44 GARDENS AND THEIR MEANING 



of labor. The tasks in the garden had to be finished by sun- 

 set ; a dozen shrubs were waiting to be set out, and there was 

 much tidying up to do. The mercury stood in the eighties. 

 The patience of the class had almost reached the exhaustion 

 point, when this boy showed his mastery of spade and hoe. 

 The others hallooed to him from plot to plot. He came run- 

 ning in answer, giving here advice, there encouragement, and 

 to everybody some sort of lift. For once they were the children 

 and he was the man. It felt good ; his face, which habitually 

 expressed vacancy and despondency, now radiated happiness ; 

 through the joy of service he had found himself. This lad 

 could never have satisfactorily designed a vegetable garden ; 

 neither could he have correctly calculated the pounds of fer- 

 tilizer needed for the experiment beds. Measured by such 

 yardsticks he would probably always come short, but here 

 he measured generously; he was a perfect fit. It is good 

 for everybody sometimes to "just fit." 



The teacher's sympathies, once having stretched to com- 

 prehend touching revelations of human nature such as this, 

 can never contract again to precisely their former compass ; 

 and so he goes on enlarging through each new experience. 

 Who can wonder that a teacher longs to provide in school the 

 conditions under which such experiences are possible ? 



So far a special effort has been made to discuss the claims 

 of gardening, and its methods of promoting science and co- 

 operation, as viewed through the eyes of general education. 

 An important question will be that of extending the garden- 

 ing interests which have been aroused in school out into the 

 farming world. The word that modern agriculture has to say 

 to the boy or girl who is considering farming as a vocation or 

 as an avocation remains to be heard. This will be discussed in 

 a later chapter, The New Agriculture. The immediate question 

 is where to find available spots suitable for school gardens. 



