Patterson] VALUE OF CHILDREN'S GARDENS 127 



ievement that is the result of carefully planned, purposeful work. 

 The very fact that a child finds himself a producer, provid- 

 ing something of value for the family or the community develops 

 a self respect and a self-reliance that is a great asset in the char- 

 acter of any citizen of a democracy. 



At the same time the work tends to generate respect for the 

 property rights of others. Psychologists agree, I believe, that 

 the desire to own, to keep is normal to children. When a boy 

 has property of his own he, for the first time, appreciates the 

 desirability of protecting the property of his fellows. Again, 

 parodoxical as it may seem, ownership tends toward unselfish- 

 ness and altruism. Any one who is in close touch with this 

 work has almost daily proof that children take a keen delight 

 in aiding their comrades, in giving away products to their friends, 

 in providing vegetables for the family table or in making the 

 home attractive with their flowers. 



Closely allied to the growth that comes from personal owner- 

 ship is the training in civic pride and responsibility. This is 

 not something that we hope may follow in the wake of chil- 

 dren's gardens; we have ample illustrations to show that in 

 many places it is already an important part of the work. 



Cleaning up back yards and alleys, improving home grounds 

 go hand on hand with gardening. Gardening means neatness, 

 orderliness, and these cannot have their highest expression with 

 unsanitary piles of rubbish and unsightly nooks and corners in 

 the vicinity. So it comes about that wherever there are chil- 

 dren's gardens the rubbish disappears, the unsightly objects are 

 removed or are transformed into something beautiful by the use 

 of vines and tall annuals. More than this in many towns the 

 young gardeners look beyond their own premises to the streets, 

 parks, and other public property and lend a hand toward mak- 

 ing these more attractive. As an illustration, I may mention 

 the work undertaken by the Garden Club of the seventh and eighth 

 grade in a small village. After the gardens were harvested 

 this fall it was suggested to the children that they enlarge their 

 field of endeavor. They took the initiative in the matter and 

 appointed commitees to look around for the purpose of discover- 

 ing whether there was anything that they could do to help in 

 improving the appearance of the town. Among other things 

 they have undertaken to keep the entrance to the school grounds 



