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The Commoner
20
VOL. 17, NO. 3
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Whoso?
Within us lives the spark wo call im
mortal, Essence divine and subtle, unde
fined, That stays not at tho closing of
death's portal,
But bursts the bonds that once its
flight confined.
It onward wings its way ah,
whither?
Onward and onward, through
eternal days,
But never comes a sign or token
, hither
To hint the mystery of its secret
ways.
Only, at tlmes strain of heavenly
sweetness, "
A flower's breath, a voice," a lodk,
a face,
Elusive in its sense of incomplete
ness, - Stirs us with its old, and half-familiar
grace.
a V
And a vaguo consciousness of pre-
existonce
Struggles to light, through mem
ory's half-closed door.
Whose once the soul that thus with
strange insistence
. Whispers within "Soul, we have
.,. lived before!"
Elinor Gray, New York.
flics, and every other beautiful thing
in nature comes in on the- trail of
tho Easter morning.
Common Senso Gardening
Many women, after reading the
letters and talks about tho glory
and profit of gardening as told in
their favorite magazines, will rush
away for their gardening tools, and
enthusiastically start in to reduce
tho h. c. 1. "as advertised." They
will start their plant-raisijfg as they
do their baby-raising,- with abso
lutely no idea oJXhe requirements
to make a sucosr nf fh miriort air
ing. Tho magazine writers many
oi them never had a garden, nor
raised a pumpkin-vine will tell you
any woman can grow a good , gar
don, with enough "sass" to not onfy
supply your own table, but plenty to
give away, or trade, or sell to your
thriftless neighbor. Well, any wo
man can generally, if she knows
how, and has the right conditions as
to soil, sunshine, water, hardihood
of muscles and a good big parcel of
common sense in her "think-box";
but gardening is no haphazard, or
chance affair. It is just hard, con
stant, careful work, if you would
succeed, and unless you have the1
right conditions, or can bring them
auouj, ii is going to keep you guess
Tho Lenten Sensoh
Whether we are Catholics, or not,
wo are all rejoiced when the Lenten
season approaches, because it is the
first clear suggestion of spring.
This year, the beginning of Lent
came in February while storms of
ice and snow were fretting the earth
and the skies looked anything but
"spring-like" in their cold grayness.
Lent is calledtho penitential season,
and there is a tendency to more or
less fasting and rest from the heavy
winter feasting and merry-making.'
Meat-eating gives way. to dishes of
fish, eggs or fowl, and the system is
all the better for the change. Winter
is usually very much on the wane,
and tho culmination of Lent in the
beautiful spring festival of Easter,
is looked forward to with happy an
ticipations. As a holiday, Easter
Sunday is growing in social and re
ligious importance, and, observance
of the day 1b now general, with rec
ognition stretching wider, and wider.
Easter is tho year's physical beirln-
ning throughout all the globe north
of the equator; in January, the old
year is dying, and tho now yet un
born; many nations of the now
world have wisely started the real
year with the vernal equinox, which
is the 21st o2 March. When tho
Cbuncil at Nice made the Easter date
dependent on the full moon which
come on or just after the full moon
in March, it consciously or uncon
sciously fixed on a day which coin
cided with the actual beginning of
tho year for all the northern tlnd
greater half of the earth. This is the
real now year thatcounts in the
world's physical progress, and the
Easter season brings back tho flowers
and foliage, not alone in tho grow
ing warmth of the earth, but In the
apparel of people. BirdB, butter
ing every day of the -spring and
eariy summer. Another drawback
is the fondness of the flocks of
chippies .that always find tho early
lettuce or radish oed, unless you
hang rag scare-crows over seed beds.
Then, there are untold 'numbers of
other things, insects of all kinds,
ready to help you dispose of your
early growth bugs, worms, flying
and crawling things without num
ber, and along with these, plenty of
diseases both at top and root, Vh.e
treatment for which you must un
derstand and practice. So, you see,
you must begin, right now, to read,
read, read; study, and experiment.
and get your munitions of war ready,
and be prepared to kill, kill, kill,
irom the time you sow your first
seeds 'or set your, first plants, until
you reap your last harvest. But if
you do succeed, you will be perfect
ly happy, and you will deserve to be.
You must get all the literature you
can, and as reliable as possible, and
mix with your reading a big hand
ful of good common sense. "Prove
all things" and hold fast that which
has the strongest appearance of be
ing good. Don't get discouraged;
don't admit the possibility, of your
falling. Just work, and make up
your mind to DO.
ward as the hyacinths and crocuse.
