The Garden of a Suburbanite 
would offer no criticism and seemed to be in a deep 
study, so I kept my own counsel. One evening while 
looking out of'the kitchen window I had the pleasure 
of seeing his lordship talking to our neighbor, who 
was working in his garden and they seemed to he 
comparing gardens and were enjoying their talk. 
All the men evidently enjoyed the work or they would 
never have been seen in the various gardens, working 
after their tiresome day’s work in the city during the 
hot summer time. It is not an easy undertaking to 
get a busy man to v, ork before or after business hours 
unless he is interested in his garden. My plants 
were growing rapidly and had made more headway 
than those planted in the other gardens in our vicin¬ 
ity for which I gave credit to the proper preparation 
prices charged at the suhurhan markets, llien 
again the outdoor work is a means of improving one’s 
health which is the best paying investment, and to see 
one’s earnest desire actually fulfilled is a most enjoy¬ 
able factor in garden work. It is not hoW many beets 
from the beet rows or the number of cabbages from 
the cabbage rows, nor is it the large number of quarts 
of peas, ears of corn, bushels of potatoes or onions, 
hunches of celery and radishes, heads of lettuce and 
pecks of spinach gathered from their various rows, 
although it is pleasant to he instrumental in cutting 
down the yearly expense account, hut the fact that 
with a little encouragement and inclination for the 
work, small obstacles can he removed and a great 
amount of good can he accomplished. Our garden 
experience proved to be a prof- 
itable venture when the 
quality and quantity of the 
vegetables gathered therein 
were computed at the prices 
paid at the market and 
netted us a profit of ^84.00 
over the e x p e n s e s, w h i c h 
amounted to $J.go, as follows: 
for hiring a man to plow, har¬ 
row and the one load of fer¬ 
tilizer ^4.00, fifty cents for 
seeds, $2.50 for wire for the 
pea vines, forty cents for the 
and the admirable situation of the garden. My 
husband soon had the fever for working in the garden 
and early one morning found him with coat oil, 
sleeves rolled up, working with a hoe as though his 
life depended upon his efforts, and a good garden 
crop. At night he w’as at it again and kept it up 
throughout the summer. The garden work served 
as a good tonic to his mind. It gave it a rest from 
office work, causing him to become more cheerful. 
His conversation was usually as to the merits of this 
crop or that crop, and this method or the other 
method of cultivation. The garden seemed to he his 
garden and not mine. I remained as silent as a clam 
for fear that the charm would wear off. I was thus 
enabled with little effort on my part to have the 
neatest and best growing and producing garden in 
our vicinity. We had the first of every vegetable 
planted, which was very gratifying to us. The 
praise of our friends made the work pleasant and 
easier to perform. As the various vegetables matured 
they were gathered and all that we did not need for 
our own use were given to our friends. They were 
more than pleased, as fresh vegetables have a flavor 
of their own that market bought ones do not possess, 
as they have been picked possibly a week before 
they reach one’s table. Was my garden a profitable 
venture.^ Yes, in a number of ways; especially 
when we compare the output of the garden at the 
SOME OTHER SUBURBAN GARDENS 
tomato plants and fifty cents for a peck of seed pota¬ 
toes. The market clerk’s advice should be followed 
by every suburbanite, who will thus be the gainer, 
not only in health and pocketbook, but in the inde¬ 
scribable satisfaction wbich surely comes to those 
who realize for the first time that they are not merely 
^'■consumers'” but are themselves "producers.” 
