Evening star., 1924-07-22
THIS AND THAT
BY G. K. TRACEwELL.

Kind thoughts, contentment, psa ace
Of mind
And JOY for weary hours"
stranger came and looked yer
the back fence into the little garden.
Your back yard looks like a Ail-
lion dollars" he said. NOW 1 nsyer
had any luck with flowers"
After he had gone away the
thought came:
Why do they attribute success to
luck?
Tom Jones worked for many years,
fitted himself for a position, had
goal in his mind all that time, finally
got there, then all his friends said:
Jones is . lucky beggar"
many OF them, indeed, did not know
OF the hours and hours put in by
Jones to get there" or have anv
idea at all of the background h..
had for the work. He never boasted
about it. So they called it luck
x 4
1t takes more than luck to grow
even small backyard garden to the
point where the spectator feels
one Is nearer Gods heart in a garden
Than anywhere else on earth"
1t takes money, perseverance, labor,
time. Luck comes last of all.
ASK any gardener, no matter how
small his plot of ground is. One OF
the finest things about gardening is
that you do not have TO have a place
like Twin oaks.
1t gives its pleasures to the pos
SCISSOR of a little land, much as II doe
to him who owns many acres. After
lll H. I.
foot of ground. A hundred bushes
are but one multiplied by 100. Six
feet of sweet AIyssum is as good as
600 feet.
Looking at the little garden, the
stranger who called it luck might
have been astonished at just how
much it cost, in dollars and cents.
Here is the material side of a gar
den:
SO, for labor in January.
IS, one load manure.
81, SO pounds of humuS.
81, rose bushes.
S1.35, more roses.
S1.95. more roses.
$1.20, more roses.
S265 lilac bushes.
81. plants (pansies, foxglove, pc
tunas).
81, hardy larkSpur, phlox.
30 cents, flower seeds.
so cents. more flower seeds
s2.25, one peck lawn grass seed.
45 cents, terrace grass seed.
so cents, lawn fertilizer.
- cents, more flower seeds
50. labor.
s35, total.
That was just the start
To ii must be added:
s12.40, lawn mower.
S1.50, spade.
so cents, trowels.
1915, hose.
65 cents, rake
90 cents, watering pot.
90 cents, grass clippers.
50 cents. insect sprayer, and spray.
$3.50, total.
x x i;
Adding $35 to $3.50, gives a total
of s61.9o. To this still must be added
recent purchases:
Sc cents, white clover.
6S cents. bone meal.
S1.01, sheep manure.
S2.55, total.
Adding this to the previous total,
gives a grand total of s64.45.
That's more than luck.
4 X
Six dollars of the above could have
been saved as easy as not, the money
spent for labor, if the gardener had
been the possessor, at the beginning
of the season, of as much confidence
as he has now.
The man leaning over the fence did
not take into consideration either
the hours of time necessary to bring
a backyard composed entirely of red
clay. bare. hard red clay into the
oloomlng state, carpeted with grass
holding many fragrant blossoms.
stones had to be removed from be
meath the surface by the score, many
OF them larger than a dog. Then
there were pieces of tin, bricks, NOR
tar, corn cob pipes wire, nails, glass.
and what not, all to be gotten out
me ground was dug up. covered with
fertlllzer, and allowed to weather all
winter. In the spring it was turned
under. grass seed sown, and rolled.
Later came hours Of planting, weed
ing. cuitlVatlng, cutting the grass
sprinkling.
That was more than just luck, too.
Come into the garden. Maud.
For that black bat, night, has flown"
Now the backyard is coming into
its own, with greater beauties in
prospect. 1t is not much of a garden,
as gardens go. but it is a thousand
fold better than it was six months
ago.
Undoubtedly others have secured
petter results at much less cost Nav
be some one started new garden
on 10 cents. A genius at gardening
might do it. The experiences of other
Washington backyard gardeners this
season would be interesting. One
thlns is certain-their stories would
snow that it takes more than luck
70 grow a garden, or do almost any
Nsox.yc ~ "Iss 1s