578 KKTOKT OF OKFU'K OK KXI'KKIMKNT STATIONS. 



on tlu' iix' and cllt'ct ol" Icrtili/crs. Tlic Kxpci'iiiiciit Stiitioii at liur- 

 lijijitoM cooperates witli tlic iiorinal school, runiisliin<^' ''some of the 

 materials and much jj^ood advice." lii Hiirliiioton a warden was started 

 this sjjriny- in connection with the Adams School. 



In the State of New York mor(» attention is hein^ j^iven to the 

 improvement of f^chool ^rounfls than to the cultivation of vejj^eta])les. 

 In New York Citv, however, two expei-inuMits in vegetii])lc growing 

 by children are worthy of mention. The Hi-st of these is at De Witt 

 Clinton Park (PI. XXXIII, lig. 2), where Mrs. Henry Parsons, a mem- 

 her of the school hoard, secured ])ermission last ycnir to fence an area 

 114 by 84: feet for the puri)ose of giving some of the children in the 

 vicinity useful and wholesome em[)loyment. The planting was not 

 done until Jul}', and the soil was ver}?^ poor, the plow '"having turned 

 up rags, wire, lime, and stones," relics of a former dumping ground; 

 but in spite of these drawbacks marked success attended the experi- 

 ment. A tent Avas put up, which contained ])Iackl)oards for instruction 

 and seats for comfort, and later a flag pole was raised. The children 

 came in squads of 25 each, wearing a tag lumibered to correspond with 

 the num])er of his 3 by (! foot garden, and were given work not only 

 in gardening but also in clearing ground of stones and in preparing it 

 for planting. At first the children were given the choice of lacing 

 farmers or policemen, and ([uite a good man}' thought the}' would 

 like to l)e policemen, but after the third day the police force had all 

 deserted to the farm. The work will ))e continued this year, and there 

 are plans for laying out a country home, including a portable house, 

 lawn, paths, ilowers, etc. In a recent letter to the writer, Mrs. 

 Parsons says that the children "work like Trojans and the gangs turn 

 in to help. My little teacher is as safe in that tough neighl)orhood 

 now as in her own parlor." To overcome in a measure the influence 

 of the street and the factory on graduates of the public schools, Mrs. 

 Piirsons has recently organized an alumni association in what is con- 

 sidered the toughest school in tiiat section. The president and vice- 

 president of the association are principals of large schools and are 

 native-))orn residents of this district. 



The other enterprise is in its infancy. Teachers' College has pur- 

 chased the land lying ])etween Broadway, Amsterdam avenue. One 

 hundred and twentieth, and One hundred and twenty-first streets, 

 about one acre of which Avill be utilized for educational purposes. A 

 part of this land has already been developed as a school garden or out- 

 door laboratory for the reorganized and enlarged department of nature 

 study. The garden is both horticultural and agricultural. Cereals 

 have been planted and experimented with, also vegetables and other 

 plants, the whole serving not only as a practice ground for the pros- 

 pective teacher of a rural school, Imt also as an object lesson to the 



