INTRODUCTION 
To THE PUPILS 
If there has ever been need for garden clubs, indi- 
vidual gardens, and gardens of every sort, it is now 
when the cost of produce of all kinds has soared almost 
out of our reach, not only because of its scarcity, but 
because of the increased demand abroad as well. There 
is not space here to tell you why this is so, but the fact 
remains that if we would do ourselves, our families, 
our communities, and our nation one of the greatest 
possible services, we will find some plot available for 
gardening and then do our best to win from it what 
people call a bumper crop. 
If I were to ask you what are some of the material, 
or practical advantages of gardening, you would say 
the food obtained, the healthfulness of outdoor work, 
and the financial returns from that portion of the crop 
which was marketed. Your answer would be only par- 
tially correct. That is to say, you are right as far as 
you go, but you do not go far enough. There are sev- 
eral other things which the gardener gets along with 
his hardening muscles, fresh vegetables, and increasing 
bahk account. I shall not anticipate by telling them 
all for J want you to find them for yourselves, but one 
is the satisfaction that comes from seeing things de- 
velop under one’s care; another is the acquaintance 
you form with plants, and the knowledge you acquire 
regarding their peculiarities of growth, their likes and 
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