FOREWORD xv 



So don't let us have a wail from you because your " garden 

 stuff never comes up." Of course it doesn't ; you have to 

 bring it up, just like a baby. That's what I've been crying 

 for long years in the wilderness ever since the first edition 

 of this book. The Three Acres may be bought on credit 

 but eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty and crops. To 

 raise good crops costs time and attention and sweat of body 

 and of brains. 



Here is a chunk of wisdom out of the excellent Garden 

 Primer (which you can get free by asking me for it) : 



"One hour a day spent in a garden ten yards long by 

 seven wide will supply vegetables enough for a family of 

 six" ; but the value of this remark lies in the application of 

 it. If you figure a bit on that you will find that ten minutes 

 a day will provide enough for one person, but six hours once 

 a week won't do. Six hours a day will bring up a baby; 

 but two days a week is criminal neglect for the other five 

 days. If you once let the weeds get a good start, say after 

 a rain, they will make even the angels swear. It's regular 

 attention that the baby and the garden and your education 

 and your best girl will require. 



If you want more minute instructions about how to grow 

 each vegetable, put in words that anybody can understand 

 without getting a headache or a dictionary, look up "The 

 Garden Yard" by the Author. It is in nearly all libraries 

 now, and it is the only book that makes perfectly plain every- 

 thing that a plain man needs to know about growing plain 

 things. 



So there is little to add in this new edition except to rein- 

 force what was not strong enough. In the present jumping 

 market to revise the prices quoted would be absurd, but it 

 may be noted that, as in the prices of flowers, the minimum 



