90 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [14:3— Mar., 1918 



avoid over-reaching the limits of his garden which would mean an 

 encroachment on the public highway. Trespassing is considered 

 a violation of the law, To understand fully what is meant by 

 trespassing, the municipal or city ordinance concerning the penalty 

 of trespassing are studied. In this way the children are brought 

 into contact with civic law. 



A sense of responsibility for the success of his work is stimulated 

 in each worker. He is able to put a value on himself and on his 

 work; to recognize the relation of cause and effect, that as a 

 gardener hoes and plants, and weeds, so will he reap. Thrift 

 and responsibility are further emphasized in the care of garden 

 implements. Spades, hoes and rakes not carefully cleaned will 

 rust thus causing loss of time and an unnecessary expenditure of 

 energy in getting them back into working condition. One experi- 

 ence is sufficient to teach a thrifty girl of boy the handicap and 

 actual loss of time resulting from careless handling or neglect of 

 his tools. While it may be sometimes necessary to share tools 

 with a neighbor, the borrower should feel responsible for returning 

 them promptly and in good condition as soon as he is through with 

 them. 



Again, gardening tends to promote the right attitude toward 

 work in general. The children work side by side not merely to 

 learn to hoe, to rake, or to pull weeds but to hoe, rake or pull weeds 

 as a necessary means to grow strong healthy plants that will 

 produce profitable results; results that are tangible and easily 

 recognized in the profusion of color and abundant fruitfulness. 



This out-of-door exercise and close contact it brings with the 

 physical forces of the earth develops strong, healthy-minded boys 

 and girls which is the first requisite to good citizenship. 



However, gardening should not be regarded as simply a part 

 of the school routine; as something the child is obligated to do to 

 make a grade. It should be carried on as a business undertaking. 

 To do this, it is necessary to make a study of the methods of 

 renting practiced in the community in which the work is being 

 done. In the case of our own school, the ground and implements 

 are furnished by the school. The child furnishes the labor and 

 seeds, which can be secured free of charge by writing to the 

 Department of Agriculture, and receives one-half of the produce, 

 the other half, or its equivalent, going to the school fund for the 

 purchase of new garden equipment. 





