D 



44 CHILDREN'S GARDENS 



cleats are nailed on the board to correspond with the 

 furrows in the child's plot as follows: The board is 

 four feet long, which is the width of the plot. One 

 cleat is nailed in the center, tw'o a foot on either side 



of the center, and 

 two more twenty 



inches o n either 

 Marking board, bottom view 



side of the center. 



Each cleat is fastened crosswise to the board with 

 three nails of suitable length. The cleats are whit- 

 tled, or planed, to 



an edge, either be- ^ v v \> \> ^U 



fore or after nail- Marking boardj side yiew 



ing. A couple of 



laths can be nailed to this board as handles, to keep 

 the user from the necessity of bending over. 



How to use a marking board. When the children's 

 plots are ready for planting and the surface raked fine 

 and level, a short time before the planting lesson is 

 given, an instructor, or one of the older children, takes 

 the marking board to each end of each plot and placing 

 it square across, with the central cleat right on the 

 middle line, steps on the board and presses the cleats 

 into the earth. This makes five marks at each end 

 to show just where the furrows are to be. 



Purpose of the marking board. By the use of this 

 marking board many plots can be marked rapidly and 

 exactly. At the time of planting these end marks 

 can be connected with a furrow drawn free hand the 



