Communications should be sent to 



C. A. STEBBINS, Editor 



Agricultural Education Division 



GARDEN NOTES 



We visited the Emerson school gar- 

 dens lately. Mr. Vergon, the pricipal, 

 lias an acre of ground in vegetables 

 and flowers. Later we will tell you 

 what is taken from the plots. The 

 children have corn about eight feet 

 high, pole beans nearly 20 feet high 

 and other plants in proportion. 



Some of the children in the Franklin 

 school of Berkeley are going to start 

 gardens at their school. 



The children of the Le Conte school, 

 Mr. Imrie principal, have an excellent 

 set of gardens. 



* * * 



Garden City and agricultural clubs 

 have been formed at Niles, Decoto, San 

 Leandro, the Washington and Frank- 

 lin schools of Oakland, the Whittier 

 school of Berkeley, the Social Settle- 

 ment of San Francisco, and at other 

 places which have not as yet reported. 

 It might be a good plan to have each 

 school a part of one big republic made 

 up of gardening citizens from different 

 schools with a governor and other 

 officers of the republic. However, 

 organize your own garden city first. 



The following officers were elected 

 to govern the Berkeley Garden City: 

 Mayor, Juhl Gerdts; commissioner of 

 streets, Albert Becker. 



Later, as the gardens commence to 

 produce, a market will be established 

 at which flowers and vegetables will 

 be sold. This will be followed by a 

 bank which will be established on the 

 grounds. Officers will be chosen from 

 the citizens. We confidently expect to 

 make $500 the first year from garden 

 sales. It will be no small task to keep 

 the books, but we are sure the officers 

 can do it. Ninety per cent of the sales 

 goes to the citizens and 10 per cent to 

 the bank. This money will be used to 

 buy more tools, seeds, etc. 



We need a toolhouse with room for 

 a council chamber and the bank very 

 badly. W T hat can be done? See Mayor 

 Gerdt's suggestion. 



* * » 



The Berkeley gardeners are trying 

 out two irrigation plans: The "trench" 

 system and the "check" plan. Nearly 

 two acres of land are now under cul- 

 tivation. 



» * * 



Miss Sellander of the Franklin school 

 of Oakland could not find room for 

 gardens at school, so she has donated 

 her back yard. Could not find room, 

 yet there are many vacant lots near 

 the school overgrown with weeds, with 

 owners too stingy to give boys and 

 girls a good time. Read what Profes- 

 sor Babcock said about one helping the 

 other. When you grow up do not have 

 a vacant lot overgrown with weeds, but 

 use it or let some one else use it. You 

 will enjoy life in proportion to the 

 amount of enjoyment you give. 



* » * 



Tf you organize a club be sure and 

 tell us what seeds you want and for 

 how many children. Almost any vege- 



table may be planted now but beans, 

 tomatoes and potatoes. 



* * # 



The school garden may be impossible 

 for you, but the home garden is always 

 possible. Later we will show you the 

 pictures of some home gardens. We 

 are going to give banners to the schools 

 having the best gardens and banners 

 to the children having the best home 

 gardens. 



* * • 



Principal Vincent of the Niles school 

 has started agricultural work again 

 this term in the upper three grades. 

 Last term he had the best gardens in 

 the county of Alameda. 



Mr. Saunders, a student teacher of 

 the university, visits Decoto once a 

 week. Principal Runckel is giving his 

 support. The children of the sixth 

 grade are preparing their gardens. 



The children of the fourth grade at 

 San Leandro, with the assistance of 

 Mr. Walton, are arranging to not only 

 grow plants in their gardens, but are 

 going to beautifuy the school grounds. 

 You could do nothing more worth while 

 than to make your school home at- 

 tractive. So many children are poor 

 school housekeepers. Later the Junior 

 will offer suggestions for beautifying 

 the school yard. 



The Junior Call is helping you gar- 

 deners, and those that are not garden- 

 ing but will be, very much. Read it. 



Mr. Morse of the Morse Seed com- 

 pany of San Francisco is always giv- 

 ing you a lot of fun if you will accept 

 it. He has presented the club with 

 (lower and vegetable seeds. 



The following gardeners have re- 

 ceived the banners for first, second and 

 third best gardens during the last two 

 weeks: First banner, Frank Peterson, 

 twice; second banner, Helen Whitney; 

 twice; third banner, Margaret Gloor. 



Exterminating the Rose Aphis 



BLANCHE KERSEY, 



IiOM Angeles. Twentieth Street School. 



A Eighth Grade 



Our teacher, Mrs. Larkey, thought 

 perhaps the readers in the northern 

 part of the state would like to know 

 what we have been studying about in 

 agriculture. 



We have spent a good deal of time 

 learning about the plant foes and what 

 can be done to destroy them. I have 

 had quite a time trying to destroy the 

 rose aphis, which is found on nearly 

 all of our rose bushes. I have put 

 ashes on the bushes in the evening 

 and let the dew come down on them 

 to form a paste; then wash it off the 

 next day. This has helped some, but 

 not as much as the sprays. These in- 

 sects spread rapidly, as some of them 

 have wings, so they can fly to other 

 bushes. 



The scale is another thing we_have 

 a hard time to get rid of. We have 

 two orange and a lemon tree that were 

 almost covered with the red scale. We 

 destroyed a great deal of it by simply 

 washing the trees with soap and water. 

 We get much better fruit from them 

 now than we did before. 



