goldsmith] HOME GARDENS 23 



more than glad of the opportunity to purchase any supplies not 

 I used by the immediate family. 



It is an unusual child that does not like to help, and this work 

 affords a splendid chance for the boy or girl to be of real use in 

 a family where every contribution counts for much. If well 

 planned even a small plot may be made to yield a very essential 

 and wholesome part of the table supplies, and the young farmer 

 learns many a good lesson in co-operation besides increasing 

 his own self-respect. Along with this is developed a real appre- 

 ciation of the value of labor and the much needed lesson of a right 

 use of time. It is in such a family as this that special attention 

 should be given to making the garden not only pay for itself, 

 but also yield a profit. Otherwise the child will feel that he is a 

 hindrance instead of a help, and will turn to some more lucrative, 

 even if less desirable occupation. It is just here that the schools 

 should prove their efficiency and give the pupil the necessary 

 information, direction and even supervision. 



One of the most interesting gardens is that which we may call 

 the experimental type. Monotony is dulling in all things, and in 

 our garden work added zest may be given by trying some one new 

 thing each year. We thus have the pleasure of satisfying the vari- 

 ous family tastes, of learning different kinds of crop management 

 and, by no means least, what is best suited for our land. If only 

 a single crop is raised, a part may be set aside in which to try a 

 new fertilizer, a different insecticide, or a new method of cultiva- 

 tion. The boys and girls who belong to the potato or corn clubs 

 might find this a particularly helpful and interesting kind of 

 work. 



For the child who has no need of the garden conducted for 

 financial reasons there is pure delight and much fine aesthetic 

 training to be derived from a flower garden. No one thing adds 

 more to the general appearance of a house than its approach and 

 immediate surroundings, and here again the children may co- 

 operate by having a single bed or two of flowers for which they are 

 entirely responsible; or, if the area is small, even the entire garden 

 may be given to them. The fundamental principles of design, 

 color, proportion and fitness to situation may serve not only in 

 gardening itself, but in other work of the home or school. Color 

 alone, of which the children are so fond, affords a field for con- 



