u8 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



most effective lessons in teaching the 

 children the importance of ventilation 

 and sunlight to themselves. 



The school gardens can also he used 

 as a means of teaching a respect for 

 manual labor, an appreciation of the 

 value of different economic plants and of 

 the work of raising them and preparing 

 them for the consumer. To the city 

 child the school garden frequently gives 

 the only point of contact with the coun- 

 try, and, in certain cases, stimulates a 

 desire to leave the crowded cities. 

 While no claim is made of teaching ag- 

 riculture in the larger sense, it is sur- 

 prising what an amount of elementary 

 agriculture and elementary forestry can 

 be taught in these gardens for children. 



However, it has been found that the 

 elementary knowledge which can be ac- 

 quired is sufficient to start the prospec- 

 tive farmer on the right track and to 

 give him a habit of getting at the rea- 

 sons for things. An instance of this hap- 

 pened to Mr. Parsons while conducting 

 the Children's School Farm at the James- 

 town Exposition. Many farmers came 

 to listen to the lectures for the children. 

 In one case, Mr. Parsons talked about the 

 tomato worm, which is the cordially 

 hated tobacco worm of North and South. 

 The farmers had simply been crushing 



these worms, thereby killing, at the same 

 time, the parasites on the worm which 

 eventually destroy the worm. He 

 showed them that if they collected but 

 did not kill the worms, and allowed the 

 beneficial parasite to live and breed 

 others of its kind, they would make war 

 on other tobacco worms. The farmers 

 had not thought of this, and were in- 

 tensely interested because they could see 

 the reason for it. Children who have 

 had this preliminary training approach 

 agriculture with more of a scientific at- 

 titude and are more likely to avoid hap- 

 hazard farming. Mr. Parsons hopes in 

 his course to gain teachers who can im- 

 plant this germ of science, and yet, at the 

 same time, be entirely competent to take 

 over the practical management of a gar- 

 den in a school yard or on a vacant city 

 block. 



During seven years' experience the 

 garden work has proved a most valua- 

 ble means of teaching English and an 

 ideal method of manual training. For 

 physical culture it has yet to find its 

 equal, judged by the results in health, 

 strength and quickened intellect in both 

 child and teacher. Without the boister- 

 ous romping, every side of the child's 

 nature is brought into joyous activity and 

 splendid development. 



THE DELICIOUS PHTSALIS. 



When it first became delicious to me, 

 I did not know it by so scientific a title 

 as Physalis, but by the common name 

 strawberry-tomato. I had also heard it 

 called the husk tomato and that appealed 

 to me in those boyish days, because I 

 imagined that the fruit needed to be 

 husked like corn. 



In later years 1 heard it called ground 

 cherry, but that always seemed a mis- 

 nomer, for it does not appear to be 



cherry-like and it does not grow on the 

 gr< >und. 



For many years I did not see it. But 

 I frequently descanted upon its flavor. 

 When I was asked why do no) we have 

 it nowadays, I could not answer, but at 

 once determined to get it. So for a few 

 years past a part of my garden has been 

 devoted to these tomatoes. They are 

 the simplest of all things to raise, be- 

 cause after the first year they raise them- 

 selves. The seeds live in the ground 



