THE SCHOOL GARDEN * 271 



PROGRAMME : There is less confusion and fewer tools are 

 needed if the classes work at different hours or on different 

 days. A schedule of work should be arranged. Much of 

 the gardening can be done after school or on Saturdays. 



PLANTING TIME: Get the soil ready about the last of 

 April, and procure the seeds early, < -^,, 

 but do not be in a hurry about plant- 

 ing. In general, seeds should not be 

 planted till about apple blossom, or 

 corn planting time. Seeds for the fall 

 flowers and vegetables really need not 

 be planted till later. Unfortunately 

 school will close before the plants are 

 in flower or the vegetables large enough 

 to eat. Candytuft and sweet alyssum 

 possibly will be just beginning to flower, 

 and lettuce and radish to be avail- &* ..*...+ . 



FIG. 101. Plan of Individual 



able. For spring returns one will Garden where the ROWS 



have tO depend Upon bulbs, peren- have to Run East and West. 



nials, and flowering shrubs. It will be a great deal better to 

 plant for autumn returns in the school garden, unless the 

 work is to be continued as a vacation school. The usual 

 school garden will be the most useful for nature-study pur- 

 poses and look the prettiest in the fall. So do not be in a 

 hurry to plant, but wait till the frosts are well over. For 

 early results it is customary to use sweet peas, garden peas, 

 poppies, lettuce, radish, and onions as soon as the ground can 

 be worked, even before frosts are over. These are hardy. 

 Sweet peas planted late, however, will bloom longer in the 

 fall than those planted early, and these early ones will be in 

 flower by the time school closes for summer. Sometimes 





