CHAPTER III. 



THE GARDEN. 



WE now approach that part of the acre to 

 which its possessor will probably give his 

 warmest and most frequent thoughts, the garden. 

 If properly made and conducted, it will yield a 

 revenue which the wealth of the Indies could not 

 purchase ; for who ever bought in market the flavor 

 of fruit and vegetables raised by one's own hands 

 or under our own eyes? Sentiment does count. 

 A boy is a boy; but it makes a vast difference 

 whether he is our boy or not. A garden may 

 soon become a part of the man himself, and he 

 be a better man for its care. Wholesome are the 

 thoughts and schemes it suggests; healthful are 

 the blood and muscle resulting from its products 

 and labor therein. Even with the purse of a mil- 

 lionnaire, the best of the city's markets is no sub- 

 stitute for a garden ; for Nature and life are here, 

 and these are not bought and sold. From stalls 

 and peddlers' wagons we can buy but dead and 

 dying things. The indolent epicure's enjoyment 

 of game is not the relish of the sportsman who 



