GARDENS AND THEIR 



MEANING' 



INTRODUCTION 



Train the children, each in its own little garden, to respect fruit trees, 

 honorable profit, industry, beauty and good order: it is the summary of all 

 Gospels to man. " New Letters of Thomas Carlyle." 



" Space to let with power." This sign advertises the re- 

 sources of a large machine shop. Space with power. What 

 words could better describe a garden ? The space is self- 

 evident. The power, they say, no man has ever fully meas- 

 ured. It is a wonderful combination of sun, rain, and the 

 invisible forces of the soil. This power is all ready to be 

 turned on. All it needs is men who are skillful enough to 

 guide it. 



Thus looked upon, a garden is a great fact. We realize, 

 however, that its importance does not depend upon its size. 

 Small plots may have great meaning. They not only vitally 

 affect the economies of a nation, but, rightly understood, they 

 give insight into the great movement of agriculture. At the 

 outset it is well to remind ourselves that agriculture is as truly 

 a social problem as a scientific one. That is to say, it involves 

 not only wheat and corn but human beings as well. In these 

 pages, therefore, we propose to study a very small garden, 

 which shall be carried on by very young people. 

 Carlyle hit it when he said that children could be trained 

 in their little gardens to respect fruit trees, honorable profit, 



