Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-04-13
Utilize the Backyard.
(The Biddeford Journal

| u lie blUGe1Ofu JOOrnaID
In the years EOt long ago when the
boomers were booming the Belgian hare
industry Of blessed memory. we were ac-
customed to being told that the man,
woman or child who had backyard as
| big as n piece of remnant carpet could
give hostages TO fortune by investing all
available capital in pair of Belgian harcs
with fair prospect that the investment
would return in such shape that within
twelve months after the first claim was
Staked out the far-sighted owner would
ne riding in an automobile and wearing
diamonds. Theory and practice failed to
coincide in this particular instance; the
Belgian hare has departed into the limbo
OF things that We're but are not, but the
hackyards yet remain. And there is evil
dence OF growing appreciation of the
possibilities of the backyard and the op-
portunity it affords for effective treat.
ment. What was too often regarded as
one of the waste places of the earth has
come to be looked at as possessing posSi-
BILE advantages in many ways; as offering
tne-o opportunity OF experiments in the line
of an old fashioned flower garden. for
raising summer vegetables and for other
wholesome diversions that may be de.
pended upon to workStrikng changes.
Whether a householder has a taste for
gardening or not the least he can do for
himself and his neighbors is to take the
trouble to put his backyard in attractive
condition. Whether in city or village. a
regard for the decencies of life will sug.
GeSt at least that he ought not to allow
the backyard to be the place for the Stor-
age of all sorts of waste. 1t is easy to
find place to dispose OF the fotsam and
iotsam of housekeeping without littering
a backyard with rubbish that is an eye
sore to the family and to the neighbors.
AT very little expense the backyard can
be changed from a dumping ground. a
favOrite resort for nocturnal and depreda-
tory cats. to a cool and attractive lawn.
and if the owner likes gardening and
wants an interesting and profitable
amusement for his leisure hours he can.
h,- hn nj nr1i tnStn md
skill. transform the backyard into veri-
table bower of beauty and enjoyment.
Even before the frost is out of the ground
it is not too early to begin prepa ra tons
for the garden that may he the pride of
the owner until the advent of the killing
froStS of autumn. As soon as the snow
is gone the yard can be cleaned up. plants
for vegetable or flower beds can be laid
out, and arrangements can be made for
whatever fertiliZing may he regarded as
necessary. In any backyard garden sweet
reaS are one of the dependable Standbys.
and the sooner they are in the ground
the better. Those who take time by the
forelock in this respect will have their
reward in the form of an earlier and
larger crop of blossoms. Most of the
other old fashioned garden plants are less
hardy. and the planting of them must
wait for more propitious season. Con-
sidering the backyard as flower garden,
beds of sweet peas. naSturtiumS. pansieS.
marigOlds. aSters poppies and other flow
ers of brilliant hue or agreeable odor: the
bushes of golden glow and stalks of holly
hook. which never lose their popularity.
the window boxes and the porch boxes,
the ivy and the woodbine all COM
bne to make the city and village more
beautiful and the summer more attrac-
tive. And every person who owns or
controls a square yard of land can help
in this work 1t will pay not only from a
personal standpoint. but from the stand
point of everybody who has eyes to see
and the sense to appreciate the good
things of life. 1t is natural to expect that
in this work of regenerating the back
yard the frontyard will not he neglected.
for II is human nature to put the best
foot forward If proper care is taken the
back as well as the front yard can be
made a thing of beauty and joy for at
least seven months in the year.