210 



THE IRRIGATION AGE. 



TEACHING CITY CHILDREN TO IRRIGATE LAND 



By MORRIS W. RATHBUN 



Girls caring for one of the flower gardens which adorn the the front 

 of Los Angeles schools. This photograph was made in February, 1915. 



WHILE many of the larger cities of the country are 

 experimenting with agricultural courses in the 

 public schools, in response to the "back to the farm" 

 cry, in only a few instances is the work assuming form 

 sufficiently practical to be of economic value. The im- 

 portance of instructing children especially city chil- 

 dren in tilling the soil is becoming more apparent all 

 the time. If the present cost of food stuffs is to be 

 maintained it may 

 be expedient to use 

 all of the available 

 ground in and about 

 the cities. Knowl- 

 edge in addition to 

 labor is necessary in 

 making soil revenue 

 yielding, especially 

 in those sections of 

 the country where 

 the rainfall is con- 

 fined to certain sea- 

 sons of the year. 



The agricultural 

 department of the 

 Los Angeles city 

 schools was among 

 the first to realize 

 that the school gar- 

 den movement could 

 be extended to the 

 home gardens and 

 that these in turn 

 could be made an 

 economic factor 

 liable to assume 

 greater importance 

 as it was more fully 

 developed. 



Although the 

 school gardening 

 was well systema- 

 tized in 1912 it was 

 not until last fall 

 that any decided im- 

 petus was given to 

 the work, this being 

 brought about 

 through the activi- 

 ties of a general 

 committee organized 

 for the purpose of beautifying the city and county and 

 entertaining conventions during California expositions, 

 year. In the appropriation made by the county of 

 funds for this work, provision was made for seven- 

 teen thousand five hundred dollars in prizes for the 

 children and schools for the best efforts at beautifica- 

 tion. Of this amount more than twelve thousand was 

 for distribution as prizes among the individual young 

 gardeners for work done at their homes. 



The awards will not be made until next fall, but 

 results of the general school and home beautification 

 has progressed far enough for some definite results 

 to be apparent. 



yards 



This school garden, located in the industrial district of Los Angeles, furnished 

 vegetables for the Christmas dinners ot the young gardeners and other children. 

 The photo was taken in December, 1914. 



There are ninety-five schools in which garden work 

 is taught, the classes numbering nearly twelve thou- 

 sand pupils of the elementary grades. Sixty teachers 

 and four expert agricultural supervisors are engaged 

 in the work and co-operating with them are ninety-nine 

 parent-teacher associations, practically all in the city. 

 Nearly ten thousand of the pupils have entered their 

 home gardens in the prize contest in which the indi- 

 vidual rewards range 

 from five to thirty- 

 five dollars. 



In addition to 

 the school gardens 

 proper the children 

 have taken part in 

 creating twenty-six 

 school lawns, which 

 work, as those fami- 

 liar with semi-arid 

 countries are aware, 

 requires care and 

 skill, and parking has 

 been done in forty- 

 eight school grounds. 

 Seventy - six vacant 

 city lots are being 

 utilized b y school 

 children for garden 

 plots, the owners be- 

 ing glad to have the 

 ground devoted to 

 this purpose without 

 charge. 



The p r a ct i c a 1 

 side of the work is 

 emphasized by the 

 use of thirty lath 

 houses, forty - three 

 cold frames and 

 seven hot beds, most 

 of which were con- 

 structed by the little 

 gardeners and in 

 some instances paid 

 for by them from 

 the proceeds of their 

 work. 



While the idea 

 of the General Com- 

 mittee primarily was 

 to improve the appearance of the city through home 

 and school flower beds, the movement has progressed 

 much further than that. What was sought in this line 

 was accomplished while thousands of dollars worth of 

 garden truck from home gardens is being consumed 

 by families to whom the cost of living ever presents a 

 serious problem. 



Not the least and probably the most permanent 

 benefit is in the training received by the future citizens. 

 Of necessity the time devoted to actual instruction is 

 limited, the average being about an hour each week, 

 but the cultivation in the home gardens requires con- 

 siderable time and energy which, for the most part is 



