WILL, WATER AND WORK ESSENTIAL 17 



that it is possible to compass it by the fiat method. Too many of 

 our critics seem to hold that all the farmer has to do is to declare 

 that there shall be a garden and one will spring up around his foot- 

 steps with ideal succulence, richness and deliciousness. It will be 

 better to attempt to show that there is an opportunity, providing its 

 requirements be duly met, and that there are really fewer difficul- 

 ties in the way and greater rewards for prompt and intelligent effort 

 than many of our farmers imagine. And this can be shown with- 

 out elaborate arguments. A more striking demonstration will prob- 

 ably lie in showing to the many the success of the few, in order that 

 they may draw therefrom lessons and exhortations for their own 

 incitement and success. This service will be constantly held in view 

 as this work proceeds. 



Essentials to Success in Gardening. There are three requisites 

 to success in gardening and they may be arranged in alliteration 

 thus, Will, Water, Work. They also stand in the order of their 

 relative importance in California. Without a strong impulse in the 

 will it is vain to expect work and water to do their best. If the 

 will is born of taste, liking, enthusiasm, the task will be delightful 

 and the results grand in every way. Unless one has some joy in 

 the rich, moist earth as it yields its fragrance to the touch of his 

 tools; unless he can glory in the quick, responsive growth of the 

 plant when his culture suits its nature, and unless he find pride and 

 satisfaction in the armful of delicious vegetables which he brings 

 each day to his helpmeet, with the dewdrops of the early morning 

 still sparkling upon their foliage, his gardening will never be an easy 

 task though it may be conscientiously and successfully discharged. 



But although it is possible to make a good and profitable gar- 

 den from a sense of duty and though work will reach its due reward 

 even though one can never bring himself to see that the "primal 

 curse" of the race is really its opportunity, it is a fact that without 

 work there can be no successful gardening in California. Perhaps 

 work is the price of success everywhere; perhaps the aggregate of 

 muscular effort proportional to the result is less in California than 

 elsewhere, but let no one deceive himself that the California gar- 

 den will make itself. The item of work may be reduced to a min- 

 mum by intelligent direction. Insight and observation will teach 

 just when each act should be performed to secure the richest co- 

 operative response from nature's forces, and to miss this advantage 

 will entail a vast amount of unnecessary effort, but the modicum 

 of incisive action must be bestowed. It will appear later, in con- 

 nection with the discussion of the planting season, that timely work 

 is a prime factor in fact, the pivot upon which the effort may turn 

 from delight to disappointment. California conditions, though ex- 

 ceedingly generous, are equally exacting probably more exacting 

 than those of humid climates. It is clear, then, that not only is work 

 essential, but it must be work well directed and maintained. 



