CHAPTER XXII 
OUR PHLOXES AND HELIOTROPE 
I T still seems curious to me that Little Joseph is 
the only boy in Nestly who owns a large gar- 
den and who really loves to work in it. I notice 
that there is room for gardens about the homes of 
most other boys, even though some of them might 
have to be small. Boys, I think, do not know the 
real pleasure there is in gardening, nor the many 
delightful things they might learn about Nature 
when working so close to the soil. Of course, it is 
right for boys to play ball and tennis, and to enjoy 
themselves in the open. Still, they cannot do these 
things every hour of the long summer. In the 
time they waste they might almost make and tend 
a small garden. It is true that few boys of Jo^ 
seph’s age have as large a place as the Six Spruces 
to roam over; but, even so, I do- not think they 
take advantage of the ground they have at hand. 
Girls also are very slow at making gardens, and 
this astonishes me more than the lack of interest 
among boys. Indeed, Queenie Perth and I are the 
only ones in Nestly who work in our own gardens. 
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