The Growing of Plants 91 



edge he has of farming methods the more these 

 vacations will mean. It is not necessary, and 

 perhaps not even important, that the child be 

 taught these subjects with the purpose of mak- 

 ing him a farmer, but rather as a means of 

 education and of interest to him in the out-of- 

 doors. 



There must be a greater interest in parks 

 and public gardens. These institutions have 

 now come to be a part of our civic life. They 

 no longer need apology. We build parks in 

 the same spirit that we build good streets and 

 make sanitary improvements; but the park 

 should be more than a mere display of garden- 

 ing. It should have an intimate relation with 

 the lives of the people. All parks should be 

 open to nature-study teachers, at least on cer- 

 tain days. There should also be children's 

 days in the parks. In some places the park may 

 grow specimens for the school. In large cities 

 some of the common vegetables and farm crops 

 may be grown in small areas at one side of the 

 park. The tendency, perhaps, is to make our 

 parks too exotic, and to give relatively too 



