54 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



January, 



AN OUTLINE EXHIBIT OF THE PRODUCTIVENESS OF A COMPLETE GARDEN THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. 



THE COMPLETE GARDEN.* 



BY A WELL-KNOWN HORTICULTURIST. 

 I. 



A fair-sized garden, well ordered and devoted 

 to useful and ornamental products, stands in- 

 comparable as a source of good things. Out of 

 its treasury may come that which delights the 

 senses, gratifies the heart and provides health- 

 ful food for bodily sustenance. Has one the 

 desire for beauty in form and color, where can 

 it be found equaling that set forth in a thousand 

 flowers, fruits and plants? Do we seek delight- 

 ful odors? The very perfection of these are 

 dispensed by scores of our favorites along the 

 garden paths and in the gi'eenhouse. Nothing 

 more palatable or wholesome is yielded that can 

 excel the luscious f niits, nuts and culinary vege- 

 tables capable of beuig produced in a good 

 garden. 



Nor must we overlook benefits of a stiU higher 

 order. There is no pleasure more pure, no re- 

 creation more invigorating, than that which 

 attends the care of plants, shrubs and trees. 

 This is an oflice in which one may well become 

 conscious of his own importance in the economy 

 of this earth. Even the child may prove a 

 needed helper to Nature in her marvelous work- 

 shop. There is a part which tlie child may of 

 its own will perform, but which if left undone 

 would cause a whole course in creation to be 

 arrested and important results unattained. It 

 is ours to say whether we shall gather and sow 

 the seed,till and guide the plaut,and by so doing 

 receive the reward provided by Mother Earth. 



To the successful garden maker there comes, 

 besides the material products, a large return of 

 ti-ue enjoyment, quite unknown to those less 

 intimate with Nature in the midst of her .stores. 

 In addition to this, the complete garden is an 

 important factor to good health. He who 

 gardens, and appreciates the chai-ms of a gar- 



• Copyright, 1887, by Popular Gardening Publishing Co. 



den, Is brought much into the life-giving ele- 

 ments of open air and sunshine. Then by far! 

 the greater portion of the work connected with 

 a garden is of a light and exhilarating natiu-e,' 

 which proves of much benefit to the worker. I 

 Thousands of persons in our towns mid villages 

 engaged in sedentary pui-suits, would find health, ' 

 strength and longer life by the exercise which' 

 the keeping of a garden calls forth. Also the' 

 more common use of fruit and vegetables on the 

 table the year round would tend to accomplish 

 the same end. Here is another picture: what 

 hoasewife has not gone from her indoor em- 

 plopnent, worn and discom-aged by her cares, 

 into the garden's blessed sunshine and sweet- 

 ness, returning in an hour refreshed in body 

 and light of heart for inhaling the breath of the 

 soil, and enjoying the deUghts of flowers, plants 

 and fniits ! These are but a few of the many 

 benefits to health and spu-its that attend the 

 possession and care of a garden. 



As a means of culture and education, especi- 

 ally to children, a well-ordered garden is of 

 inestimable value. It is a school of observation 

 replete with object lessons to attract the young 

 mind, from the starting up of the first plant 

 shoot ui the spring, day bj' day throughout the 

 year, until the budding season again comes to 

 renew the round. Every influence of the gar- 

 den is pure and elevating. Lead the young to 

 become lovers and students of Natui-e here, and 

 they will find it their common source of enjoy- 

 ment and means of recreation, that through the 

 longest life shall not fail them. Ever}' plant 

 and tree is a teacher of beneficence and unself- 

 ishness ; for the small amount of care requti-ed 

 at our hands they bestow their crop of flowers 

 or fruit, or shade without stint, all in unison 

 with that principle of love promulgated by the 

 great Teacher of mankind, " It is more blessed 

 to give than to receive." 



WHAT DOES A OOMPLBTE GARDEN IMPLY « 



It implies the devoting of any given area of 



suitable land to raising the largest variety of 

 products, and efl'ecting the greatest degi-ee of 

 garden beauty and comfort which the space, by 

 good preparation, selection of sorts and judi- 

 cious management is capable of bringing forth. 

 ' As no two gardens have precisely the same size, 

 I soil and location, so the results in no two cases 

 1 could be exactly uniform, even were this desir- 

 ! able. The tastes and desires of owners, also, 

 vai'}' much. It may be assumed, however, that 

 other things being equal, the larger the garden, 

 the more favorable its location and the more 

 intelligent its owner in gardening matters, the 

 more complete should be the garden. 



But one common error must be avoided at 

 the outset. It is that of supposing that size 

 alone can in any way tend to the making of a 

 complete garden. There are some gardens 

 which, within the limits of a few square rods, 

 show more completeness and fai- more interest 

 than others having an equal number of acres. 

 The fundamental cause of such diffeFences is 

 that which underlies the difl'erence between all 

 comparatively complete gardens, and those 

 directly the reverse of this, namely, lack of 

 intelligence and a fair comprehension on the 

 pai-t of the proprietor a.s to what constitutes a 

 complete garden in any given space. The 

 matter of time and means at one's command for 

 such work naturally leaves its impress upon 

 the result. StUl, it may be said that some of 

 the most interesting small gardens the writer 

 has ever seen were those owned by mechanics 

 and laboring men of limited means impelled by 

 a great love for the occupation. On the other 

 hand, some of the most dismal failures (and in- 

 stances of the kind are not altogether rare) are 

 those upon which large smns of money have 

 been lavished with poor taste and judgment. 



Assmiiing, therefore, that intelligence and a 

 keen interest in and love for the work are the 

 most potent factors in the making of a complete 

 garden, my aim in ofl'ering the present treatise 

 shall be to deal with such practical matters as 



