VEGETABLE GARDENS 39 



school recreation and training is increasing, it is hoped that 

 this little manual may be found of value as a concise and 

 practical guide in such work. For this reason, brief sugges- 

 tions for the planning of the school garden are here given. 



When the area available for the school garden is of 

 sufficient size, the ground should be prepared by the use of 

 teams. A good dressing of rotted manure should be ploughed 

 under and this followed by thorough discing. A dressing 

 of a high grade, complete chemical fertilizer is desirable. 

 After discing the ground, the surface should be gotten into 

 condition with the smoothing harrow. If the use of teams 

 is not possible, the ground may be spaded and raked by hand. 



Plots. The individual plots should be laid off by the 

 use of stakes and a cord to surround each plot and the rows 

 should be laid off to run across the whole row of plots, that 

 the row spacing may be uniform. The plots should be 

 numbered. The size of the plots is often determined by 

 the area available for the class. The size of the plots may 

 be determined by the age or previous experience of the 

 students. The plots vary from six by six feet for the smaller 

 children up to as large as one hundred feet long and six to 

 eight feet wide for the older, or more experienced students. 

 Six feet wide is the most desirable width for the school 

 garden; plots wider than this are hard to work without 

 walking on them. The center of a six foot plot can easily 

 be reached from each side. A path eighteen to twenty- 

 four inches wide should be left between the plots. This 

 gives sufficient space in which to work and provides space 

 into which trash and weeds may be dumped, later to be 

 hauled away. 



It is desirable that the plots be laid out so that the rows 

 may run north and south rather than east and west. A 

 north and south row assures for each row an equal amount 



