BOOK OF THE HOME GARDEN 



and they will work a long, long time to get it into 

 good condition before they begin work. Each year 

 we add humus to our gardens and every time we 

 cultivate, we are putting our soil into better con- 

 dition. You will have a feeling that you are not 

 only growing good and beautiful crops, but that a 

 little patch of this great round world will be better 

 because you have lived and worked. Nothing counts 

 so much to each one of us as the fact that we are 

 going to leave the world better than we found it, 

 both through our character and our work. 



I am going to tell you in "How to Produce Larg- 

 er and Better Fruit and Flowers" about a half bar- 

 rel sunk in the ground and filled with manure. 

 Holes had been bored in the barrel all around the 

 sides, and when water was poured into the barrel 

 it ran out of the holes, feeding the roots of the 

 plants which were growing around the outside 

 well, this is really irrigation as well as feeding, isn't 

 it? It is underground irrigation because the mois- 

 ture reaches the plants from underneath. If you 

 had a long drought it would be wise to sprinkle the 

 plants once in a while as well as pour water into 

 the barrel, because plants are so grateful when 

 their leaves are washed. In the olden days all the 

 dish water and water from Monday's washing was 



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