182 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [7 .T— Oct., 1911 



interest children in planting trees, and, even then, recite poems 

 and sing songs instead of planting. We should get out more 

 and dig. But this gardening and teaching should be practical. 

 Cut out the sentiment and singing until you have something to 

 sing about. Dig and plant first, then sing. 



In our garden work here, to make the gardening as practical 

 as possible for the older children, we let them co-operate. In 

 this way a larger space may be cultivated and more practical 

 results obtained. Each of the four upper grades have a large 

 garden. This is called a Model Home Vegetable Garden, since 

 it is designed to yield a constant supply of fresh vegetables for 

 family use. Everything is grown in straight rows and these are 

 wide enough apart to permit convenient cultivation and irrigation. 

 These rows are from thirty to sixty feet long. All of the com- 

 moner vegetables are grown, as well as kinds that may be un- 

 familiar to the children, but which should have place in every 

 garden because of their worth. The size of the garden and the 

 number of things grown varies with the age of the children. The 

 Seventh Grade garden, for example, was 100 feet long and 45 

 feet wide. In this space about twenty-five kinds of vegetables 

 may be grown. 



Such a garden can be successfully managed on the home 

 grounds and give good results. Since it is on a large and 

 practical scale, it presents many real problems which have to be 

 worked out. The working out of these problems affords invalu- 

 able experience and first-hand knowledge, which may be applied 

 after school days are over. In addition to the practice gained 

 in this type of garden, the children are given practice in grow- 

 ing flowers and plants suitable for the decoration of home yards. 

 Practice is also given in the care and handling of lawns, in 

 planting trees and shrubs. Some of the ornamental plants in 

 our nursery are propagated by the children. Talks and lessons 

 are given on home grounds and civic improvements, how to plan 

 d better arrangement and where to plant flowers and shrubs. 

 Children are stimulated to improve their home grounds, to clean 

 these up and to keep everything in order there. On Arbor 

 Day, especially, the teaching centers on these things. Then 

 every child is given a tree, or a shrub, to plant on the home 

 grounds. The children are so eager to get these, while we feel 

 that the gift brings home the lessons of the day, that it may 

 stimulate an abiding interest. 



School gardening has a great future, yet we have scarcely 

 begun to realize its possibilities. As a laboratory for a first-hand 



