Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-12-02

Appreciation of the rainy day is
! growing.
Once upon a time the majority of
city people grumbled nightly at the
slightest rainfall.
Today many of them have the farm
er's outlook-When rain Is needed they
are glad to see it.
Increase in gardening interests dur
ing the past decade has been largely
responsible for this change.
Only the irresponsible junior, intent
| on 8 good time, is willing to growl to-
day because the rain spoils his holiday
1t is impossible to indulge in the
slightest bit of gardening without CON-
ing to the frame of mind Of the horti-
culturist, who regards rain as one OF
the greater blessings.
Moisture. next to sunshine and earth
Is the most necessary concomitsnt of
plant life and growth. In fact in one
way 1t may be said to be the most es-
sental, since some plants can grow
without sunshine and without dirt. but
must have some degree of moisture.
The drought of 1880 brought the
mind OF the average man around to
this plain fact of horticulture. Country
people, including the agriculturists, al
ways have known that rainfall Is as
necessary as sunshine
City people, however, living on side
walks and concrete streets, must use
their brains to realize this, except in
times when the lack of wtaer is so evil
dent as to fierce itself on the vision OF
those who are not interested.
The rain Of this week beginning Gas
good phrase as week end) was the
first real rainy weather for good many
weeks, and broke what was amounting
to a secondary drought. The so-called
water table" or underlying moisture
in the depths of the soil, has never
been repleniShed since the greater
drought of last year.
This makes any rain, no matter how
small, a matter Of real interest to the
rain-minded.
The twin ideas OF rain and gloom
ought TO be disassociated.
There is really nothing about a rainy
day which is gloomy, in the ordinary
sense Of the word.
Yet poets end writers of fiction, espe-
cially. have linked the two together for
so many years that the average reader
finds himself regarding such a day as
gloomy"
Rightly considered there is nothing
particularly melancholy in the aspects
of rainy day, except that it Is scme-
what dark, as contrasted with very
sunny day.
In the very nature of things how
ever, nothing as bright as sunshine can
be expected when it is absent At least,
not outdoors. Inside, science has given
us a lamp which admirably represents
the sun while it is away.
To the garden minded man or woman
there Is nothing at all gloomy about q
rainy day. The sun is not shining, as
we say, that is all.
The gloom. such Of it as there is, IS
due entirely to the lack of SUNSHINE. IN
which animal life basks, as do the grow
ing things Of the vegetable world.
The rain itself has little. If anything,
to do with the gloom. The skies are
! overcast before the rain begins, and the
falling waters scarcely add tinge of
grayneSS
Rain is a joyous thing, on the other
hand, to the householder who has
shrubs and plants and trees of his own
! to reap benefit from the added moisture
The very color of sidewalks and
| streets, of bark on trees. and the glis-
| tening Of evergreens, is beautiful to the
garden lover.
Some folks even get sense OF salts
faction from the added cleanliness
which the rain brings, not only to the