AMONG SCHOOL GARDENS 



Of school gardens which exert by far the greater 

 part of their influence during the summer there 

 are (i) those that belong to the vacation school;* 



(2) those that emphasize that phase of agricul- 

 tural training known as truck gardening; and 



(3) those that serve a sociological rather than 

 an educational purpose. They are actually social 

 centers for the children, though they may or may 

 not be centers from which radiate such activi- 

 ties as properly constitute a social settlement. 

 They may offer no more than the opportunity to 

 cultivate a few flowers and vegetables together 

 with directions for the use of insecticidesf to a 

 group of children that it is desired to benefit by 

 wholesome occupation. They may be conducted 

 for every possible attraction that will enable them 

 to hold and to mould children; to give the latter 

 happy hours and cultivate their hearts and minds 

 while training their hands to useful toil. Some 

 vacation gardens hold the child's interest in grow- 

 ing things throughout the fall and winter, by 

 indoor study of nature, and by work among 

 plants in a greenhouse or under sash. Further, 

 such gardens sometimes supplement this work by 

 courses in manual training preparatory in part to 



* School gardens belonging to summer students of normal schools 

 or universities are a class by themselves, — often hybrids. They are 

 wholly in the hands of adults or they are children's gardens receiving 

 summer care; or, if children are connected with them, they are 

 pupils from a vacation school or, more frequently, volunteers from 

 among the school children of the vicinity. 



t See Appendix A, Note 16. 



222 



