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8 A BOY AND A GARDEN LILIAN E. TALBERT I AM going to tell the renders of The Junior Call a true story of a boy 'and the remarkable things he has been able to do in a garden. Why I am so eager to tell this story is because I am sure that what this boy has done 'every other boy can do. If ho sets about it with the same de termination and' the same persistence. From the beginning this boy has been handicapped. His first seven years were spent in one long strugglo to keep life in the frair body. At the end of that time a change came and the anxious parents made a new home for their boy. And here, nestled in the warm sunshine of the hills, with the good salt air of the bay giving strength, another life began for him. And the child grew to an understanding of an hour freo from sulTerlnV and pain. There was d large yard in the new home,' and there the child was fold to play; but what fun was that, playing alone,* when other boys went whistling off to school? : ' • ; - ,' V, • \u25a0/' Mother knew. She and the boy should have, a garden. . Then began glorioA days, when^the little, fellow could actually use the hoe and the rake,; and could turn the good, brown earth, and plant the little seeds. ' Spring was kind to> that first gar den, and kinder still to the frail child .who now began to show the promise of a healthy boyhood. True, he still lacked much, and his speech. Beemed to respond 'most slowly to' the forces that had called him back to life. But mother always . understood him when tho words refused to come, and then, there .was the ; garden with , the sun shine*! and the* salt air. : ' °. ' That ;. was sixfyears ago. Today that boy is a strong, manly; looking fellow, 5 v feet 6 inches high, straight as an arrow, full of the; Joy of ) living, and ready.to tell what that garden Has done for him 'not only physically, but edu- cationally. > * That first year, when mother was his companion, he began by growing let tuce... But when'the lettuce was raised what was to be done" with it? - Well, mother would buy, It. 'So mother, his friend and companion^ was his first cus tomer, .and . she ; paid" him for that let tuce Just whafshe would have paid in the market. • Thia gave him, encourage ment, and , the . next year* he enlarged his holdings. Besides the lettuce/there should, be: peas. ' This being successful, a year: or two later He took, up the cul tivation of beaiis. . \u25a0 Then began his experiments "'with raising the different kinds of lettuce, the different kinds of peas, the different kinds of beans. He found that certain seeds were not adapted to the soil; that raising certain varieties of vegetables did not pay . ln, proportion to the time spent, and that it was Important that he, study the demand of his market' .For, though' his mother had been his first customer, neighbors had soon found that they could depend on him to furnish them with garden' products bet ter; arid fresher' than could be had \u25a0 In the market and at the market price. ,\u25a0 With increasing demands for his produce, it became necessary to In crease the variety of his supply, though he still believes It Is best to understand the. raising and marketing of a limited number of varieties. So He spends his efforts on lettuce, peas/ beans, vege table marrow and beets. , He undertook the raising of onions, but he found that they did not pay. He has learned the reason why. Much information' has been gained by these experiments. He tried raising sweet peas, but found they did riot pay, owing to the fact that In bis vicinity flowers were abundant. This boy's garden is a small plat of land about 26x75 feet. From this lim ited area he cleared last year $93.33. Is that not a good showing for a boy of 12? This last year" he has done all the work himself, caring for the soil, plant ing:, gathering and marketing . his produce before and after school hours. Last year was tho first year he has been able to attend public school. Un fortunately for him, in his. busiest spring month, he became IJI with scar let fever. There were many weeks wlieu it was impossible for him to be m % \u25a0 , \u25a0 \u25a0 \u25a0 . „,-,\u25a0\u25a0\u25a0(.. * THI? SAN FRANCISCO CALL, SUNDAY, JULY 3, 1910.