The Garden of a Suburbanite 
By C. B. WYNKOOP 
O NE morning in the early spring, I was purchas¬ 
ing vegetables for that day’s use, and was 
startled at the prices asked. Making com¬ 
ments about how rapidly vegetables were going up¬ 
ward in price, I was informed that they would he 
higher throughout the year on account of the back¬ 
ward season. Suburban market prices are from ten 
to twenty per cent higher than city prices. 1 o live 
in a suburban town is considered a luxury, as it 
requires a well-filled pocketbook to keep up appear¬ 
ances. d'he obliging clerk, who waited upon me, 
volunteered the information that it would he 
cheaper to have a small vegetable garden, and 
grow one’s own vegetables than to purchase them 
at the various market places. 1 came to the 
conclusion that he was right in this opinion, and I 
noticed that most of our neighbors had their own 
gardens back of their houses. The men seemed to 
enjoy working in the gardens as they never let a day 
pass without doing some w ork, either in the morning 
before going to business, or in the evening after their 
return. I gave considerable thought as to the w'ays 
and means of getting such a garden started. While 
glancing over the contents of one of the city evening 
papers a few" days previous I read a very interesting 
article upon the reasons why suburbanites should 
have vegetable gardens. It urged upon its readers the 
necessity of at least giving the children a piece of 
ground, in which they could dig, plant seeds and raise 
vegetables as a part of their education and to keep 
them occupied in a healthy and interesting pastime, 
riie more I thought of the practical and financial 
side of the garden question, the more the desire grew 
in me to have one. But the how and where of the 
question gave me considerable thought, as my hus¬ 
band was a crank upon neatness in regard to the 
manner in which the grounds surrounding the house 
should be kept. Every flower bed, shrub and tree 
was placed in such a position that it would add 
attractiveness to the place "Fhe grass was kept cut 
and the grounds clean, with every thing in order. 
To approach him upon the garden question made me 
have a heart full of misgivings, but, my mind was 
made up, and on one evening w hen he appeared to be 
in good h u m or, I 
broached the sub¬ 
ject to him. He did 
not take kindly to 
my suggestion but 
informed me that a 
vegetable garden 
was not an adorn¬ 
ment to any place. 
He could not see how 
he was going to find 
the time to attend to 
it and various other 
excuses were given. 1 
graciously informed 
liim that 1 w"ould at¬ 
tend to all the work, 
and w"ould take all 
the glory and suc¬ 
cess of the garden 
upon myself, causing 
him no trouble or 
worry. I had made 
up my mind that I vv"as going to have a garden, 
one that would be an ornament to the place if 
such could be had with careful work. Then, 
taking into consideration the amount of money 
that I would save, thereby making it a benefit to the 
family, I had planned my garden when the thought 
first came to me some tune previous, and decided to 
jilant those vegetables that were well liked and not too 
many of a kind, as this being my first venture I de¬ 
sired to be conservative and not too liberal m my 
anticipations as to the number of plants that I was 
going to raise, because failures do happen to begin¬ 
ners as well as to experts. The garden was measured 
off in a plot forty by fifty feet, sloping from w"est 
to east, in which position it had the sun the greater 
part of the day. The slope of the grounds kept it 
THE HOUSE GROUNDS 
127 
