DOUGAX] THE SCHOOL GARDEN 67 



number than would otherwise be practicable and avoid the waste 

 and confusion which would result if the forty per cent who do 

 not understand English very well were to be given individual 

 gardens. The spring thus automatically ended on June 15th 

 may be said to open April 3rd, the average date of our last kill- 

 ing frost, leaving us a growing season of approximately ten 

 weeks. Some early springs, like that of 1911, may lengthen the 

 season by a fortnight or more, and some backward ones, like 

 that of 1913, may shorten it by an equal period; but both these 

 seasons were exceptional and we may reckon three-score days 

 and ten as our allotted time for spring gardening. Within this 

 period, we can safely bring to table stage, peas, string beans, 

 lettuce, beets, onions from sets, radishes and turnips. Last 

 year our beets and turnips were not sufficiently mature at the 

 close of the season, but we shall find a way to hasten their 

 growth during another such season by improving the condition 

 of the soil or by the use of a hot bed for starting the plants. 

 Meanwhile, we shall further experiment with varieties. 



With the gathering of the above crops, the boys spade the 

 ground and plant it in sweet corn and pumpkins. These are 

 cared for during the summer by volunteer boys and the gardener 

 in charge of the grounds. Corn is so well suited to our soil 

 and summer heat that it is easily grown if sufficiently watered. 

 In case of drouth following planting, city water is used for 

 starting the crop. At the last hoeing, turnips are sown wherever 

 the corn has failed. On the opening of school in September the 

 corn is nearly ready for picking and later in the month the 

 pupils have green corn to take home, besides some problems in 

 arithmetic and botany. Our first killing frost does not occur on 

 the average until October 27th, and never, according to the rec- 

 ords, before September 30th, so that we have ample time for 

 growing corn after June 15th. We are, also, practically sure of 

 time to ripen our Thanksgiving pie material, but the tender vines 

 are sure indicators of the advent of the first serious frost. The 

 pumpkins we allow to remain till the ground freezes somewhat — 

 generally about December 1st — and then the garden is spaded 

 for the winter's freezing. 



Out of three years' experience, we find the long summer 

 vacation is a smaller obstacle than it seems in the way of school 

 gardening. As a stimulus to the study of specific conditions it 

 is a help. It forces us to a study of the time required by different 

 plants and different varieties to reach a given stage; it makes 

 us put our ground in better condition for seed germination in 



