Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-02-18

/, Yet it must be submitted that no one
is going to get his full due of pleasure
out of backyard gardening without first
coming to an intelligent understanding
of plant nutrition, including fertilizers,
and all the other fundamentals of the
art and science.
No one should be frightened away by
this announcement. Most of this
knowledge. up to the exact point where
the individual cares to persist, may be
! absorbed quietly and easily as one goes
| along.
The flower gardener finds himself in
an enviable position, in that nothing
| of very great moment other than his
own satisfaction depends upon his ap-
| plication. Thus he will not be deprived
| of food If his asters get the willis
and refuse to bloom properly, he will
not strike blow at any one If his
roses fail to do well, he will in no way
| inconvenience the world if his tulips
| will not bloom
Whereas the scientific farmer must
| study well and faithfully in the agri-
| cultural college if he is to make the
most of his life, the backyard gardener
the true city amateur, need put only SC
much time and attention on his
crops" AS will afford him the max
imum amount of enjoyment and
| pleasure.
If one is to approach home garden
ing in an indifferent, in a haphazard
manner, as If 1t made no difference
whether the plants lowered properly
or not why should he bother with
them at all?
1t will be found that the only true
way to garden is to garden as near
correctly as one may without devotine
| ones entire life to it, In other words
1t goes back to the old principle, that
whatever is worth doing at all is worth
| doing we'll.
The one great crime in amateur
gardening is the indifferent attitude
The doctrine of indifferency, as it has
sometimes been called, works admirably
in some instances. If a timid person
is confronted with some obstacle which
he cannot overcome, an indifferent at
titude toward it may help save his self
respect.
In gardening, however, of the sort
or which we speak, there is nothing
very terrible going to confront one
nothing more heinous than invisible
root lice on the aster plants, or aphids
on the roses. These are all troubles
which little intelligence, rightly APP
piled, will solve more or less completely
BY using the brain in these matters
one soon comes to a real enjoyment of
gardening. and it is questionable wheth-
err there is any other path to such
pleasure. The theory and practice of
gardening are too old not to have gath
cred around them through the centuries
considerable body of learning.
This store of knowledge may be en-
tirely practical, such as an unlettered
but skillful man picks up for himself,
or party theoretical, such as that which
great plant scientist may evolve out
of observation and understanding.
To the home gardener what is i'm
portant is that he recognizes that such
knowledge exists and that he must take
some of 1t to himself and make it his
own If he is to garden in any other
way than in daZe.
Watch the amateurs when Spring
comes down this way. You will see
them doing all sorts of things in all
sorts of ways, rabid horticulturists for
few days, or a few weeks, or few
months but when the hot days come
along they drop out one by one, because
they have never applied themselves
seriously to what they are doing, and
are still gardening in daze.