The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming Part 20

"Vegetables should be thoroughly scrubbed and cleaned. Dirt clinging to the roots needs sometimes a brush to get it entirely off. Carrots, beets, radishes, turnips, celery and other vegetables where the edible part is beneath ground, need this sort of attention, not only to make them clean, but to bring out the colours in each case.

"The foliage of a vegetable plant often adds much to its appearance in exhibition. For instance, the carrot has quite lovely lacey leaves. Beet leaves have such good red colours in them that they, too, add something to the general effect. The colours of the leaf and the colour of the fruit itself are a harmony. When radish leaves are taken off there is no good way of bunching the radishes. They are cut quite off from kith and kin.

"The only objection to the foliage is its wilting, drooping, tired looking leaves certainly add nothing lovely to the exhibit. If the exhibition is of short duration there is no trouble along this line; if it is one of several days the problem is different.

"Children's exhibits, however, usually last but a short time. But if the products can be put away in cold storage over night, or in water in a cool place, then it is possible to keep them in good shape.

"An outdoor exhibit is not wholly satisfactory because of the effect of the air on the products. They wilt badly. A tent is far better than the open-air table for exhibiting. With care the exhibition may always be made attractive.

"The arrangement of products is one of the main features. Generally children's exhibits are pretty messy and mussy looking. This is because of two things: first, the children have so many little separate exhibits; second, we do not stop to discuss carefully the matter of arrangement and preparation. If the children understood fully that no products would be admitted for exhibition unless these were cleaned, were of uniform size, and of the requisite number, there would be little trouble. With them, arrangement would have to be worked out largely on the scene of action, although colour effects, bunching, and general matters could be taken up beforehand.

"Let us think out a few general directions for exhibiting. First, all products must be thoroughly cleaned. Heading vegetables, as cabbage and lettuce, should be cleaned well, and perhaps two heads of each kind shown by the exhibitor. Radishes, carrots, young onions and small vegetables which are to be bunched should have anywhere from twelve to twenty specimens in the bunch. Leave the foliage on such bunches. The large vegetables like beets and parsnips may have from four mammoth specimens to eight smaller ones. Potatoes are exhibited by the plate and so are tomatoes. There are supposed to be seven large specimens to the plate.

"Flowers are usually shown cut and arranged in vases. The vases should be of clear, white gla.s.s for the best effects. Rose bowls may be used, too. Do not put grand collections of all varieties and colours of flowers together. Suppose the exhibit of a certain person is to be one of asters. Then put the purple ones together in a vase, the pink ones together in another vase.

"Another mistake of exhibitors is the huddling of products into close quarters. Give your individual specimens plenty of room. Let the things stand out as individual. The entire exhibit is spoiled when it looks messy and huddled up.

"The labelling is often done poorly. Any little piece of paper is stuck on the vases or under a bunch of vegetables. The child's name is written in abominable handwriting. Write or neatly print a little card. Put on this the date, name of the exhibitor (or number) and his place of residence, if required.

"These, in brief, show the real educative lines along which one ought to conduct a children's exhibit. The aesthetic side enters in largely, and a proper bit of the commercial is here, too."

Well, this exhibit of the boys' was pretty good. Each boy had a set of photographs showing the round of his work. These had been made into books. Some of the boys had kept diaries. The diaries had in them not only an account of experiences, but also the tables worked out with The Chief. Jack had what he called an improvement section, which gave ways by which he might improve over his present methods of work. The garden plans drawn to a scale were on the walls. Myron had brought his set of real garden tools. The pieces of hand work made by the boys were there, too.

George had made a collection of garden pests, while Philip and Peter had made collections of weed pests. All the pamphlets from Was.h.i.+ngton which they had used in their work and those from their own state experiment station were on a little table.

Each boy told briefly the difficulties he had encountered and how he had met them. After a talk by Jay, Albert spoke of the experiment in inoculation of soil. Then he and Jay disappeared, and returned with plates, one for each guest, and on each plate were two spoonfuls of beans, one of the inoculated and the other of the uninoculated beans.

The visitors were not told which were which. Then a vote was taken as to which were the better. Of course, the inoculated beans won out.

After this, the real refreshments were served. "I should like to ask,"

Dee made bold to say, "where you boys got strawberries to make ice cream of? Strawberries in October! You certainly do not expect us to believe you raised them."

"I did," said Myron, striking an att.i.tude before her. "I did in my own little patch."

"Did you make a few cakes of ice and thus have a cold storage plant?"

Dee continued sarcastically.

"Dear me, no! I'm much more clever than that. One day, with a few baskets of berries tucked under this n.o.ble right arm of mine, I walked to this house. I knocked at the door. A man let me in. He tied an ap.r.o.n about this waist. We actually canned these same berries which you are now eating as a frozen delicacy."

"You boys are altogether too smart," and Dee turned her back on Myron to accept a second dish of cream from Philip.

That didn't disturb Myron any, for he cakewalked back to the kitchen for more cream.

"Well, it was a fine exhibit for mere lads," Jack's father was heard to say on his way home; "If we could bring into this little village a few more men like our boys' Chief there would be no question about a boy's coming up all right. It makes me ashamed to think that we parents have left this work to an outsider."

"I feel," answered George's father, "that this man is a real 'insider'."

After all the guests had left The Chief's once again the boys formed their line and saluted the man.

"Is there nothing for us this winter, O Chief?" asked Albert.

"Plenty. We are going to have a beautiful winter, and next spring better work."

Laden with their trophies the boys reluctantly started for home. They stood in the road in front of The Chief's gate, and the moon shone down on seven happy, manly boys. The three cheers to The Chief arose clear and shrill on the still evening air. As it died away the boys seemed to melt into the shadows of the road.

The man stood motionless in his doorway until the last sound of the boys died away. Then he went back into the room to dream over the fire dreams for his boys.

PART II

THE CHIEF'S GARDEN TALKS

I

THE SOIL

The following winter The Chief gave Friday afternoon talks to his boys and girls. These meetings did not in any way interfere with the boys'

regular Sat.u.r.day evening club.

Immediately after school each Friday afternoon they all trooped round to The Chief's little house, which had become a centre of village interest.

Finally the men came too, for they had found out that this man knew of what he spoke.

But we are wandering away from those Friday afternoons.

There was the strangest collection of stools and benches in The Chief's side entry, all belonging to the boys and girls. "You must each one bring your own seat, because you all know that I haven't chairs enough to go around." And this called forth the collection.

It was an odd sight that first Friday in early November. A long straggly line of boys and girls, each one with a seat of some kind, wound its way up to The Chief's hospitable door, where he stood waiting, laughing aloud at the sight. In they came, and made a semi-circle about the big fireplace.

"I just love this room," said Albert, voicing the feelings of them all.

"I have thought," began The Chief, "that since our really successful first year of gardening, we ought to be in a position to undertake and to desire to know more about certain subjects which I shall discuss.

Each Friday I am going to take up a topic such as I should if I were teaching you in school."

"You do not mean that we'll have to remember and answer questions just like school? You surely do not mean that, Big Chief," broke in Albert.

"No," replied the man laughing, "no, you may forget it all if you like.

Remember it, if it seems to you useful. But if it's a strain on you, Albert, make it your business to forget."

They all laughed at this, but none so heartily as Albert himself.

"That's one on this old head of mine," he said, banging that member up against the side of the chimney.

"My first talk I have given you in part, but I have more I wish to add.

I believe even Albert can stand it. The subject is the soil.