November, 1911 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
in raising his produce what went to seed was 
for use in planting the garden habit in his 
company, as well as for use in his next sea- 
son’s vegetable yield. Many of this soldier's 
products of the sturdy sort might have stood 
well in comparison with those of Corporal 
Holt and his military gardeners, but he was 
far behind them, since he made no attempt at 
herbaceous borderings, at floral achieve- 
ments, or at socializing the work. He lived 
well as a result of his toil; he exchanged his 
produce for certain favors, and pleased his 
superiors with a small basket of fresh edibles 
when the commissary was low or when the 
market complained of droughty conditions. , 
Our acquaintance with this soldier’s garden, * 
and that at the ' 
Navy Yard at Charlestown, ‘Mass. ., makes one , 
feel that these posts are a nuclei of an an- | 
and the one at Fort Snelling, 
nual exhibition, if only for vegetables. Let 
the soldier get interested in the idea that 
the enlisted man’s private garden plan is a 
volunteer matter and is not open to hard 
regulation strictures; that the one who fol- 
lows it ought to be free from the drudgery 
of the mess, and even if he cannot escape 
guard duty, at least, while on that tiresome 
sentinel beat of “plowing the lonely fur- 
row,” he can make it lighter by contemplat- 
ing the pleasure of plowing a multitude of 
furrows among his vegetables the next 
morning ; or by musing on peace having her 
victories, as well as those of war, for there 
are invasions of armies of pests to be rolled 
back that overrun the potato patch, scale 
the garden walls and mine and sap roots 
under the surface. 
The garden ventures described are crisp 
instances of the providence of man. Both 
are bits of rational experimentation. One 
truly English, as it is socialized, a family 
affair, with a wise and tolerant commandant, 
Major G. D. Jeffreys, strongly interested; 
while ours is based on the individual or } 
American type of development. A writer 
who seems to know has just said that “The 
loveliest thing in the world is an English 
house garden.” It will be interesting to see 
whether the most practical garden in the 
world can come from the English soldiers’ 
exhibit scheme. It does not look as if there 
will be “rival camps” to menace the su- 
premacy of John Bull’s guardians in this 
field, as, outside of the United States, the 
soldier, through lengthened drills and ex- 
cessive exercises, is too tired to work when 
off duty. The ingenious and exact percision 
of cultivation in France, the superiority of 
high fertilizing agents in Germany, the in- 
tensive method in Japan, would be the means 
that would enable the French conscript, the 
enrolled Prussian, or the Japanese regular 
to take the measure of the’ Anglo-Saxon re- 
cruit and to show him the art of the com- 
plete gardener ; but the rank and file of the 
Orient and on the Continent will be found 
at the café, the beer garden, or the tea gar- 
den, until bugle call. 
Are the ventures outlined apt to start an 
interest in trucking and farming and to 
help the movement of “‘back to the land” by 
the soldier when he goes out of service? If 
they do, Tommy Atkins will then be credited 
on garden form with a more lasting in- 
fluence on raising food-stuffs of the soil 
than those more pretentious examples among 
watriors; for instance, the return to the 
plow of Cincinnatus; of Diocletian to his 
cabbages; of Washington to his plantation. 
The moral of the soldier’s garden may be 
in the idea that: Often, he is considered the 
most likely soldier of a mobile army who 
by the use of his legs is the greatest forager. 
If so, he of inactive service at a post may be 
the most useful that rakes in the good things 
by the labor of his hands. 
pression of either havi 
If the architecture is p 
accord, the entire effect is p 
The architect analyzes the 
pressions. He knows that inha: 
ware at the focal point—the ent: 
can greatly mar an otherwise hand 
That is why so many experienced a 
advise their clients to select designs in Sargent 
Hardware. Sargent designs include so many 
different examples in each school and period of 
architecture that there is wide latitude for 
personal preference without danger of missing 
the essential harmony. 
Sargent Book of Designs— mailed free 
This handsome book, illustrating many of the 
designs most favored for homes is mailed free 
on request. Our Colonial Book will be in- 
cluded to anyone who mentions an interest in 
that period. SRE 
SARGENT & COMPANY. ~-—— 
156 Leonard Street New You. 
Don’t cut away the timbers or depend on flimsy spiking. 
adapted to all conditions. More than 100 stock sizes. 
Then let us figure on the requirements. 
for immediate shipment. 
Sargent Locks 
are typical of 
the solid worth 
and substantial 
character of Sar- 
gent Hardware. 
Among lock ex- 
. perts they are 
famed for the 
security they af- 
ford. Sargent 
Door Locks and 
lock systems 
may be had for 
every locking 
purpose under 
the sun. 
We make hangers 
Consult your architect. 
Twenty thousand hangers in stock ready 
LANE BROTHERS COMPANY 
434-466 Prospect Street, Poughkeepsie, N. Y 
| oa 
