. His
garden is a colorful, attractive spot. He has vegetables for the table
and plenty of flowers for cutting. The latter preclude any argument
over whether his garden pays since, oddly enough, the subject of a
flower garden never seems to take a mercenary turn.

Distinct additions to the kitchen garden are an herb bed, a few
rhubarb plants, and an asparagus bed. The latter, because it takes
time to become established, seems difficult but laying out a proper
bed is not so hard. Also, in two to three years the plants will have
reached the stage where the larger stalks may be cut for consumption.
At first this should be done judiciously in order not to kill the
plants but after another year or two the bed will yield consistently.
After it is well established, it provides the first home-grown
vegetables of spring and bears for about six weeks. Afterwards all it
requires is an occasional weeding and fall mulching with fertilizer
and leaves.

As for the tools that keep gardens and grounds in condition, a special
shed is advisable. Don't try to keep them in a tool house or section
given over to saws, planes, chisels and bits. They get in a hopeless
jumble. Nothing is more discouraging than to go out to what should be
a tidy little spot to do a bit of mending or minor job of carpentry
and find earth encrusted garden trowels, weeders, and such gear
scattered all over the work bench. The grit so adhering is fatal to
sharp-edged tools, while sprays, dusting powders, and fertilizers give
off fumes that rust them.

We would also add a few kind words for the various berries and small
fruits. Except for strawberries, which must be kept weeded and
replanted periodically, berries are our ideal of easily cared for
fruits. Raspberries, for instance, never become really cheap in the
market because of their perishable nature. Yet with the very minimum
of care, cutting out old canes after the bearing season is over and
keeping weeds down with a mulch of hay, a comparatively small patch of
red raspberries, within three years of planting, will produce all the
fruit an average family can eat or be willing to pick. The other
variety, known as "black caps," are no more trouble and equally
prolific. These are at their best in pie and, for the pleasures of a
succession of fresh black raspberry pies each summer, we heartily
recommend planting a dozen canes at the same time that the red
raspberry patch is started.

Blackberry canes grow so ra