Pioneer history of Ingham County, compiled and arranged by Mrs. Franc L. Adams, secretary of the Ingham County pioneer and historical society.

LANSING TOWNSHIP AND CITY, WITH HISTORY

453

ground, planting, etc., is only a part, a small part, it is the care of
the growing crop that fills the market basket, the fruit jars, or, in
case of flowers, please the eye and sheds fragrance over the table
and rooms of the rich manufacturer or humble workman alike,
that is the part we are all interested in.
To those who are not afraid to dirty their manicured hands, or
that the vulgar sun will freckle or destroy their delicate complexions, those that take an interest in seeing things grow, watching
that mysterious thing life unfold in the growing things around
them, there is nothing so restful to their tired brain, so healthful
to their physical being as a garden, a garden they can work themselves, one they can try out experiments in regard to soils, seeds,
cultivation, and climatic influences. A garden you can work,
study and dream about.
Of all the plats published in our newspapers, I have a word of
criticism. Most of them have corn and potatoes as well as other
vegetables on their plat. Our city lots are too small for these
crops, as they want space and a rich soil. They are apt to, if
crowded and the soil is not right, grow to tops with no ears of corn
on the stalks or potatoes on the vines, also they are sun plants
and must have the sunlight or they will wither and die. A city
gardener with a small plat of ground must content himself
with small things, not with what are grown in the large open fields.
Most of the land agents in this city that are engaged in booming
garden lands in the South-Florida and the Gulf States-hold out
the inducement that there you can raise two or three crops in the
growing season. Can we do the same thing here in the North in
regard to our hardy vegetables? We can, and I can say from my
own personal experience that with a little judgment and a suitable
soil any gardener in this city can grow two or three crops of radishes, peas, lettuce, beets, etc., if he will plant them at intervals in
the months of May, June and July. He will have to cultivate
and care for the second and third crops, the same as he did the
first or he will meet with failure.
While on this subject, I wish to say a few words in regard to an
old garden in this city, where it was and how it looked to me fifty
years ago, how the size, it seemed a small farm to me then, or half
a dozen flower, vegetable and fruit gardens combined into one
vast expanse of beauty, fragrance and usefulness; a place where