SIDE SHOWS 151 



That woodworking is an important accessory to gardening 

 has already been shown in the course of these pages, but the 

 extent to which simple carpentry can be used in and about 

 a garden seems almost unlimited. Boys and girls can learn 

 to construct anything, from a bird house to a greenhouse, if 

 they care to try. 



In certain private schools the laws of construction and the 

 handling of tools are being taught not so much by graded 

 school exercises as by actual building. The director of one 

 such school 1 writes : "We will build and place our own fences, 

 coops, beehives, outhouses, boats, and sheds. The interest 

 of the entire school in the progress of the work on the new 

 boat, or the greenhouse that may be building, will stimulate 

 the pupils engaged to do their best. Later when their task 

 is done and the product in actual use, it will be a daily 

 reminder of the dignity and worth, of labor." 



Turning aside for a moment from matters of purely eco- 

 nomic interest, we may consider some of those that approach 

 the aesthetic. A delightful feature now being revived from 

 the gardens of olden times is the sundial. Young people 

 have been known to take great pleasure in one. It often 

 has a subtle charm for even young children. One writer 

 recalls with what awe as a child he approached the first sun- 

 dial of his experience. It seemed so mysterious, he says, — 

 this sentinel of light, — that it made a lasting impression, in 

 which the garden figured as a little fairy world. 2 



Sundials, it appears, were much in vogue in the days 

 of good Queen Anne. But as the years sped on, the custom 

 died out, except when friends had them designed for each 

 other in order to mark in unique fashion such festivals as 

 birthdays. George Washington, it will be remembered, took 



1 The Interlaken School. 



2 Loring Underwood, The Garden and its Accessories. 



