Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-31

Those of us who only have flower
gardens must look upon the vegetable
plot with eyes of longing. 1t Is the
promised land Of every flower grower
He who grows flowers alone bankers to
raise radishes. and tomatoes, and
onions, and corn. and all the other
vegetables known and unknown.
| Surely this Is so. not only because
vegetables In themselves are good but
more because they require skill In their
! raising The back yard gardener who
grows tolerably good flowers believes
that he could do even better with vege-
tables. because he would be forced TO
! take better care of them.
| Any home owner may do fair job OF
| flower growing by putting the seed
into the ground. II luck Is with him,
he will have pretty blossoms before the
season is over, although he may not
have done much himself to deserve
them. Fiowering shrubs beaut1fy a
house after they have become at home
in the soil. Perennials take care Of
themselves. provided that nature does
not endow them with too many bugs"
With vegetable garden, however.
all must be different. AS far as we can
discover. through reading and CONVEX
sation, there Is 10 times a. much work
In plot given over to vegetables as
there is TO comparable piece Of ground
planted entirely to flowers. But plants
must be given more room every way,
end to end and side by side. thus MAX
ing a bigger plot OF ground to cultivate.
The wedding is correspondingly more
difficult and the battle against blights
and insects more intensive. Evidently
food appeals as much to insects as to
mankind. The warfare against them
in a vegetable garden is more keen
from every standpoint. 1t Is not so
much a matter OF preserving the beauty
OF plants as OF preserving all that the
plant stands for.
It Is scarcely to be argued that
necessity is one OF the prime moving
factors In this life. We make the
necessary thing pleasing If we can or
endure it II we cannot. Among the
necessities OF life, food takes primary
place, Animals will lose their llabitual
caution II hunger presses them. Those
that ordinarily would not touch tainted
meat will eat 1t II compelled to.
Mankind is not far behind In its in
terest in something to eat. We have
"dolled up" dining to an extraordinary
GAtNils uub AI OUbbi'ii ~ H. liONAAAAtE h'Oip
than fancy representation of the hog
In his trough. The pig has no damask
tablecloth. no aristocratic dishes. no
beautiful silverware. no courses. no
maidservant, no evening dress. but he
manages to eat his dinner just the
same. and seems to enjoy every bite
OF it. II one may Judge from the EVIL
dent gusto with which he partakes,
Our cultured dining Is eating after
all. and It's basis is more and more
coming to be the vegetable garden. An
increased propaganda tone Of the good
propagandaSl calls for more and bet
ter vegetables in the national diet
Experimental research by eminent
scientists of this and other countries
has shown the large place which the
vegetables ought to occupy in the diet
OF a civilized human being. Such
things as spinach and tomatoes (the
latter not vegetable. but universally
regarded as suchl today are on rae
tically every household table. largely
because medical practitioners and writ
ers have been praising them for the
past two decades to the American
public.
There can be little question that
there Is a different and better taste -
vegetables freshly picked from the
home garden. provided they have been
properly grown with good care and
plenty of fertilizer and moisture
While these factors are OF universal
application In gardening It would APP
pear that they must be Of paramount
value In vegetable gardening, since
such large proportion Of vegetables
IL water. Even the less watery sorts
are mainly nsvors held In suspension In
pulp by water Perhaps no vegetable
that grows would recognize Its descrip-
ton In the foregoing sentence but VIC