SUGGESTIONS FOR THE TEACHER 265 



sprinkle over a little of the soil taken out so that it is about 

 one third soil. Then on top, get, if possible, eight inches or 

 so of loamy soil. The pupils will be glad to help furnish the 

 latter, if it cannot be obtained otherwise. As the coarse 

 material below rots down it will form a good substance for 

 holding moisture during the dry summer weather. 



If there is a long border to be made into a garden, begin at 

 one end and go as far as you can easily the first season, 

 leaving the rest for another year. 



The making of such a border garden at school is the best 

 sort of an object lesson to the pupils as to the way the border 

 gardens at home are to be made. 



The Vegetable Garden 



That school is fortunate which is able to provide an out- 

 door vegetable garden near the schoolhouse for the use of 

 pupils, and these pages should prove a helpful guide in all 

 such cases. But the experience of an increasing number of 

 schools shows that a great deal may be done in the encour- 

 agement of home gardens by the pupils, in the numerous 

 cases of those schools which are not so situated that they can 

 have pupils' gardens near at hand. 



In most cases it is not desirable to lay too much stress upon 

 the selection of a particular site or soil for the home garden. 

 It is better to encourage pupils to make the most of the soil 

 they have. 



The garden is first to be plowed and harrowed, or spaded 

 and raked, to get it in the best possible condition. Fertiliz- 

 ing materials of any sort available should be worked in before 

 or after turning over. Each crop is then to be planted accord- 

 ing to the directions given in the text. 



