Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-04-06
THIS AND THAT
By CHARLES b. TRACEWELL.

, apt to believe nothing amounts to much
unless It somehow secures public at
tention, when all the time great love
and gentle kindness 60 tnhernlded ex-
cept in their own little spheres.
A garden Is little sphere, liz which
enthusiasm plays the most important
role, and in which the gardener is only
side issue, as It were, 4 means to an
end, which end is nothing more nor
less than q beautiful garden. Thus
Beauty is the real product of gardening,
and Beauty Is 50 elusive, both In its
pursuit and its attainment, that every
man will need some inspiration along
the way.
This is where the garden book enters.
It will not do to say that the real
gardener needs no books, he carries
his enthusiasm with him, and Is not de-
pendent upon outside stimulus to do
his digging, and his mulching. and his
fertiliZing, and his transplAnting. The
more person is this ideal and figlra-
tive real gardener the more he win
discover that he turns to books. One
may well pity the man who has not
discovered how books amplify whatever
he Is doing. or whatever he hopes to
do. The desire Of humanity to read
about something they have seen or
heard about is manifesting strikingly Ii
the sport pages OF the newspapers.
Every one knows that 1t is a great deal
more satisfying to read about the game
you witnessed yesterday afternoon than
TO 60 over the account OF O base ball
game you did not see. The sports
writsr does not tell you anything you
do not know, but he makes you see
the game In q new way.
X 4 4
Writers of garden books open up the
horizon Of the gardener, they make
him see his likable work in q new
light, they help his enthusiasm when
II tends to get rusty.
1t Is no more fair to expect to be-
come an expert gardener by merely
reading few books than to turn ones
self into Napoleon by going through
work on tactics. Where theoretic in
struction falls down is when the book is
placed back on the shelf. From then
cisely what he has read, which he never
can, he would not be able to apply Il
even approximately to the actual cases
which arise before him. The writer
writes from his own experience. and
the reader reads from his own While
their two minds are in actual contact,
there may be fine now of understand
Ing, but when the reader closes the
books he is thrown back on his own
again. The great hope Is, as some one
put 1t. that the melody fingers on, even
after the song has ended.
There is no perfect gardener, even
as there Is no perfect base ball player
1--WE do not consider conceit.) Even In
so simple q work as putting seed in the
ground and harvesting what Nature
grows, there Is no human being who
ever arrived at complete mastery. The
reading of books on horticulture, how
ever, will go long way toward keeping
the amateur grower keyed up to his
best If book does this, 1t has done
something Therefore, do not be disap-
pointed If q book does not solve your
problems" Few do! The big thing
that any book can do is to interest the
reader, and II 1t does that its mission
has been fulfilled. Pay no attention to
those who would sheer when they see a
garden book in your hand. Those who
do not buy books do not love them, and
those who do not love books belong to
another race. Those who must read
about their hobbies can 60 their way
undisturbed, secure in the knowledge
that the great horticulturists have been
great readers too.