CHAPTER II 
GARDENING 
On the little farm in the state of Wisconsin where I grew 
up, the garden occupied a place of commanding importance. 
It furnished the fruits and vegetables that formed an im- 
portant part of the family food supply, and to this day fond 
memory brings to mind visions of apple blossoms and roses 
and lilacs, and asters and pansies and poppies. 
In this garden our parents assigned to each child a small 
patch of ground for his own flower-bed, which he himself 
planted and cultivated throughout the season. There was 
nothing said about Nature Study in those days; but no 
better introduction to the beauties and the wonders of plant 
life has yet been devised, and it is now commonly agreed 
that every boy and girl should have a garden. 
The housekeeper looks upon the garden as a convenient 
source of supplies for the kitchen, the true gardener finds 
real pleasure in his plants, but the teacher values the garden 
as a means of educating the gardener, for the knowledge 
he gains in the course of his work is fundamental and of great 
value. Any one of these benefits alone is sufficient compen- 
sation, but as a matter of fact we may easily secure all of 
them at the same time. 
We shall treat the subject under the two headings, (1) 
Flowers and (2) Vegetables. 
