AMONG SCHOOL GARDENS 



acre. The land will be ploughed and harrowed 

 for the boys and we expect most of it to be put 

 into corn. . . . We are about to extend our 

 garden work now to our farm which heretofore 

 has been leased, and in the next few years hope 

 to have as successful practical work in agricul- 

 ture and horticulture as is found anywhere in 

 our country."* 



Beginning in the spring of the first year, seeds 

 are planted in egg shells to take home or to 

 transplant into the school garden. Seeds of 

 the four-o'clock, the nasturtium, radish, lettuce, 

 and beans, are planted by these little children. 

 Smaller and fmer seeds, more varied plants and 

 more comprehensive work are subjects taken up as 

 the child advances. In the third grade there are 

 simple exercises in germination and plant growth, 

 in the comparison and selection of seed. This 

 grade does some work with simple cuttings, 

 while a more extended study of them is deferred 

 to the seventh. The work each spring is in 

 large measure a preparation for that of the fall, 

 as in slightly less degree the fall work is a prepa- 

 ration for the spring. The gathering of seeds, 

 their storing, and some of the winter work in the 

 greenhouse where the children pot, plant seed- 

 lings, and, as they are old enough, learn the pro- 

 cess of budding and grafting, are of especial 

 value. 



The children of the fourth grade study bulbs, 



♦Letter of President David Felmley, January 31, iQio. 

 246 



