THE YOUNG FARMER'S ALMANAC 185 



spot of splendid promise into a breeding place for pests 

 and a tangle of weeds and old papers. It is an ugly sight ; 

 surely no school can afford to countenance such a perversion 

 of a good thing. 



A study of the summer problem, however, shows that while 

 young people are somewhat scattered during the holidays, it 

 is rather the exception when a family of children go away for 

 the whole vacation. Some are off for a fortnight and some 

 for not so long. Suppose the children to be urged on by a 

 purpose all their own, with a clear picture of what they wish 

 to attain, and suppose they have the good luck to be near a 

 good gardener, then there is a pretty good chance that the 

 garden will hold its own. 



On the other hand, it may be that the garden has sprung 

 up at the wave of a teacher's magic wand, and that the 

 children have, for the time being, caught by contagion a little 

 of his enthusiasm ; in such a case, what wonder that when 

 the personality of the leader fades, the garden goes to the 

 weeds. A garden carried on for the teacher's sake will be in 

 no sense " a hardy garden " ; this is because it has failed 

 to touch the children's real desires. It is possible, however, 

 for a teacher to help children organize so that they can go a 

 certain length of time by themselves. One teacher, her first 

 year, succeeded so well that the girls, during her absence of 

 ten weeks, conducted the work themselves, it being under- 

 stood that each one who went away for a visit should furnish 

 a capable alternate. 



In some towns garden work begun at the school, as a part 

 of the regular school program, is continued during the holidays 

 under the direction of a social settlement or a garden com- 

 mittee. Even when the summer work is carried on under 

 the most favorable auspices, a change in management is a 

 drawback. The change, too, is bound to occur when the 



