WHAT MAKES A SCHOOL GARDEN WORTH WHILE 31 



original departures which will contribute variety and possibly 

 amusement. Yet whatever the garden may have lost in for- 

 mality, it has infinitely gained in intrinsic interest from the 

 point of view of any friend of children. 



As the summer advances there is always less deliberate 

 planning and more manual work. But handicraft and nothing 

 else is, of course, the work of a mere laborer, and spading 

 and hoeing are not and never will be of themselves inspiring 

 occupations ; so the garden is in danger of losing its highest 

 value unless it can feed curiosity and awaken an appetite for 

 investigation. A question met by an experiment, a doubt met 

 with a demonstration, — this is ever how men have been learn- 

 ing from nature. Moreover, what they have thus really learned 

 they want to tell. What greater incentive, indeed, can a stu- 

 dent have than the opportunity of convincing his classmates 

 of some fact that he has been working out experimentally .? 

 Having at last got his answer, he almost bursts with a desire 

 to share it. Sometimes it will happen that several will com- 

 bine to present proofs for convincing the rest. Again, the 

 whole class will form a team in order to make a bit of inves- 

 tigation, each one doing his part toward a successful issue. 



This brings us to the most effective way of operating the 

 gardeners' forces. There has been much discussion as to 

 whether a garden is best worked in common or divided into 

 individual beds. Separate ownership of the various plots, as 

 opposed to general or communal ownership, has many advo- 

 cates. Certain it is that the individual plot fosters the feel- 

 ing of proprietorship and personal responsibility ; it crowns 

 with more or less justice individual fidelity. It is indeed very 

 wholesome for any young person to gaze upon his own mis- 

 takes and triumphs writ large, — spread out in plain terms of 

 weeds or fruit. Many eloquent lessons can thus be driven 

 home without a single comment. But disputes and jealousies 



