GAKDEN MAKING 147 



PRACTICAL EXERCISES 



1. Carefully measure the school garden and make a plan of it, drawn 

 to a scale of ^ or | inch to the foot. Neatly label all sections. 



2. How many acres .in the school garden ? If less than one, estimate 

 the fraction of an acre. What fraction of an acre is your own part of 

 the school garden? 



3. Make a plan, drawn to scale, of an average lot in your town. 

 Allow space for house and lawns and indicate the place in the garden 

 which each vegetable is to occupy. 



4. Write to the nearest seedsman for a seed catalogue, which may 

 be had free, and make a list of the vegetables named in your plan; with 

 an estimate of the quantity of seed needed for planting the garden. 



5. Make out an order for these seeds, with the quantities and prices, 

 and file with your teacher. 



6. Write to your representative in Congress for sufficient seeds to 

 plant your own garden. 



7. Get a packet of any large seeds (radishes, beans, or corn will do) 

 and divide it into (a) full shapely seeds, (ft) irregular and small seeds, 

 and (c) broken seeds, weed seeds, and dirt. What percentage of the packet 

 is good seeds ? 



8. Make a seed tester and test twenty large seeds and twenty small 

 ones for vitality. What per cent of each germinated ? Which do you 

 conclude would be best to plant ? 



9. Plant your own part of the school garden and cultivate it after 

 every rain. 



10. Try covering half a row of planted seeds with a light mulch. 

 How does this affect the germination of the seeds ? Compare with the 

 part of the row left uncovered. 



11. Transplant lettuce, beets, cabbage, or other plants to your garden. 



12. Select a row of young seedlings planted rather thickly, and thin 

 out half the row to the proper distances between plants and allow the 

 other to go untouched. What effect has crowding ? 



13. Fertilize half a row of spinach, lettuce, or radishes with nitrate 

 of soda, making two" applications about a week or ten days apart. How 

 does the subsequent growth compare with the untreated plants ? 



14. Plant the seeds of desirable trees and shrubs in the school garden 

 where they may grow into good specimens for use on Arbor Day. If 

 there are small specimens already growing for this purpose, transplant 