If the fall covering about shrubbery,
perennials, or' biennials, is removed
too early, the possible hard freezes
that follow will surely injure the
growth, so it is best to leave the
covering on the roots, keeping the
ground from the harmful alternate
freezes and thaws that come with
the opening of spring. As soon as
the soil can be worked without
"lumping," after the frost has done
its work of upheaving and pulver
izing, it is well to level down the
soil, working in a liberal, supply of
fertilizer, sand or coal ashes, or if
it is to be'had, wood ashes, passing
the ashes through a coarse sieve or
sand screen to remove the clinkers
and slag that wllL do' no good to the
young plants. Little runways be
tween tho beds may bo nfade of these
cinders anft clinkers, and pounded
well -into the soil, giving a narrow
walk, free from jeHsUAll "gross
weeds should be Killed on sight;
burdocks all other docks plan
tains and perennial herbacious weeds
should be cut off below the crown as
soon as they start. Do not attempt
to work the sotf while it is still wet;
if you do, it may show bad results
all summer. Let, the ground be rea
sonably dry before spading. Pota
toes, peas, and several other kinds
of vegetables should be planted just
u duuu u.u ih tuwH mm ue openea,
but the soil should ,bo ' readily
crumbled at moving and no lumns
should be left- to dry and harden.
Use a spading fork, .rather than the
ordinary spade or shovel for the
garden. Be sure to have a good rako,
and learn to use it intelligently.
Have your seeds,, flower ' and' ' veg
etable, ready at hand, and also your
summer flowering bulbs, but let the
ground get warm before you plant,
which for most hardy things will be
about the first to middle' of April.
Many tender-things mUst be kept un
til vMay, and some, even until June.
Seasonable Work
Among tho first things to show up
in the early spring days are the
green fingers of the hardy bulbs
The crocus and hyacinth hardly
wait for the snow to be gone, and
many of the mofit precocious of them
get a good freezing, which, how
ever, will not injure them; but the
bulb beds should not be uncovered
too early. Let the plants push up
through the last fall's coarse manure
covering, taking care to remove only
sufficient from directly over the
plant to insure air and sunshine
and sturdy growth. Tulips, lilies, and
other hardy bulbs will not be so for-
Getting tho Garden Ready'
. So much should have beeu, already
domr in order to make the home
garden a success, and our. March is
sue may not reach bur readers un
the month is partly gone, that we
shall begin our talks for the ad
vanced season. We are all cog
nizant of the fact that the early
vegetable garden will play an im
portant part, in the family diet, and
there will be more amateur garden
ers .this spring than ever before, so
we should study the matter careful
ly, and begin slowly and safely.
There is a great deal of Ntalk about
theVbackyard gardens' in the city,
and many prominent publciations
are giving us tales o wonderful re
sults which, it is declared, any
housewife can attain by going into
her backyard with a few garden
tools, papers of seeds ' and an en
thusiastic expectation of eating of,
the fruits of her own vine. But'
these publications only show the
bright side of the picture, and the
shady side is not mentioned. City
backyards are not like tb.e country
back yards. If you do not own the
city back yard, you will find there
.will be required more than a spading
fork," a hoe and a rake, in order to
get the ground in,' good shape for
seedine. MnRt nn A .
their backyard space fcs a duVn
ground for ashes-coal ashei PJS
cinders, old tin cans, and nv.
cast-offs, until the ground s ' W
where in sight; if the" ashes a e not
there, the ground is of the nnL0,1
perhaps being made of "dump" S
excavating for other build ill
which is hard, sticky clay &
must be fertilizers, well worked in 0
this clay, and some coal ashe
worked into it may not be a baJ
hing as it will act as a loosener of
thoTslay; but there are other thine
to be Considered. The city atmo?
phere is not like the country air
so much gas, smoke, and other nol'
lutions abound in the city air that
plants, -at the best, have a hard time
to - get a good start even if the
"chippies" do ot eat everything in
sight as soon as a green thing ap
pears. It will take work, and plenty
of it, with most backyards, to get
the soil in shape, and the constant
care, good fee'.ing and watering to
keep things growing under most un
favorable conditions. You may make
it pay. It won't do any harm to try.
But remember there are two sides to
the city backyard garden, as well as
other things.
Query Box
L. L. For renovating black
goods, a sponge dipped in strong
black coffee to which a few drops of
ammonia have been1 added will prove
an excellent cleanser. When clean,
dry by rubbing briskly with a clean
woolen cloth.
Mrs. L. B. To save the gas, get
a sheet of galvanized iron just large
enough to cover the top of the gas
range, according to number of-burn-
HHHB 'tBHHB
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Have You Ever
Suspected
that tho cause of various an
noying ills might lie in tho
daily cujvof tea or coffee?
A sure and easy way out of
coffee and tea troubles is to
sliift to
Instant
Postum
There's no caffeine nor any
thing harmful in this delight
ful, pure food-drink just tho
nourishing goodness of wheat.
Postum has put thousands
of former tea arid coffee drink
ers on the Road to WcllvlUc.
"There's a Reason"
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