Judge, 1915-04-10 · page 3 of 24
Judge — April 10, 1915 — page 3: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This appears to be a straightforward instructional comic strip rather than political satire, despite appearing in *Judge* magazine. It tells the story of "Jack," who starts a vegetable garden from scratch—preparing soil, planting seeds, purchasing supplies, tending crops despite pests and poor germination, and eventually harvesting a bountiful crop. The narrative emphasizes the value of homegrown produce: Jack's homegrown vegetables, though costing him four dollars to cultivate, would cost only a dime at market—highlighting self-sufficiency and the economics of home gardening. The "satire" appears gentle: celebrating industrious gardening as superior to commercial purchasing, likely appealing to *Judge's* middle-class readership during an era when home gardening was economically and socially valued.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
‘Twas spring in the suburb where Jack owned a lot, And time to start work on the gardening plot. Nowhere would there be a more beautiful spot Than the wonderful garden that Jack owned. And this is the way every twenty-foot row Was doped out on paper, in order to show Where radish and carrot and bean was to grow In the wonderful garden that Jack owned. And here is the store that supplied all his needs, The spade and the hoe, and the rake and the seeds, And patent contraptions to keep out the weeds In the wonderful garden that Jack owned. This is the seed that he planted in drills, He planted in beds and. he planted in hills, He planted until he was pale in the gills, In the wonderful garden that Jack owned. These are the weeds that grew up in a week And concealed every cucumber, cabbage and leek. For nature grew rampant, for fair, so to speak, In the wonderful garden that Jack owned. 4 j; if BOK Nahe Though cutworms were many and seedlings were few. The Serlen developed end really; greve, 4 Till Son there was promise of harvest in view, In the wonderful garden thet Jack owned. Each foot in the garden he spaded by hand, He raked and he chopped and he smoothed out the land], J And made it so fine that you couldn't demand A more wonderful garden than Jack owned. A Which cost Jack four dollars (not counting his time), In the market you get the same thing for a dime, But not in the garden that Jack owned.