GARDENING 181 



The place for the school garden should be handy to the 

 school but not necessarily on the land owned by the school. 

 Do not let its location interfere with the school play-ground. 

 See the location in Figs. 97 and 101. 



The garden need not be very large, but let the size be 

 whatever is available and make the best use of it. 



Equipment and Seeds. — Under most circumstances a 

 fence will be required. A neat woven wire fence will keep 

 out chickens and dogs as well as larger animals. 



The school need not own the plow and horse tools. The 

 horse work will be done by volunteers or by those paid for 

 doing it. The school may own several good hand rakes and 

 dibbers, a few hoes, a few spades, lines and stakes for marking 

 the rows, and some sprinklers for watering. Seeds may be 

 purchased in small packages, and schools may also get seeds 

 for school gardening by writing to the Bureau of Plant 

 Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, Wash- 

 ington, D. C. 



Exercise. — Making a Hot-bed. — Allow the larger boys 

 to make a hot-bed according to directions in this chapter. 

 (See Fig. 98.) Probably most of the materials may be 

 brought by students. Two small sashes may be held together 

 by two strips of wood along the edges. When it is all made, 

 put in the manure and soil, and when the bed has become 

 warm plant lettuce and radish seeds. It is well to keep a 

 thermometer inside as a guide in governing the temperature. 



What to Plant. — One plan to follow in the spring work 

 in the school garden is to plant such crops as will give results 

 before school closes for the vacation (Fig. 102). 



Some of the quickest crops for spring use are lettuce, 

 radish, early peas, onion sets, spinach, early carrots, and in 

 some cases there might be time to grow very early potatoes. 



The plants that could be left growing in the school 

 garden through the summer vacation would be late potatoes, 

 tomatoes, squashes, egg-plants, late beans, late cabbages, 



