Interest the CKildren in Horticulture 



THE feeling is unanimous that chil- 

 dren interested in horticulture play 

 an important part in both home 

 and civic improvement. The work of 

 horticultural societies in various towns 

 and cities in Ontario has demonstrated 

 the value of getting the children en- 

 thusiastic. Societies that have under- 

 taken this work are so pleased with the 

 results that they pronounce it a line of 

 work well worth continuing. This was 

 evidenced at the recent convention of 

 the Ontario Horticultural Exhibition 

 held in Toronto, Nov. 9, when an inter- 

 esting discussion on the subject took 

 place. 



The discussion was led by Mr. J. 

 Thos. Murphy, secretary of the Simcoe 

 Horticultural Society, Simcoe, Ont., 

 who said in part : ' ' The main thought 

 that we have in interesting school chil- 

 dren in horticulture is to improve the 

 appearance of our town by beautifying 

 it with lawns and gardens. The course 

 we pursue is to buy qi:antities of seeds 

 and give them to the school teachers of 

 the public school, who re-distribute 

 them to the pupils. We buy the best 

 seeds that can be procured from the 

 best growers. The first year we spent 

 only $5 for seeds, but that was sufficient 

 to enable us to hold a little exhibition 

 in a building near the schoolhouse. In 

 the afternoon the flowers were placed 

 and judged while the children were in 

 school. By the time school was out, 

 the exhibition was ready for inspection 

 by the children. In the evening, the 

 band furnished music and the public 

 turned out to see the show. 



"Last year, 1905, the amount paid 

 for seeds was increased as we were en- 

 couraged to continue the work. The 

 children took an interest in it. Many 

 little tots became as anxious about their 

 productions as old growers that exhibit 

 at the fairs of the horticultural society. 

 We gave about $10 worth of seeds. 

 The previous year's program for judg- 

 ing and amusement was followed except 

 that a plate was placed at the door for 

 contributions from the public. From 

 this latter source, $15.75 was realized. 

 After paying the expenses of the fair, 

 which amounted to only $5.75, we got 

 back the $10 that originally was paid 

 for the seeds. In white asters, there 

 were 21 entries in the junior division; 

 in blue or purple, 23; and in mixed 

 colors, 20. In the class for nastur- 

 tiums there were 21 entries. The total 

 entries in all the classes by school chil- 

 dren amounted to nearly 500. The dis- 

 play was a creditable one, 



"This year we suffered from drought 

 for six weeks or more. The exhibition 

 was not as good as the one last year, 

 but there were quite a large number of 

 entries. They totalled about 400. The 



children are interested more than ever. 

 We again realized $15 at the door by 

 contributions. 



"Interesting children in horticulture 

 in our town is creating a wholesome 

 rivalry among them; it is stimulating 

 a desire to produce plants and flowers 

 a little better than their neighbors. We 

 find also that the gardens in town are 

 improving in appearance, particularly 

 the lawns and grounds in front of the 

 dwellings. During the past two years 

 the appearance of the town in general 

 has been improved." 



THE WORK IN OTTAWA 



In a brief talk on the character of the 

 work in Ottawa, Mr. R. B. Whyte said: 

 "There is no doubt about the value of 

 the work. It has a marked influence 

 on the appearance of a town or cit}'. 

 To get results in civic and home im- 

 provement, we must first reach the in- 

 dividual. We cannot do better than to 

 begin with the young child. If you can 

 get a boy or girl really interested in 

 growing flowers, you are doing him or 

 her a great benefit. There is nothing 

 that tends more to keep a boy or girl 

 out of mischief, out of bad habits and 

 bad company, than the care of a garden 

 of his own and one in which an interest 

 is taken. With that object in view, I 

 began four years ago, through our 

 horticultural society, to distribute seed 

 to a limited number of school children. 

 In a large city, like Ottawa, it is prac- 

 tically impossible financially to give 

 seeds to all the children in the schools. 

 Besides; there are many children who 

 have not the facilities with which to 

 care for and grow them. 



"The first year I started with aster 

 seeds. My method was to give three 

 packages of aster seeds, white, pink and 

 mixed, to 10 children in each class of 

 14 schools in the city. The teacher had 

 the privilege of choosing those who 

 were to get the seeds. To each teacher 

 I gave an order on a seedsman that I 

 had selected to supply the seeds. I 

 gave them, also, 10 orders to be given 

 to the children most likely to carry out 

 the purpose of the distribution. With 

 each order I gave three entry tickets, 

 numbered, with instructions that they 

 should be attached to the exhibit. 

 The teachers supplied me with a record 

 of the names of those who got tickets 

 and what they were for. 



"For the purpose of instructing the 

 children in the best way to grow the 

 flowers, I printed a- little bulletin and 

 I made it as simple as possible. My 

 intention, also, was to visit all the 

 children during the summer and see 

 how they were getting on, and to help 

 them with what advice I could. I 

 managed ■to'^visit a number of them. 



In spite of the instructions given, many 

 of them covered the seeds too deeply. 

 When exhibition time came, only 40% 

 of the children who received seeds were 

 able to make entries. ^The qualitj' of 

 the flowers shown was excellent. In 

 every respect, they were equal to and, 

 in many cases, superior to those grown 

 by our regular exhibitors. 



"The second year sweet peas were 

 distributed instead of asters, as they 

 are easier to grow. The change was 

 gratifying. While only the same per- 

 centage of children exhibited, the show 

 was a pretty one. The results of that 

 year's work showed that there were 

 many children disappointed because, 

 having no gardens, they were not in a 

 position to grow flowers. 



"The next year a division was made. 

 Ten children got poppy seeds (seeds that 

 I grew myself) and a like number were 

 given geranium plants. The plants 

 were distributed in four-inch pots, most 

 of them in bloom and of the same 

 variety. Prizes were offered for these 

 at the vSeptember show. About the 

 same proportion of children succeeded 

 with the geraniums as with the seeds. 



"During the fourth year, 1906, Phlox 

 Drummondii and begonias were grown. 

 The seed was divided in two divisions. 

 The proportion of children who were 

 successful remained about the same as 

 in past years. 



"One of the difficulties that face a 

 city organization of this kind in encour- 

 aging school work, is the fact that the 

 holidays interfere. A large percentage 

 of the children who attend school leave 

 the city for six or eight weeks in the 

 summer time. It is difficult to get 

 more than 30% or 40% to complete the 

 experiment. Our success, however, has 

 been gratifying both to Mayor Ellis and 

 myself, who have carried it on for the 

 past two years at our expense. Fine 

 plants were shown at the exhibition. 

 The flowers have been equal to those 

 shown by more experienced exhibitors. 



"Every year I issued a bulletin. It 

 is no use giving seeds without instruc- 

 tions. Verbal instructions practically 

 are of no use. A printed bulletin is 

 necessary. It should tell how to sow 

 the seeds and grow the plants, how to 

 prepare them for exhibition and other in- 

 formation necessary to the child's success. 



"A valuable feature of our work has 

 been the giving of a number of gladiolus 

 bulbs in addition to the money prizes, 

 which never were very large. The high--^ 

 est money prize was $1.50, and the low- 

 est 25 cents. Each exhibitor that won 

 a first prize this year got 60 bulbs ; each 

 second, 50; each third, 40; and so on, 

 down. 



"Two years ago, I gave bulbs for the 

 first time. I offered prizes for flowers 



