brennan] NA TURE-STUD Y AT VAN VLISSINGEN SCHOOL 



21 



in pruning, but taking care not to prune lilacs and other very 

 early flowering shrubs in the spring, as the flower buds are all 

 ready to bloom then. They try to carry out this same work at 

 home; so it has proven of great value. 



Summer before last two adjoining lots were bought by the 

 board of education and added to the school property. The 

 large one, one hundred twenty feet square, is just south of the 

 boys' yard; the other, thirty by one hundred feet, adjoins the 



A Part of Van Vlissingen School Garden 



girls' yard on the east. Teachers and pupils were eager to make 

 school gardens here and raise vegetables as well as flowers. Some 

 of the primary teachers wished also to raise grains and other crops, 

 as illustrative material for the children. The ground in the 

 larger addition was in a very bad condition. Much of the black 

 earth had been stolen, leaving in many places the tough blue clay 

 and growths of weeds. Ashes and rubbish covered the ground. 

 The boys took hold of the work of improving the plot, and 

 there was great enthusiasm. They cut down the weeds and got 

 the garbage man to take all the refuse away. The smaller plot 

 was in worse condition than the larger, for it had been used as a 

 dumping ground for years. Ridges of clay from basements 

 alternated with piles of garbage, tin cans, broken iron, brick, 

 glass, and tiling. Unserviceable material was removed, but the 

 ashes were mixed with the clay. After back-breaking work the 



