CHILDREN'S GARDENS 



cent more rapidly in moral, mental and phys- 

 ical power than if they were confined strictly 

 to their school work. 



During the season of 1902 the first " Chil- 

 dren's School-Farm" in New York City occu- 

 pied a space one hundred and fourteen feet 

 by eighty-four feet on an unimproved area 

 on Fifty-third Street between Eleventh and 

 Twelfth avenues, which is destined to become a 

 part of the park system of Greater New York. 

 Although overlooking the Hudson River it was 

 an unpromising situation for a garden, having 

 been for years a dumping-ground and a storage- 

 place for trucks. It was necessary to import 

 good loam and as the season for planting was 

 late — July 27th — quick-growing seeds were se- 

 lected. Each "farmer" had a plot, three by 

 six feet, for which he was responsible and to 

 the products of which he was entitled. 



Twenty-five children worked at a time, under 

 careful supervision and direction. The gar- 

 deners detailed by the Park Department were 

 Swedes who had had experience in School Gar- 

 dens in their own country and who realized the 

 benefits of such training. 



The children were drawn from the densely 

 populated West Side, those who came first being 

 enrolled without distinction of age or sex. They 

 worked with interest, intelligence and enjoy- 



40 



