98 NATURE STUDY REJ'IEJV [9 :4— April. 1913 



Hall of our school, once in March and once in April. Last April 

 we had hundreds of hlooms. pots and hoxes of trumpet daffodils, 

 poets' narcissus, crocuses, tulips and hyacinths. Each room 

 raised one particular bull) and as theirs were planted in boxes 

 it was a gorgeous sight to see thirty or forty orange tulips or 

 twenty or thirty hyacinths blooming in one box. 



Our school secured a prize of five dollars, offered by the 

 club selling the bulbs, to the school having flowers in bloom the 

 greatest number of days in the school year. Beginning with the 

 loth (if December they bloomed continuoush- for 1^2 days. This 

 year our first pot of paper white narcissus was in bloom Decem- 

 ber (ith. 



It occurred to me last spring that we might be able to sell 

 some of our flowers so they were offered for sale just to our 

 patrons, a single hyacinth in a pot selling for 10 cents, a pot of 

 daffodils, 25 cents, etc., the ])rice being less than half charged 

 by the florists. Ours were in bloom at Easter time, when flowers 

 are in great demand. We sold ten dollars worth of flowers 

 besides having a large exhibit and having them in bloom in the 

 house all winter. We used the money to purchase bulbs for this 

 winter. As there seemed to be a greater demand for hyacinths 

 we have potted two or three hundred that we hope to sell at 

 Easter time. 



I NDIVIDUAL GARDENI NG. 



Last spring we determined to pay more attention to indi- 

 vidual gardening. So the Business ^Manager was persuaded to 

 fence a piece of land half as large as the first adjoining it on 

 the north. This we had i)lowed, as it was nearly all sod, and 

 divided into twenty plots of ground, about 7 by 18 feet. The 

 garden plots were given to the children only upon request and 

 a note was sent to each parent making them, together with the 

 child, responsible for their care. They were given permission 

 to do as they pleased with what they raised. We had almost 

 everything in the gardens from cabbage to sweet potatoes, and 

 zinnias to forget-me-nots. They planted just what they wished. 

 As long as the supply lasted they were furnished with govern- 

 ment seeds, but many purchased their own. As far as possible 

 we tried to assign the plots to needy children. 



To stimulate interest I offered a prize of a dollar to the 

 child having the best garden in the fall. This amount was di- 

 vided by the judges between the two children having the best 

 vegetable and flower garden. This same sum has been offered 

 for their next summer's gardens. 



