148 GARDENS AND THEIR MEANING 



here that a gray and ancient churchyard has lately been 

 turned into a recreation ground for children. 1 God's acre, as 

 the Germans call a cemetery, would thus seem to have become 

 God's acre in very truth. This charming spot includes flower 

 beds, old trees, and a little nature-study museum. Classes of 

 children visit this garden regularly, and with the help of a 

 teacher their eyes are opened to the wonder of the natural 

 objects that surround them. 



In various home schools beekeeping is taken up more 

 seriously than has been found practical in day schools. The 

 children are disciplined by the responsibility, and they learn 

 something of this useful industry. At an English school, for 

 example, situated in the beautiful region of Petersfield, the 

 writer saw five prosperous hives. The entire care of these was 

 intrusted to the boys and girls ; for a period of one term three 

 or four pupils took charge. Their report of bee culture for the 

 summer term, published in their school paper, 2 begins thus : 

 "This year we fed the bees very early, giving them candy, and 

 so they were in splendid condition by the time the Dutch clover, 

 which is the chief honey supply in this district, came out." 



Then follows an entertaining account of the methods 

 employed in managing the brood, introducing a new queen, 

 and in swarming, the text being supplemented by a telling 

 photograph called " Hiving the Swarm." The report ends 

 with a close estimate of the total yield of honey, which they 

 expected, that season, to bring up to one hundred pounds. 



It is easy to see how an interest in beekeeping, if awakened 

 in connection with school gardening, may some day introduce 

 a lad or lass into an occupation that will bring him a hand- 

 some profit. A well-known Cincinnati man makes a living 

 from bees which he keeps on the roof of his house. Another 

 in New York City, one of the large dealers in beekeeping 



1 Miss Susan B. Sipe, Washington, D.C. 2 Bedales Record. 



