent double, having reached the age
of go years. For 40 years he had titled
a garden bordering on the port of
Costilla.
That year he had raised some I'M |
mense pumpkins, as large as the |
decorative globes on the monumental |
bridge. Tt was about the middle of |
the month of j dne. and they were al |
ready taking on the color of the |
orange within and without. Uncle |
Buscobeatas knew them perfectly /
by their form, by their degree of MS
turity and by name-espe&ally the 10 !