26 The Ottawa Naturalist. [April 



NATURE STUDY— No. XII. 



School Gardens in Great Cities. 



(Report of Committee on Industrial Training submitted to the Public 

 Education Association of Philadelphia.) 



Facing- the Hudson, on the west side of New York City, is a 

 piece of condemned land awaitino- improvement, ironically called 

 DeWitt Park. The most vivid imagination could not have con- 

 ceived a more desolate spot than this was in the summer of 1902. 

 Approached from the east tlirough filthy streets, crowded vvith 

 noisy, dirty urchins, it loomed up a dark blot on the beautiful 

 background of cool river, green hills and blue sky. Rows of 

 tumble-down houses, disused carts, piles of rubbish, stones, rags 

 and litter, among which the children played, made even the 

 streets seem neat and orderly by comparison. 



In the centre of this plot of ground it was evident that some- 

 thing- of more than ordinary importance was occurring. The air 

 was black with flying missiles, while excited groups of children 

 ran hither and thither. To all enquiries came the reply, " We are 

 getting ready for our farm." The idea of a farm in that unfavor- 

 able spot might have made the inquirer slightly skeptical, but had 

 he stayed to see, the changes wrought were little short of mar- 

 vellous, The children's ready hands, assisted by older brothers 

 and sisters, and by workmen from the Park Department of Man- 

 hattan, accomplished wonders. Stones and rubbish vanished, the 

 hard earth yielded to the plow and harrow. Load after load of 

 rich loam was bought. A fence enclosed the selected space. 

 Walks were laid out, and plots marked, and after days of earnest 

 work the " farm" was ready to receive the seed. 



Twenty-five children filed in at the gate and received a prac- 

 tical lesson in planting from the gardener. Teachers meanwhile 

 registered names and properly tagged each "farmer." These 

 tags, upon each of which the name oi the child and the number 

 of the plot assig-ned were registered, were certificates of owner- 

 ship to be presented at the gate as a pass to enter. The lesson 

 over, the children marched to their respective plots and planted 

 the seeds given to them as they had been shown how to do by the 



