Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-10-26
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES i. TRACEHELL.

den with vegetable matter which has
done Its full duty in the world.
y X y
Let the sunlight in.
Even forests are better for the long
slanttng rays of sunshine which reach
them in the early morning and late
afternoon
The creepers and the crawlerS prefer
darkness. Night is to them as the day.
The underSide of rock is better than
a hilltop.
1t seems as if Nature has made life to
take advantage of every sort of condi-
ton which she made.
There Is life for the earth, life for
the air and life for the sea, Those
things which inhabit the earth go on
legs, those that live in the air on
wings and those that go through the
waters on fms
The day has its creatures, the night
It's own. Dry and damp places TEEN
with their sorts of life. In the home
garden sunshine is the natural anti
septic which inSures clean growth to
the plants. almost invariably lovers OF
sunlight. Even plants which manage
to do well in the shade do even better,
with a very few exceptions, when
planted in the sun.
So much for the practical side OF
cleaning up the garden at this time
OF the year. The aesthetic side Is even
OF more Importance. The tidy gardener
Is the best gardener, not only because
he stands a much better chance OF
saving good plants. but because he
helps the community and himself at
the same time in the matter OF visual
appeal.
There is no getting away from the
use OF the eye in this world. The
looks" Of things is of importance with
an eye-minded race. Few human be-
ings are so constituted as to be able
to appreciate beauty, In any OF It's
forms, without sampling 1t in strictly
physical ways.
Only a Beethoven can appreciate
great music when he cannot hear it.
There have not been many Beethovens.
No doubt a master painter could under
stand a fine work of art, II 1t were
described for him, but the rest of us
will have to see 1t with our own eyes.
Most human beings want to touch
what they look at. Show q friend q
new jewel and the chances are 10 to
that he will seize it In his fingers.
Somehow the sense of sight is aided by
the sense of touch. Even the man who
knows this failing of the race will find
himself drawn almost irresistibly to-
ward touching a book or other art
treasure shown him.
The tidy, ship-shape garden Is the
garden first of all actually touched by
the hands of the gardener.
Not until he touches it, with prun-
ing shears, with rake, with broom, with
barrow, can he see its cleanliness with
his eyes.
Nor can others.
This tidiness he creates out of the
confusion left by the plants.
No one would say q word against
the so-called natural garden" where
things are left to themselves. That is
Natures way, OF course, and Nature *
the arbiter. But in the home garden
man takes Nature gently by the hand
and says, Here, am . part of Ma
ture, too, and have different ideas
as to beauty In some respects. When
plant q garden / put design into it,
as ! am given to know design. And
then you come along and try to blot
1t out by growing all over the place
Well / see plainly that must do
something about you'll"
And man, the householder, does.
That Is why he cleans up his garden
in the Fall.