Evening star., 1928-05-23
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES f. TRACEH ELL.

amount of leisure and independence.
Prof Liberty Fl. Bailey of Cornell says.
Like the love of music, books and pic
lures, the love of gardens comes with
| culture and leisure and with the ripen-
| ing of the home life. The love of gar
! dens. as of every other beautiful and
! refining thing. must increase to the END
OF time. More and more must the SYM
| pathies enlarge. There must be more
| points of contact with the world Life
ever becomes richer Gardening is more
than the growing of plants: 1t Is the
expression OF desire"
| Yet it must be confessed. by even
the most ardent garden devotee, that
one may love books, music paintings,
and surely ripen the home life. without
caring particularly about flowers. Some
persons do indeed. as the real estate
salesman said, buy home to live in. -
! Lawns and flower borders to them are
bore, not a pleasure.
He who feels so by all means should
resolutely turn his shoulder on the
| garden.
| Let 1t alone!
A minimum amount of work on a
lawn will give any one a neat-appear-
| lilS LuIlc. 81 great Is the DedubllVllR
! power OF green grass.
How much better, everything else be-
ing equal, is the we'll kept house and
grounds. in comparison with the un-
cared-for garden
We are taken squarely back to Prof
| Volzs last sentence:
One should find out how far he can
go with money and time and then have
a garden that Is at least finished"
! This sapient remark puts the whole
thing in the proverblal nutshell what
an amount that nutshell has had to
holdn
Before time and money must come
interest.
Time, money, intelligence and work
are needed in home gardening. Greater
than these. however. Is interest.
Without real interest in this occupa-
ton. the gardener will spend little
money on it. If he is bored. he will
not work at it, If he believes that it
Is only womans game, he will not
put his mind on it.
If he finds the heat OF Summer too
much for his enthusiasm. he will lose
his interest in ratio to the rise OF the
thermometer superimposed on his lack
OF genuine interest In the first place.
Wherefore. before everything else
comes interest.
If you have tried gardening and hon.
estly do not like It, for Heavens sake.
give 1t up!
Go back TO your knitting. or to your
fishing. and be happy,
II X. II Il
Too many people garden out of a
spirit OF competition. To some this
seems all wrong. To vie with ones
neighbors in respect TO grass and flow
ers Is TO lose the spirit of the garden.
which. at its best spells peace and con-
tentment.
The only real competition here is
with nature. and this is not so much
competition as a working with--a
going hand, in hand with--the master
guide. The element of competition in
The home garden should arise solely In
connection with the eternal fight
against drought, insects. diseases
Here is competition aplenty, without
leaning over the fence to compare ones
own flowers with those OF another. The
latter procedure is too likely to eyentu-
ate in envy. rancor.
All gets back TO the fundamental
quality OF genuine interest. BY nature
and training not every one Is capable
OF interest in flower gardening. Once
a person has determined that he Is not
so constituted he should turn TO more
conpenial pursuits