The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1917-11-20
"SOUTHERN LITTLE GARDENS
IN NOVEMBER.
In Praise of Zinnias Advantages
of the South for Gar1yning-Sav-
ing for Belgians-Abruzzi Rye
for the Cow.
The Progressive Farmer.

Aren't zinnias an abiding delight
at this season of the year? l know
of nothing that so fully repays you
for giving it just room enough to
live. I plant the improved sort with
big dahlia-like blossoms and the
same beautiful shades of color. And
how they do flourish! Drouth or
blight, they bloom serenely on. It's
their job to bloom and they bloom:
bloom until frost if they are not al
lowed to go toseed. Some of these
days I am going to count how many
blossoms one single plant will pro-
duce, and exactly how long the bios
soming period is.
Try zinnias next year If you
haven't done so this, and see if l
nave praised these good varieties
too highly. For abusy housekeeper
who loves flowers and has very little
time to attend to them, the zinnia is
friend in need. There is dwarf
variety, too, that is very attractive
though it is more like toy plant,
with blossoms about the size of mari
colds.
Have you ever eaten soy beans! L
haven't yet but I intend to before l
am many weeks older. I've been so
interested in the reports from China
and Japan. 1t seems that with them
soy beans takes the place of meat,
which they equal in food value be-
cause they are rich in oil. They say
the Chinese consider us very poor
managers agriculturally because we
take a year off to raise soy beans
and ten we feed them to cattle and
take three years more to raise the
cattle and then we kill and eat the
cattle, whereas the Chinese take a
short cut and eat the soy beans in
the first place, saving time and trou-
BILE and expense. On the face of it.,
they do have the best of the argu-
ment. But still there is something
to be said about having a good time
while you are living-not just stay
ing alive. One can do that on pre-
cious little. But soy beans 60 on
the dinner table for a fair trial.
How often they will 60, is another
question to be settled later.
The truth is we Southern people
have more good things to eat than
any people on the globe, and l doubt
if it's entered any of our heads to be
properly thankful. We love our
section, but are we really thankful
for the countless blessings that we
take as matter of course? Roast
ing ears, sweet potatoes, water
melons-you might live in Europe
all your life and never see them. l
do remember once seeing funny lit
tie watermelons in Rome and l was
so overcome with joy that 1 started
to purchase one to carry back to the
hotel. My companion was Mortified.
"Do you really mean to carry that
thing through the streets of Rome?'
she asked. 81 did," I said, "but
since you call my attention to it, a
watermelon does seem a flop from
the eagle of imperial Caesar"
"Here," said to the man, eff you'll
wrap that watermelon so it will look
like marble bust of the young Au-
gustus, I'll take it." He did, and
did, but when I started to eat it,
it actually tasted like marble bust
of young Augustus, so l gave up
European watermelons.
read book the other day about
the women of Belgium and how they
had bauded together to save the chill
dren; the soldiers orphans and the
little lost children who had become
separated from their mothers in the
hurried retreat before the German
armies. The children were dying not
ouly from starvation but from all
sorts of diseases brought on by the
three terrible years of semi-starva-
ton, so these wemon have given up
everything to gather together all the