Some Criticisms of the Present Method in School 



Gardens* 



Vernon Lantis. 



(Instructor in School Gardening, Cincinnati, Ohio.) 



The School Garden Movement, though but recently introduced 

 into America, is making its presence felt because of what it is 

 accomplishing. In spite of what the movement is accomplishing, 

 however, and with the view to making it of still greater service, 

 I wish to offer a few criticisms on the School Gardens as they exist 

 today. 



The first criticism which I wish to make of the School Garden 

 movement is that only a few children are reached by the movement. 

 If the Garden work has a beneficial influence upon the average 

 child, as we know it has, it is not too much to say that every child 

 should have a chance to share the advantages of the Garden. 



During the past summer, I visited the School Gardens in 

 Cleveland, New York, Yonkers and Philadelphia. In the Fair- 

 view Garden School at Yonkers, New York, there were enrolled 

 about six hundred children. Mr. Mahoney, superintendent of the 

 Gardens, told me that three hundred more, nine hundred in all, 

 had applied for garden plots, but more than six hundred could not 

 be accommodated. According to Mr. Mahoney, the garden is 

 accessible to, and draws children from, about one-sixth of Yonkers. 

 The population of this portion of Yonkers is fourteen thousand 

 (14000). I did not see all the School Gardens in New York City, 

 but from what I saw and heard, I feel safe in saying that not more 

 than five thousand children have the advantages of the School 

 Gardens. The population of New York City is 4,800,000. It is 

 only a little problem in percentage to find, that of all the children 

 in New York City, who, if they knew of the Garden, would be 

 clamoring for a place in them, only 1.6 per cent really have access 

 to the same. The same condition is probably true for practically 

 every city in the country. Anyone can readily see, from the 

 facts in hand, that, where one child has the privilege of the School 

 Gardens, there are fifty children and perhaps many more who can 

 not have accfess to them. The Home Garden, which originated 

 in Cleveland, offers a remedy for this. 



*Portion of paper read before a meeting of the School Garden Association 

 of America at Cleveland, Dec. 31, 191 2. 



