CHAPTER II 



Beauty, Comfort and Utility 



Successful Example of Combination Ornamental Use of 

 Fruit-Bearing Plants Vegetables Used Unobtrusively 



A WELL described, concrete example of success is so much better 

 than theoretical discussion of the same points that I had 

 decided not to theorize on the planning of a small garden, but 

 to describe how a suburban friend combined beauty and comfort 

 with utility in her garden, my own plantation not being enough ad- 

 vanced to boast of prowess. But along came the Garden Magazine 

 with an article by Stephen F. Hamblin on this very subject. As 

 Mr. Hamblin's garden reveals points which my friend's slightly smaller 

 garden (75 x 200 feet) does not, and as it shows admirably how a 

 small area may be made 

 effective as a source of 

 pleasure and economy, I 

 quote it, by permission of 

 the Garden Magazine, with 

 only slight condensations 

 and omissions. My own 

 comments are placed in 

 brackets : 



"While we make use 

 of the soil about our. house 

 for every food crop that 

 we can grow, can we not 

 still retain in large measure 

 the beauty with which we 

 wish it surrounded ? Can- 

 not Beans, Peas, Rhubarb Fig. 3.-In the shade of the old Apple tree 

 and Plums, while they oc- 

 cupy the ground formerly given wholly to ornamental herbs, shrubs 

 and trees, stilhgive us really the same effects? Though supremely 

 useful, may not our plantations be also beautiful? I think so; and 

 with this idea in mind the present lot planting has actually been 

 worked out. 



As will be seen from the plan (Fig. 4), the lot is larger (75 x 220 

 feet) than one usually finds in the suburbs, but even with the small 

 50 x 100 foot lot the same general scheme may be carried out. The 



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