754 Rural School Leaflet. 



will make the grounds more useful and attractive. They should make 

 maps of their own plats, marking the kinds of plants to be grown, dis- 

 tances between rows, etc. Teachers in New York State may receive help 

 in planning their school-gardens by consulting the Professor of Rural 

 Art. Address, Prof. Bryant Fleming, College of Agriculture, Ithaca, 

 N. Y. 



4. Architectural features. Every school-garden should have a tool 

 house. There should be a shelter. There should be some sort of entrance 

 to the grounds marked by a signpost or archway. These architectural 

 features should not be put up in a hit or miss fashion. Any architect in 

 the community will be willing to suggest plain structures that have good 

 architectural lines. Such features will be educative, since the children 

 must see them every day. The signpost illustrated on the first page, 

 designed under the direction of Professor Fleming, has been a means of 

 pleasure and education to the children of the Ithaca schools. 



5. Planting. From the very first the children should be consulted 

 regarding the planting of the school-garden. They should feel that with 

 patience and perseverance this piece of ground could be made a thing 

 of beauty and civic pride within a few years. The school-garden should 

 be a place in which children will become familiar with plants that they 

 will later grow on their own home gardens. 



6. Life. The school-garden affords the best opportunity for general 

 nature-study. Here the children come in contact with plant and animal 

 life, both beneficial and injurious. They should be given some knowl- 

 edge of insect life in connection with the garden, that they may be ready 

 to make observations as the season advances. 



7. Inquiry, accuracy, patience, perseverance, and courage in times 

 of adversity may all be developed in a school-garden. The most should 

 be made of this opportunity for strengthening children along these lines. 



8. Results of labor. This can be demonstrated clearly in school, 

 gardening. Careful work is rewarded. On our school-garden at Ithaca 

 this point was very clearly demonstrated to the children in many ways, 

 but one in particular comes to my mind. The tomato plants which 

 were used in their gardens had been grown in individual pots. The 

 children made selections for their gardens from several hundred plants, 

 and were taught which were most likely to grow into productive plants. 

 They were cautioned to put the plants into the ground in the most care- 

 ful way, not interfering with the root system any more than necessary, 

 and firming the ground well about the plants. They followed directions 

 carefully. A few days later there was a severe frost which killed many 

 plants in the neighborhood. The children lost Init twelve out of the 



