Evening star., 1932-01-02

One OF the garden magazines con-
tains an excellent article on what was
done in a garden in five years with q
set expenditure of s25 q year.
Perhaps too few home owners realize
the advantages of putting garden on
budget. 1t is not so much the sum
which counts, as the steadiness OF the
gardens income.
If a plan of procedure were drawn
up by every one, on moving into a new
home, and this plan steadfastly ad-
hered to, even the barest place in
time could be turned into something
resembling horticultural dream.
The trouble with SO many places is
haphazardnesS Of them. You see it at
a glance. The owners might tell you
that they were not interested in be-
coming Gardeners with a big G. that
the results they secured sufflced for
them. AS for other people, 1t was none
of their. business.
This is all strictly true. But, as
Mr.. Milne saws in his novel, Two
People" about being told that you
were right, there is not much satsfac-
ton in it, after all.
One might just as we'll have plan
as not, and there can be little doubt
that set sum, spent according to a
plan, over period Of years, would
make many home place appear to be
twice as large and many times as
beautiful.
Now there would be some advantage
in this. But the greatest gain would
be, rather, the personal satisfaction of
the home owner:
We speak of the real home owner,
not the curious type which seems to
have grown up in the United States
in the past decade, the man who Sc
cures home, and then begrudges
every cent spent on upkeep. To hear
him talk, roof should never spring q
leak, a gutter should never rust, moth
ing at all should ever go wrong.
. Perhaps mansions in heaven are
trouble free, but the ones built by
hands in this sphere are otherwise. The
best laid plans go astray; a careless
workman sometimes leaves conditions
which cost money to remedy later.
Such matters are to be expected, no
buy.
Some home owners willingly spend
time and money OIL their automobiles
while begrudging every penny which
they are forced to put upon their
homes, although the latter investment
may represent 10 times as much money
as the former.
This type gladly spends hours in the
alley, washing end polishing the family
car, but positively cannot find an extra
hour N which to paint the house trim
themselves or to hire some one else to
do it,
These are not real home owners.
They merely go through the motions of
owning a home. The real home owner,
while he may not shout with Joy when
necessary expense comes up, is will
ing to pay it, and happy that he is able
to do it. There is just that much off
ference between the two types There
are q great many other differences, too,
but they need not be gone into here.
What interests US at present is tie
good habit which the true house
holder may form by the simple ex-
pedient of putting the garden on a
budget, and adhering to it every year,
if possible. II things break we'll, as we
say today Of the fates are propitious,
as folks used to say, it may even be
possible to exceed the given sum upon
occasion. 50 much gained for the
garden.
1t may be stated, without much fear
Of contradiction, that the average home
owner spends far too little on the yard,
or grounds, Of his place, in proportion
to their size. Many man who would
not think twice about taking a party