CHAPTER VI. BRAINS, BRAINS, 

 AND MORE BRAINS 



WHEN Rossini was asked what were 

 the most important three requi- 

 sites for a singer, he promptly 

 answered, **Voice, voice, and 

 voice." If I were asked what 

 are the most necessary things 

 for a gardener, I would answer, "Brains, brains, 

 and brains." It takes infinitely more intelli- 

 gence and knowledge to be a successful gardener 

 than to be a popular singer of the kind Rossini 

 had in mind. 



It is all very well for a poet to talk about 

 tickling the soil with a hoe and making it laugh 

 with a crop, but if you think it's as simple as 

 that, try it and you will have the biggest sur- 

 prise of your life coming to you. 



Most gardens are too tired to laugh when 

 simply tickled with a hoe. They need food 

 and stimulants to brace up on — humus and 

 phosphates and nitrates and potash and more ? 

 humus. If your fertilizer contains 10 per cent 

 of potash you can raise as many pounds of po- ^ 

 tatoes on half an acre or less as you can without j 

 potash on a whole acre. Think of the value of \ 

 such knowledge ! 



If you consider sulphate of potash too expen- 

 sive, bum hard wood and save the ashes, or 

 buy them by the barrel ; they contain from 6 to 

 7 per cent of potash and are therefore more 



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