76 NATURE STUDY REVIEW [8 :2— Feb., 1912 



should be supplied by Boards of Education as the equipment 

 for manual training, domestic science and art or any other recog- 

 nized branch of the school curriculum. 



Generally school-yard space is not available for school gar- 

 den purposes, but it is just as necessary and important as a 

 gymnasium or playground. The next best thing is a vacant lot 

 in the neighborhood. Before making a garden the lot must 

 be cleared of rubbish, plowed or spaded, laid out and seeded. 

 These operations are all eagerly and earnestly observed by the 

 neighbors who have been accustomed to see the lot overgrown 

 with weeds. During the summer they are learning the yielding 

 capacity of a small plot of ground. The following year small 

 w^ell-kept gardens may be observed in the whole neighborhood, 

 yielding quantities of good food, affording occupation in the open 

 air, eliminating idle gossip, and possibilities of disease. The 

 school gardens become radiating centers for Civic improvement, 

 and, established in all sections of the community, may be made 

 of great influence. 



The working out of a school garden problem in a city of 

 over half a million is not easy and our results must speak for 

 their establishment. 



A Department of School Gardens under the direction of a 

 Curator of School Gardens was unique in school history, and 

 Cleveland was the first to make the experiment. The duties of 

 the Curator are to supervise the school gardens, give lectures 

 in the schools, inspect flower shows, arrange for the Autumn 

 Festivals and improve all school grounds. We have school gar- 

 dens for normal children, backward and defective children, blind 

 children, crippled and tubercular children, boys in the Deten- 

 tion School for Juvenile Court, a kitchen garden for the Do- 

 mestic Science Class and a botanic garden. 



There are one hundred and seven schools with yards vary- 

 ing from one to five acres. Sixty illustrated lectures were given 

 in the schools last winter by the Curator of School Gardens, giv- 

 ing the children specific directions for preparation of soil, fer- 

 tilizers, planning, planting, succession of crops and blooming, 

 life histories of injurious insects, habits of birds that keep them 

 in check, common weeds, etc. 



If such work could be inaugurated in every city, town and 

 village, a wave of civic betterment and mental and moral up- 

 lift would sweep over the country which would be of tremendous 

 economic and social influence. 