— TOE JUNIOR CALL out Had It not been for this his yearly Income., from \u25a0 the garden no doubt /.would haye 1 reached far over $100. > He was anxious" to know just how much .could be made from 10 cents' worth of seed. On the 20th: of July he bought the .10 'cent package of vege —table marrow and began his planting. .; The last of the vegetable marrow,! crop ..was '.gathered ! and sold . November f 18; :. time,, 3 months 28 days. His. careful; accounts s&ow the exact returns of that The Elephants at Home When we see a company of great.ele phants "moving along with a; circus parade do we ever think how far from home these huge creatures are?" Per haps they have traveled all over the world several times, yet, they would rather be back in Asia or Africa, where they were probably born. Best of all, an elephant likes to live on broad plains, in forests or among gently rising hills. Ho does not like severe weather, "either hot or cold, so usually, lives 'in a temperate climate, "where 'he/ spends, much, time on ' the shady fiver banks. How he enjoys fill- Ing his -great, trunk with water and then' sending the*, cooling streams .over his big brown body! • / \u0084 The elephant v Is , the largest creature known; yet he is alert, and, it is said, approaches the nearest of any animal to man In prudence arid reasoning.- Ho Is said to possess a kind of affection for those, who treat him kindly, and Is docile enough to be trained for per forming many tricks j and working. with great strength. In some countries ele phants move great trees or, carry heavy burdens. Sometimes when," the large circus wagon sinks Into a muddy field it f.aa only be moved by«an ele phant, that lifts it where the circus man wants to have it. When with tho circus the elephants eat a great deal of hay, but when roaming in the wild homes they- eat much green food. The treo branches, tree, roots, leaves of small plants, as well 'as bulbs, are considered very palatable by these hard skinned animals. Sometimes a whole acre of ground will be plowed up by the great tusks of the elephant in his search for food to which his fine sense of smell has guided him. Did you ever notice that the elephant can never get his mouth to the ground? For this reason Mother Nature has given this great animal a kind of hand, which we call his trunk. When you toss pea nuts to the elephant sea how. quickly he uses his trunk to throw the nuts into His mouth. The" lumberman will "split" with his beat friend. 10 cents' worth of seed to be $18.15. This is 'a' rate '-"of increase on his invest ment few businessmen can beat. This calls to' my mind' a formula given by, a professor of agriculture: >\u25a0•*\u25a0 . Seed plus/ground plus heat plus moisture plus boy equals corn. ' But in this case* it would be: ' . j Seed (10c) plus ground plus heat plus moisture plus . boy equals .vegetable marrow ($18.15). : . . „.!\u25a0'\u25a0'.' In the center of his 25 by 75 foot gar Queer Money A traveler in Central America would find that though he had a purse fuil of our money, yet he could buy nothl tig. There a handful of cowrie shells are of more' value than a $10, bill, for these shells are the. money of the people liv ing, in that 1 uncivilized -This money is strung on strong cords and carried about by the persons who want to ..buy.' At each purchase a portion of the cord' of shells is cut ,o ft and given as money. The South sea islanders pay for their simple needs with a kind 'of rope made of flying fox fur or tiny feathers of birds of brilliant plumage. You Have probably seen pictures. of the Chinese carrying their strings of money. .* .-. • . :\u25a0\u25a0'\u25a0 '\u25a0; \u25a0 ,\u25a0 • \u25a0\u25a0 \u25a0 \ ..; Their coins, called "cash,? each have a Hole in the center 'so that a heavy cord may. easily be passed through them. Knots tied In tho string show every, time a hundred cash aro strung on the cord. Because these cash are of littlo value a great quantity of them has to be carried when marketing Is to be done. How strange it would seem to us if we had to take one or two servants about .with us to carry our money. That is what the rich Chinese do, for it takes about 400 cash to equal one. of our dollars. In the island of Madagascar gold and silver are usod for money. There these precious met als are seen In all sizes and shapes, for their value depends upon- their weight. A traveler once visiting in Mexico.re ceived two small cakes of soup for his change. after making a purchase. He could not understand at first that the government stamp upon the soap made it into money. As long as this Btamp remained clear or distinct the money was good to spend, but when the stamp wore off the soap was^only good as a cleanser. Marvels of Wireless Telegraphy Wireless telegraphy made a long roach the other day. The Tennessee was five days out from Honolulu when It sent ou,t a weather report which was picked up on the apparatus at Table . bluff, on the coast of California, 4,580 miles away. den Is a sprouting box on standards. \ "Why," I asked, "Is this above the ground?" l . »\ He smiled and said, "This Is my sprputlng bed for lettuce. Should I leave It on the ground the young plants would bo ruined by snails and slugs." "But what do you do when you trans plant them?" I persisted, pointing to his splendid heads^ of lettuce in their .well shaped beds