Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-11-03
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRAcEWELL.

! feet from the party line, in order to
prevent this drip upon adjacent prop
erty. Usually this means a narrow
strip Of land which is practically USE
less for gardening purposes, although
some persons plant hollyhocks there
and find the effect charming.
There Is much to be said, therefore,
for the elimination of the garage from
the garden Scene-if one likes garden.
ing. The car can be placed elsewhere,
but there Is no place else for the gar
den except on the home grounds. We
always thought the so-called war gar
dens" Of memory in some aspects
rather foolish. To 60 miles to plant
and tend a garden, then to turn ones
back on 1t and 60 home. was 10 lose a
great deal OF the pleasure. II not some
OF the profit.
Consider the happiness OF watching
tho beating rain upon the crops. OF being
able u look out a back window and
sec The corn waving in the breeze.
The play OF day and night. the changes
In the color Of leaves caused by certain
evenings are aspects which APP
peal to the real gardener, whether nc
be an eminent horticultural or only one
of the millions who somehow find a
solace and genuine enjoyment in dig
ging in the earth.
There Is only one place for ones
garden. and that is at home. The lure
OF motoring makes all too many persons
feel that they must accept the condi-
lions imposed by the necessity for q
garage. But must they?
M Il
No one else can decide for one
whether TO take away from the garden
to build a house for the family car.
1t Is a personal problem, and will
remain one. One man will ruthlessly
have trees and shrubs cut down to
build an automobile house, another will
look at the cutting with defiance in his
eyes, and a wish In his mind and heart
that he could do something about it."
To the latter, the cutting Is a desecra-
ton. He would not grow sentimental
about It, but the destruction of so much
beauty hurts him. II there were only
some way. he says to himself, to keep
the trees and the shrubs! Yet he sees
that the other is not worrying about
his loss; the owner no doubt feels that
he can place the shrubs behind the ga
rage, where he hopes they will do nice
ly. AS for the tree, 1t can be cut into
logs for the fireplace, or will make very
nice kindling.
The problem Of the garage versus
garden space Is one now as old as the
automobile. It was the successor to
the stable versus garden controversy
The end of stables is a gain in many
ways. They harbored doors, and mostly
were overrun with rats. The fight Of
mankind against the rat seems an end
less one; science says that the battle
is by no means won, and that unless
the rat is made the object of a con-
tinual crusade, 1t may yet exterminate
mankind.
The end Of the stable, at the hands
of the garage, was step in the right
direction. There Is little doubt that
garages, as buildings, might be i'm
proved in architecture. AS yet no real
architectural thought has been put
upon them. They are just boxes. Mostly
their roof lines are unattractive. Their
doors somehow seem out of harmony,
not only with the garage itself, but
with the neighborhood as a whole. Re
Gently a movement has begun to BEAU
tify the garage, one which will be
awaited eagerly by all those interested
in such problems.
In the meantime, the home garage
problem is being solved in various ways,
by the erection Of the usual, by the
building Of the unuSual-and by its
entire elimination, as a part Of the
ground plan of the building lot. And
some home owners, as the lady men,
toned at the beginning Of the article,
insist on having an old garage re-
moved. Perhaps they are pioneers.