AMONG SCHOOL GARDENS 



the summer is passing and vacation will soon be 

 over. 



Then it is that teachers have anxious hours lest 

 the children's interest fail; then brother or sister, 

 cousin, friend or neighbor instead of the unpunc- 

 tual owner appears with the words, " Please where 

 is Benny's garden? I want to pick the stuff." 

 And further explanation of the absent one's non- 

 appearance follows which may or may not be 

 convincing. The stranger goes to work energeti- 

 cally with the surety of quick return for labor— 

 for is not the harvest at hand? He is probably 

 found doing exasperating and forbidden things, 

 and his lack of experience and skill has to be 

 guarded against. Moreover, why should he not 

 pick the vegetables first and make sure of his pay 

 for any amount of labor he may put upon the 

 little patch before the unusual effort in the sun 

 fags him? The other children have been trained 

 to the habit of first work, then pay, the cultiva- 

 tion of the plot and then its harvest, for that is the 

 rule of the garden that ensures systematized work, 

 easy supervision and an attractive appearance in 

 which all may take a pride as the result of their 

 joint labor. 



When the children's interest flags, a gala time 

 should be planned to break the usual routine and 

 to compete with the less profitable excitements 

 that are pulling the children away from "organ- 

 ized recreation," — as one garden calls its work. 

 But in those gala days the children should be 



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