CHAPTER NINE 



VEGETABLE GARDENING 



That wonderful gift which some gardeners seem to have for growing 

 anything is no magic ; it comes from the love of plants. . . . And that 

 other gift for making a garden beautiful is no magic either ; it comes of 

 loving the garden as well as the plants. 



Tropical Agriculturist 



ON many farms there is little or no garden, for the The value 

 farmer finds it hard to take part of his own time or that l n ^ountry 1 

 of his men from the fields. He says that he can buy or city 

 vegetables cheaper than he can raise them. The usual 

 result of not raising them, however, is that the farmer's 

 family does without vegetables. And in the cities 

 vacant lots are allowed to grow up in weeds, while the 

 comfort and health of many families would be increased 

 by the supply of fresh vegetables and berries that might 

 be secured from these lots (Fig. 97). 



Every family in town and country should, if possible, flow the 

 have a garden, not only because it is profitable, but %} ] j^ ar 

 because the satisfaction of having one's own vegetables oene fit ed 

 fresh every day is reward enough for the work required. 

 The boy who furnishes his own or neighboring families 

 with vegetables" that he himself raises is doing something 

 to build up the kind of character that he needs in life. 

 The girl who does a little work in her garden every day 

 is adding to her physical strength and is laying the 

 foundation for health. 



Preparing garden soil. Gardening is the most in- improve- 

 tensive kind of farming the greatest amount of prod- men ' ^ 

 uce is taken from the smallest area. The richest soil 



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