SUMMER COLONIES FOR CITY PEOPLE 271 



to escort each child. The elders enjoy the gardens even more 

 than the circus. 



The arbor gardens of Berlin should not be mistaken for 

 the numerous "forest schools" (Waldschulen) in Germany. 

 These schools "in the woods "are for sickly children, both 

 physically crippled and mentally weak. The pupils have 

 their lessons in the open, and the teachers live, play, and 

 work with them ; long recesses separate the various lessons 

 and a two-hour nap in the middle of the day out in the 

 open is on the time-table of every one of these schools. 

 These special open-air schools for weaklings and defectives 

 are now found in many parts of Germany, notably in Char- 

 lottenburg, Strassburg, and the industrial regions of the 

 Rhineland. 



The example of Berlin has been followed in other German 

 cities, such as Munich, notably in Diisseldorf on the Rhine, 

 where the arbor gardens are called "Schreber gardens" in 

 honor of the man who promoted their establishment. There 

 is a large colony of such gardens along the Hans-Sachs 

 street, where Lima beans, peas, lettuce, cucumbers, potatoes, 

 and many other garden vegetables are raised ; even straw- 

 berries, raspberries, and fruit trees are found here. But the 

 city being more lavishly provided with parks and open 

 spaces than others of its size, the necessity for open-air life 

 has not made itself felt as forcibly as in Berlin. 



And think of the cleansing influence of all this. Light 

 and air and labor these are the medicines not of the body 

 only, but of the soul. It is not ponderable things alone that 

 are found in gardens, but the great wonder of life, the peace 

 of nature, the influences of sunsets and seasons and of all 

 the intangible things to which we can give no name, not be- 

 cause they are small, but because they are outside the com- 



