130 



CHILDREN'S GARDENS 



Theoretical Talks. 



Leaves The plants' stomach, 

 lungs, and general laboratory. 

 Color and how affected by light. 

 Wilting, etc 



Water in growing plants and where 

 it got in, and where it goes out. 

 How much needed. What else 

 plant gets from soil. How much 

 per cent. What plant gets from 

 air. How much per cent. Pro- 

 portion of plant which came 

 from each. Earth, air and water. 



Beans and peas Watching for 

 the blossoms. Watching for the 

 pods. Discovery of the nodules 

 on the roots. Story of the nod- 

 ules 



Air What it is. Mixture of 

 gases. Names of the gases 



Carbon Dioxid Where it conies 

 from. Use to plants 



Oxygen and Nitrogen Organic 

 impurities in air. How rain 

 washes the air. How we pro- 

 tect ourselves from wind and why. 

 Importance of air to animals and 

 plants 



Water What it is. No pure wa- 

 ter in nature. All mineral food 

 of plants must be dissolved and 

 carried in by water. Impurities 

 of water, minerals, bacteria. De- 

 caying organic matter (dead ani- 

 mals and vegetables). Importance 

 of water to animals and plants. 

 How plants keep cool on hot days. 



Sunlight Color shown by prism. 

 Purifying power of sunlight. 

 How sunlight affects health 



Practical Work. 



The information gained in these 

 talks was fixed by observation in 

 the daily garden work, and by 

 simple experiments. 



Names of parts. 



Making wind breaks and shelters. 



Cultivating to get air into soil. 

 Thinning plants to get more air. 



Watering the garden. Saving 

 moisture by mulching. Ditching 

 and raising plots to carry off 

 water. Irrigating the garden. 

 Weeding to save water. 



Using a burning glass. Bleaching 

 clothes by sunlight. Bleaching 

 plants by darkness. 



