GARDENING AGAINST ODDS 7 



put into our gardens yes, good seed and hard 

 work; but we had put in other things as well: 

 all our hopes and memories of gardening years 

 gone by; all the bird songs we had heard; all 

 the nests we had found; all the flowers; all their 

 fragrance. In spite of the drought, the flicker 

 still called just as clearly as ever in the big old 

 orchard trees. The goldfinches sang as always be- 

 fore ; and the white clouds floated by, their hillside 

 shadows even more distinct. The song sparrows 

 thrived lustily in their nests in the dry clover sod 

 close by the garden's edge. All the old bird 

 friends were there and some new ones too. The 

 whole summer through, the ruby-throated hum- 

 ming birds hovered over the flower strip and 

 among the vegetable blossoms. The dry weather 

 made the color of the flowers richer, the fragrance 

 of the herbs greater. Then we put into our gar- 

 dens, that summer, a love for the game of garden- 

 ing won through other years of practice. The 

 unusual difficulties made gardening more worth 

 while. Hard work was more fun than ever; the 

 rest in the shade of the trees as refreshing. And 

 the real gardeners won out, every one, in most 

 practical fashion. All summer long, there were 

 plenty of fresh vegetables for cooking and for the 

 tenderest salads; and, besides, plenty to can for 

 the winter's supply. Through all the testing, all 

 the difficulties of the summer of the drought, the 

 vision grew for the real gardener. 



