INTRODUCTION 



APRIL 15, 1917, will go down as one of the most 

 momentous days in American history, quite apart 

 from the fact that it marked our entrance into the World 

 War. It will be remembered by gardeners throughout the 

 land as the day when the President asked every other 

 citizen to recognize the importance of home gardening as 

 a means to help feed the world. Several weeks before 

 then had marked the spiritual birth of this book. 



The following pages are intended primarily to give 

 reliable guidance to the millions of new-born gardeners who 

 have never used a spade, a rake, or a hoe. How to perform 

 the many simple little acts, the sum total of which con- 

 stitutes the fine art of gardening, is plainly told through 

 words and pictures. 



Rather unusual efforts have been made to have the 

 pictures tell the story wherever possible. Often they 

 illustrate how the work should be done, how the plants 

 develop, and what the fully-grown vegetables IqQJ^Jike. 

 It has taken the best part often years' work in the author's 

 own home gardens to secure the majority of the pictures 

 used in illustrating this book, which is the most com- 

 prehensive pictorial presentation of vegetable growing 

 attempted to date. 



Wherever practicable and possible, definite information is 

 given as to time of maturity of different sorts, their 

 adaptability to different soils and sections, and their 

 general behavior under normal conditions. This will 

 cause the book to be equally welcomed by the experienced 

 gardener in search of dependable information on the much 

 neglected question of varieties. "Which kinds and why" 



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