92 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [16:3— xMar., 1920 



rush around the garden to bring an extra cord and line, to look out 

 for the onion sets, or to find more seeds, takes away that feeling of 

 confusion which I have felt so many times myself and have 

 observed in the work of other people. We ought all of us to strive 

 to minimize confusion, and these few simple things which we have 

 done, and which others may have planned also, minimize greatly 

 the possibilities of trouble. 



After the gardens had been planted the boys and girls were 

 divided into sections, 50 in a section to come at certain stated times. 

 In these groups of 50 there were children who had been handed 

 over to the junior gardeners so that each regular teacher had only 

 about 25 boys and girls to look out for, although of course, the 

 junior gardeners always had to have some little attention. 



One might almost call such a piece of work for the older boys and 

 girls a piece of project work, for bound up with it are many possibi- 

 lities for these boys and girls to use their own initiative. Their 

 methods of handling other children improved greatly as the sum- 

 mer went on. This in itself is worth while for those older people, 

 and I believe was also worth while for the younger boys and girls. 

 More and more I begin to feel that children's gardening should be 

 for children and not a means of effectively displaying the work and 

 plan of adults. 



Each young gardener now goes on at his own rate of speed, 

 when he comes to the garden once a week before school closes, or 

 two or three times a week after school session is over, he finds on 

 the bulletin board his directions for his day's work. He knows 

 exactly where his own tools are in the toolhouse and goes and gets 

 them. He then passes out to his work. He comes back to wash 

 his vegetables and to hand in his report. The attendance and 

 the crop report is kept by the boys and girls. Each day there is a 

 host or hostess who sits in the tool room and takes the crop record. 

 The work of the host or hostess is to see that the little living room 

 is kept in order, guests welcomed if they happen to come, and the 

 boys and girls kept up to time. By that we expect them to keep 

 their hats off in the house, to walk decently and properly as they 

 would in their own homes, and to come in with clean boots, but we 

 cannot always insist on tidy hands. Out in the tool room is a sheet 

 of paper laid upon the table, and a pencil. Each person registers 

 himself by putting a mark after his plot number. A monthly 

 sheet is made out with all the numbers of the plots upon it. Num- 

 ber 1 goes in and puts a check after his name; Number 2 may be 



