66 NATURE STUDY REVIEW (10:2— Feb., 1914 



They had an unsteady gate at the front. The ground was laid 

 out in beds, two for each room. These beds were built rather 

 higher than the paths which crossed each other at right angles. 

 The built-up beds were perhaps not very suitable; for such sandy 

 soil, but all that was done before my arrival on the scene. Early 

 in the Spring, as a part of the school work, the children of each 

 room had planted their seeds, and by June they had a plentiful 

 supply of flowers and vegetables. 



During the last two weeks in June the principal and two of the 

 eighth grade teachers had me meet all the children who wished to 

 help in the garden during the simimer. We had about one 

 hundred pupils from the upper grades, who were willing to help. 

 We divided them into six groups, one for each day. We put more 

 in each group than we wanted because we knew that some would 

 fail to come. We arranged to have the Monday group come on 

 Tuesday the next week, — et cetera, for we did not wish to interfere 

 every week with special duties which some of the children might 

 have on certain days. The plan was to have the children come at 

 eight o'clock in the morning and to work in the garden for one 

 hour; but, as it transpired, they seldom left before ten or half past 

 ten. Coming at eight, they would not be tired out when they 

 airived, nor their day be badly broken up, and they would not 

 have to work in the sun during the hottest hours. 



The first week I spent in getting acquainted with the children 

 and the garden. At this time I planned to keep an honor roll of 

 those who came most often to the garden. This plan was very- 

 successful. At the end of the vacation we had on our roll thirty 

 children who had come once every week. Many of the children 

 came two or three times a week. One little girl who was away two 

 weeks of the summer came to the garden twenty-three times. 

 We always had more girls than boys. 



The first week when fifteen or sixteen children came every day 

 we gave the garden a very thorough weeding. Two children 

 weeded a bed together, and each pair wanted to have the best 

 looking bed. Every little weeder had his own basket to put the 

 weeds in. This arrangement saved the extra labor of raking the 

 weeds up afterward. 



At first the water question was troublesome. We had a good 

 long hose but all the children wanted to use it at the same time 

 or on the same morning, and as a result the garden was benefitted 



