THE ROMANCE OF THE GARDEN

Evening Star, Issue 20132, 23 March 1929, Page 24

THE ROMANCE OF THE GARDEN

Gardening is a joyous tinny; it proves the mettle of the worker ami rewards him fairly, according to the labour spent (writes Air L. A. Griffiths, in the ‘Hawke’s Bay Tribune ). An extensive knowledge of technical names whereby one speaks of the simple Columbine as the aquilegia, the forget-me-nots as the myosotis, and the garden pinks as dianthus, never made a. gardener. These things are all right in their way if one is making an extensive hobby of the work. The joy of the garden and the pleasing sense of something attempted something done, lie, elsewhere. One

makes a beautiful and productive garden by doing intelligently what has to bo done from the beginning to the end. Thus it is that every gardener, however humble, comes to love his garden, be it large or small, ns it deserves to be loved, not for what it gives but for what it is. Every gardener should strive to learn something definite about the natural history of his plants something about their evolution, their romance, for plants and flowers have much of the human about them, secrets that lure us to wonder and speculation. They are living things just in the same sense that yon and I are. They are subject to the laws of heredity, variation, natural selection, and adaptation to environment just like animals and human beings. They struggle for existence, they eat and drink and club together. They mate and have their marriage customs and rear families. Wo must not lose sight of the fact of their inter-relation with other living creatures, the bee or the bntterlly that flits about, the bird or the ant. Indeed, in' the long run, every living creature is dependent for its life on the green plant. In the propei- pdace you should then learn about the character of plants, their structure, functions, and tactics; of how they protect themselves, of their methods of reproduction, and of their ways of life. I have found many gardeners weakening in their loyalty towards their adopted hobby. With the increasing of the motor cars many one-time gardeners have forsaken the spado for the driving wheel, and allowed the weeds to take command of their old-time hobby. Such a slate of affairs is to he regretted. for it will not only seriously affect tho advancement of horticulture in this country, but deny many city workers of physical relaxation the body and brain needs. England’s greatest statesman assures us that there is no truer economy than the cultivation of soil lor lood production. .It is the. fairest of all hobbies for “ As ye sow shall ye reap.” Gardening is not a gamble, a game of chance, or lottery. It proves the mettle of the worker quicker than any other recreation, and rewards him fairlv, justly, according to his work.