Tips for Gardening

Somehow I never thought of gardeners as having to do anything much beyond hoeing their own row to make a contribution to a better general environment. It probably comes from a childhood spent yelping , "Brighten the Corner Where You Are" at Methodist Sunday school. If you keep cans and papers under control on your own premises and do the best you can do to keep your own little bit of earth green and growing, well, who could ask for anything more?

Apparently that's a very selfish point of view. Fred Gallo, of Pine Mountain, Ga., who was president of the American Horticulture Society, thinks the plain dirt gardener happily tilling his own soil, has a very sizeable responsibility in our present world-wide ecological crisis. Writing in "The Harvester," official publication of the Georgia Horticulture Society, Mr. Galle says hardly anyone can know all about the environmental crisis. "Gardeners together, however, represent a large collective reservoir of knowledge in the study of man's relationship to environment'' he adds. "We should see that our knowledge is recognized and used. Let us involve ourselves in our cities. Let us tell our public officials what we think and know about water and air problems waste removal and sanitation control."

Mr. Galle lists six things that gardeners can do:

1. Join and actively support local, state and national organizations interested in environment. Encourage your local and state garden clubs to take an active part.

2. Support community and state zoning to insure open space and landscapes free of congestion and ugliness.

3. Study community and state laws to compare antipollution measures with national standards. See if there is a strong Water Quality Board with funds and power to enforce regulations. Work with local and state legislators to make them aware of environmental needs and to improve legal safeguards.

4. Guide young people in their search for true facts and ideas. Encourage introduction of courses in ecology, conservation and horticulture in public schools and universities.

5. Inspect and evaluate the water treatment and waste disposal systems of your local districts and industries.

6. Encourage the study and development of an ecological inventory of cities and states to consider the total impact of man, his domestic animals and his industrial output on the carrying capacity of the environment.

The only thing that eminently practical gardener, Mr. Galle, didn't mention is how we're going to do all these things and still get the weeds out of beans?

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