Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-03-16
The Home Garden for
Pleasure and Profit
BY JOHN BARTRAM

The home vegetable garden can be a
help as weIl as a hobby. II you Just
i like the great outdoors. there Is no more
| satisfying way Of expressing yourself IN
| the terms of nature than running gar
! den--hower or vegetable, II does not mai
ter, for each has its fascination and in
/ structon II you have the modern idea
of efficiency which is defined as reduc-
| tion of waste, either OF motion or
! Of production, to minimum, you
| can translate your efforts into terms
| Of profit. The fruits of even a tiny plot
of ground, well worked, planned and
| TILED, will materially reduce the bill at
the green grocers during the spring and
| summer months II you have more than
pocket handkerchief of back yard to
work in; II you are a suburbanite with
an available area of 100 square feet, you
can have crops that will keep family
of four or five In all vegetables, except
potatoes, throughout the cycle Of the
year.
This Is not theory II is not the iri.
descent vision of the book gardeners. 1t
is not restatement Of the glowing ad.
vertisements of some OF the seed dealers
and nurserymen II is cold. hard fact.
Ask any commuter who has even half
way tolerable garden. and he will tell
you that his garden is worth while from
the standpoint of commercial calculation.
The vegetables, fresh with the morning
dew and Favored with a SAVIOR that Is
never found i'm those that come from the
huckster's wagon or the nearby grocery
store cost money because they are first
quality. The flowers feed the spiritual
side of mans nature. without the vision
the spirit perisheth.
The garden Is one of the compensa.
tions of communication. The man who has
to walk half mile to mile, rising ex.
ira early to get the 7:20, when he might
just be considering how hard 1t Is to
get out of bed at that time II he lived in
town, would not make the exchange
from town to country unless II was n
least n fait one The man in the out.
lying sections of the city who has porch
or a small front lawn or a fair-slzed city
backyard would not use time and energy
In raising his flowers and, maybe garden
sass" If he did not find the time we'll
spent. Even under urban conditions II is
possible to have flowers of many va
rieties throughout the house and to have
certain vegetables fresh from the vines
for the table
If you live in the suburbs, then you
should have n garden, for two reasons.
One Is that you can reduce the high cost
of living very definitely. The other Is
that you will have a health.giving. inter-
estng hobby for your spare time. You
will become economically self.sufficient so
far as the extent of your ground and
leisure allow. You will have prime prod.
ucts at no cost beyond the expenditure of
your surplus energy.
If you have any sort of backyard at
all, you can have an abundance of flow
ers,, or. II you elect, you can nave such
products as peas, lima beans, tomatoes,
wax beans, string beans, herbs for all
purposes and n few other fresh green
thingu And properly titled, even small
patch will yield enough to keep an aver
age family plentfuly supplied over the
fresh vegetable season. This in the city,
mind you!
The recreation and exercise, o. course,
go with city as we'll as suburban garden
ing And the backyard will bloom with
flowers or bear truck" instead of being
unsightly from reglect or uninteresting
with n little grass.