16 GARDENING WITH BRAINS '^ 



on nearly every page that you surely must 

 have in your virgin garden. But beware! The 

 mistake of mistakes is to plant more than you 

 can take care of, to bite off more than you can 

 chew. Remember that plants have to be wa- 

 tered and cultivated frequently, and seed pods 

 clipped every day or two, to insure large, healthy 

 blossoms and prolong the bloom. A pansy or 

 poppy bed five feet long and well groomed will 

 give you infinitely more pleasure than a neglected 

 bed five times as big. 



As regards vegetables, unless you have lots 

 of time and plenty of help, it is advisable to 

 grow only those you cannot buy reasonably 

 and in prime condition. There is no special 

 reason for raising your own potatoes, for exam- 

 ple, or beans for the winter, or eggplants, or 

 cabbages, or turnips, or oyster plants, or pump- 

 kins. Every farmer grows most of these; you 

 can buy them in any city or country store, and 

 the grocers cannot spoil them, as they do the 

 peas and beans and lettuces and com and car- 

 rots and beets and spinach and asparagus, by 

 exposing them for hours and even days to the 

 desiccating sun. It is these succulent varieties, 

 including also okra, summer squashes, cucum- 

 bers, and tomatoes, that you should specialize in. 



Cucumbers, by the way, while taboo to many, 

 become as digestible as squashes if cooked. 

 They are delicious creamed. Celery, oyster 

 plants, parsnips, eggplants, onions, you can buy 



