1906] NaTurRE Stupy—No. 32. 239 
of material and work to crowd the nature study hour to its ut- 
most. 
The garden is treated like the ordinary kitchen garden in the 
spring. Itis fertilized with stable manure, ploughed, harrowed, and 
the services of a laborer are secured to assist in laying out the paths 
and removing a few inches of soil from them. Then the pupils as- 
sume ownership of their miniature gardens, level and rake their plots 
and sow them with the seed they have planned. Classes working 
together prepare the flower beds and sow the seed. During the 
planting season an hour or two each day are spent in the garden; 
or, if rain prevents work for a couple of days, the greater part of 
the afternoon is devoted to the garden as soon as the soil is dry 
enough to work. 
Garden work is the most popular thing at school, and there 
is never any trouble in getting the garden planted and well cared 
for during the school session. The size of the plots is a trouble- 
some question. Larger plots are more difficult to have kept clear 
of weeds during the summer months, but they promote interest 
on account of the larger material returns. The larger boys in 
particular wish to see a crop worth growing. Plots ro x 16 feet 
have been well cared for by boys and girls 13 or 14 years of age. 
After the planting season a half hour twice or three times a 
week keeps the garden clean and free trom weeds. This time 
may be taken so as to interrupt the regular work very little. A 
little longer intermission in the afternoon, or closing the school 
room classes a half hour earlier, will provide plenty of time, and 
the book studies will not suffer; indeed, where school gardens 
have been started, the teachers have nearly always reported more 
interested pupils and a greater regularity of attendance, while 
parents at first opposed to the garden idea admit that it has not 
made progress in other subjects less rapid. 
As the seeds have sprouted and the young plants have in- 
creased in size, the pupils have learned the conditions necessary 
for plant life, and, as they have seen buds unfold and leaves ex- 
pand, the garden has provided material to be used in the class 
room as the subject of drawing lessons or English composition 
work. 
