Evening star., 1915-06-25
Clothes for Gardening.
Special Correspondence of The sar.

Special Correspondence of The Ssar.
NEW YORK. June 25.-It looks as if
the impetus given to the pursuit of
gardening this summer would cause the
country to blossom like the rose. AS a
nation we prefer no bread to the pro-
verbal half a loaf, and when we go
in for pursuit we certainly do 1t
with all our might while the furore
lasts The manias which obsess US
are not always as productive of good
results as the gardening craze, and it
is to be hoped that its reign may be
longer. on that account, than those
of some of it's more fantastic prede-
cessors.
II is difficult at nrst sight to under
stand how this fad is going to become
general as some of the others. To
garden presupposes the possession of
place to garden in. But we are d
people of great resource and inventive
ingenuity. What does not exist We
promptly invent, or we adapt some
thing existing already to our new needs
The department stores will come to the
rescue of those who desire to gar
den without possessing the necessary
means, and "gardenettes" adjusted TO
the wants of city fat-dwellers will
probably shortly be on sale. Apart
ment houses will apportion their roofs
into gardening space for each tenant
We even imagine a resourceful
woman growing lettuce and radishes in
her stationary Washtubs
Join the movement we all must. The
clothes for it are too attractive to be
neglected. The chintZ gowns. neat
caps, wide hats. smocks. awning striped
skirts. bags and baskets spread the in
fection broadcast over the land, and
no woman may hope to escape. She is
even offered collar and cuff sets of the
new iowery fabrics in order to enable
her to adapt her old gowns to the new
pursuits For ii seems to be one of
the rules of the new game. that you
must be dressed in chintz in order TO
play it. Your sweet peas VIII refuse
10 come UP and regard you, if you are
In anything but cretonne. They will
droop on their little stems in the shame
of belonging to a gardener dressed in
anything but the prescribed fabrics
Here is a whole new costume for the
woman who must be properly dressed
for every pursuit and function. There
are not only new clothes, but whole
range of accessories as well. There
are garden hats, deserving of an arti-
Gle to themselves. and bonnets that tie
demurely under the chin. There are
big garden aprons. with pockets for
scissors and trowel and other imple-
mentS, or you may carry your TOOLS IN
a big chintz bag, hung on your arm, or
in a fat, painted basket designed to
hold flowers as you cut them later in
the season. Then there are wicker
kneeling pads, lined with a cushion
covered with gay, foWery Japanese
crepe, to offer a good example to the
blossoms and encourage them from
the beginning to do their best.
Long sticks. ornamented with 1880
ladies or bright colored parrots, are
offered. to stick into the ground beside
the gardener for her to hang her bas-
ket on. Whole sets of little ones are
sold to mark the resting place of rows
OF seed. Even the sets of tools are
gayly painted with bright colors that
all may be in harmony All these things
offer ideas for gifts to the hostess OF
weekend parties to inspect the prog
ress of the garden A guest who ar
rived laden with any one of them would
be sure to be invited again.
ANNE RITTENHOUSE.
Copyright. 19I5.)