ready for gathering "Surely these are great temptations for the snails." . "When the younp lettuce is trans planted," he answered, "I ptit a row of lime around the whole bed. The plants are never molested then. 1 ' ' He manages his crop of' lettuce on the college plan — his' freshmen are en tering the sprouting box while his sophomores are emerging from it. His Juniors at . this time are becoming *"heady" In the open rows;', while. his se .riiors are. developed and ready for mar ket. With this arrangement his cus tomers'may flndlettuce 6nhana\at any time of. the year.. You can, see. by.. this that the boy 'has an understanding of his., work. Ho recognizes, at 'sight the different, varieties of. lettuce,».,and can discuss the relative values of, the ."May, King" and the "Improved, Hanson" from "a tradesman's point of view. ' , v -This year, he has marketed 100 pounds ,of. peas. .As. soon ; as. the old pea vines [could. 'be .'.removed- the ground-was im mediately planted to beans.- Remember, his garden plot is but, 2s by 75 feet, ; and he must practice economy .of space. With the beans he. is raising ;but one kind, "The . Kentucky Wonders." He Is .familiar with other varieties, but his experience has led him to believe these to be the very best.,- . • Every, morning this boy is up' by 5^ o'clock and 'out': in} his -'garden.'-. On ".the particular morning I saw him be had returned from delivering 55 heads of the finest lettuce one could buy any where. Perhaps ; one of ( the 1 secrets of His "success is "quality,' and; fair prices." • Aside from. the abundant good health and the joy of living! this garden Is giv ing to this bpy a practical education in business methods.. ' \u25a0 ~- He "keeps, his accounts as well, as the best paid" book keeper in alarge-busi ness firm. -Many- of his customers run monthly bills. -When hisproduce is de livered .he makes out a charge, tag and places It on file, j At ,. the end Jof the month ! these are made into bills and presented, for payment., "When paid they, are receipted and an entry is made of the same in his account book. Should a customer pay; cash he puts a tag he terms bank, oh ; file,' showing the money has been placed; ln his small First national bank. At the end of the month the returns from, his garden 'are placed to his account in an 'Oakland bank. • v ,- '. . - .' ./. ;- : '.. \u25a0'."'\u25a0 : \u25a0'. - " •A tabulated record has been made of his exact, income "each month since 190,7. This has, proved an Incentive. If in June, 1907,' he made $6, then he feels that in June, 1908,' -he must make more than $6, else he Is not succeeding in terms of his own advancement.: His tabulated account for! the three years Is full of -interest, each ! month showing an Increase over the month of the preceding ? year, - with one no ticeable exception, when nothing was made.' ._ That , was .'• the; month he was quarantined with scarlet fever. \u25a0 ' -This boy is; not going to spend his well earned money ; carelessly/, t He; is planning to Invest It. 7 He expects in time to pay for a lot with this money, coming as It. does to him from the soil. Another thing, to my- knowledge he is the first child to have, a commercial account. in bank. -When. his parents re quested that such an, account be opened to him they were told that commercial accounts to children, had never... been granted. . Many people question' the 'ad visability of ' allowing children:. access to funds, by cheek. However,; this boy's father desired -that his son should be come familiar .with practical, business methods, and on special request a com mercial-account was opened to him. '. ' Now,' this boy selects and. buys his own clothes, paying for them by check from the ; allowance ... his father has placed in. bank for him. It can be seen that this boy is making a success of tils undertaking. He works not because he must, nor alone for the money that is in It, but becauseby it and through it he has gained and is gaining so much that Is good to have— health, training, education, success. How many readers of The Junior Call have a garden? If not, why? * When It Ib' seen what this small gar den has done in so short a time for the frail little fellow of a few years ago. Is it not worth while? For health's Bake alone it has been a success. For education it has been a success. fjfjomo day I want to tell, my readers how this boy, without going to school a day; made the seventh grade at the age of 12 <years. I want to tell you of the charming way he has taken up the study of history and geogruphy, mak ing an average of 100 in these subjects during this, his first year at school. Meanwhile think about the garden % and- in the early fall plan one of your 'own. Wliile you are about it, be per sistent. Do not get discouruged; it will i' & y- • •