110 City Homes on Country Lanes 



for a farmer, ten acres for an orchardist, one acre for 

 a good market gardener, half an acre for a flower or 

 seed man, and for an experimenter like myself, a grave- 

 yard lot will do." 



I told him we were talking of a new science of living 

 from the land, and that its first maxim is, "Feed your- 

 self." I explained that the thought is not of a mean 

 living, not of a bare subsistence, but of a bill-of-fare 

 deliberately planned in advance, with a programme of 

 ordered production to go with it, and that this bill-of- 

 fare is intended to be luxurious in the wholesome sense 

 of the term. He replied that this is the only sound 

 principle, and that it is absolutely feasible for those 

 who look to a little land for their living. "Let us 

 analyze it a bit," I said. "While I have authentic 

 records of those who have made an entire living, and a 

 good one, from much less than an acre, I am neverthe- 

 less told by well-meaning students of the land problem, 

 including some in positions of authority, that an entire 

 acre is necessary to produce vegetables alone for a 

 family of three even in California." 



Mr. Burbank glanced at his secretary with a twinkle 

 in his eye. He said: "We have a family of three and 

 produce most of our vegetables, including carrots, beets, 

 cabbages, celery, onions, spinach, lettuce and lettuce 

 seed, in a garden 12x20 feet, or 240 square feet." 



He is very fond of asparagus and uses a variety of 

 his own creation called "The Quality." A bed 12x12 

 feet supplies his family twice a day. It reaches matur- 

 ity some time earlier than the common variety, to 

 which it is decidedly superior in size, color and delicacy. 

 In referring to the longevity of asparagus, Mr. Bur- 



