CHAPTER XXVni 



Animal Life in the Garden 



Poultry Possibilities — Pigeons — ^Bees — Rabbits — Larger Animals 



TOO many gardeners have the idea that all animals are abomi- 

 nations and that it is impossible for any home plot to include 

 vegetable and flower gardens and harbor animals or poultry 

 at the same time without disastrous results. Of course, a flock of 

 hungry chickens unrestrained and a newly planted seedbed are a 

 bad combination; likewise a froHcsome puppy can do inestimable 

 damage to an herbaceous border. But handled rightly, a moderate 

 number of the right sort of creatures can actually increase the pro- 

 ductivity of a garden and prove a valuable asset of a suburban or 

 country home that cannot afford to be overlooked in these days of 

 the high cost of hving by purchase. 



Poultry Possibilities: Comfortable, weather-tight quarters and 

 adequate, securely enclosed yardage or range are essential features 

 of modern, .successful poultry keeping, no matter on what scale. 

 The waste from the garden and the cooked vegetable refuse from the 

 house supplement such conditions with food material that is essential 

 to perfect health and maximum production, for which the flock pays 

 in eggs and in fertilizer, poultry manure being a very rich, easily 

 handled plant food. Moreover, early in the Spring and late in the 

 FaU, when the garden is being spaded or plowed or the crops harvested, 

 the fowls can safely be permitted to run over the newly turned ground 

 where they will do a tremendous service in devouring injurious insects. 

 In this respect ducks, too, are of considerable value, especially in 

 destroying Asparagus and Potato beetles. 



Pigeons cannot be accused of injuring the garden in any way, 

 but on the contrary they, too, are a source of valuable manure, bird 

 guano being one of the old standbys in agricultural practice, especiaUy 

 as a source of nitrogen. Since they can be kept in the loft of a barn 

 or shed, they need not even reduce the space available for gardening 

 activities. 



Bees: If you or your family or your friends are fond of honey — 

 the real, pure thing; if you enjoy the peaceful, happy sight and sound 

 of humming visitors among the flowers; if you want to be sure of 

 maximum crops of tree fruits, Melons, Tomatoes and all other prod- 

 ucts of which the flowers depend entirely or largely upon insect 



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