172 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



April, 19 11 



weeks before the plants began to make 

 their appearance. The first Saturday 

 after they were all up so the rows were 

 clearly defined, the boys hoed their garden 

 thoroughly. This was done every two 

 weeks until the peas began to blossom. 



Three weeks from the time the plants 

 were up we began to use the radishes — 

 delicious, little, round, red ones — and 

 had all we wanted for a family of four for 

 nearly a month, with quantities of crisp, 

 crinkly lettuce. From this little garden we 

 had ten quarts of peas which matured 

 all at one time. 



The boys did not sell any of their gar- 

 den stuff, but if we had bought all that we 

 used it would have cost not less than $3. 

 But here is a photograph of morning 

 glories that these same small boys planted 

 and watered all summer, hauling the water 

 from an irrigating ditch nearby, using for 

 the purpose their little farm wagon and 

 an old milk can. (See preceding page.) 



They built a trench along the front 

 and one end of the porch, driving stakes 

 at the ends and corners, one foot from the 

 wall to which they nailed a board one foot 

 wide. This made a trench ten feet long in 

 front, six feet long at the end, one foot wide 

 and one foot deep. They filled it with the 

 clay soil of the place mixed with a quantity 

 of barn yard manure and planted it thickly 

 with morning glory seed. When the plants 

 came up they were too thick to grow well, 

 so a good many of them were taken up 

 and transplanted on the west side of the 

 house. These were slow at first in getting 

 a start, but watering each day kept them 



Address 

 Name 



North Andover Improvement Society 

 Home Garden Report. 



First Visit 



Second Visit 



Third Visit 







Kinds Growing 



Care 



Care 



Taste in Planting 



Condition 



Condition 



Care of Garden 



Date 



Date 



Condition 



Visitor 









Date Special Features 



Visitor 



Visitor 



Mark answers by letter. E — Excellent. G — Good. F- 



- Fair. 



P — Poor. 



alive. The morning glories shown here are 

 on the south and east of the kitchen 

 porch. 



Home Gardens 



THE back yard beautiful is beginning 

 to be a realization here and there 

 in our country. The best methods of 

 carrying on this home garden work for 

 children are to be earnestly sought out 

 in order that it may be of real benefit 

 to the child and the community. 



Many schools would take up the work 

 gladly, but hesitate on account of the 

 summer supervision. For even the home 

 garden needs some supervision, and it 

 surely needs to be visited if the children 

 are to be given prizes for the work. A 



A method of watering used in Cleveland. Ohio. The water pipe can be rotated so that the water jets 



may be sent all over the garden at will 



very good method of carrying on the 

 work is used in Andover, Mass. There 

 is a village improvement society in North 

 Andover. This society cooperates with 

 the public school. During the summer 

 or school vacation season members of 

 the society visit the different home gardens. 

 Three visits are made to each garden dur- 

 ing the season. The North Andover 

 report card shows the points upon which 

 the child's garden is marked. This seems 

 an excellent and business-like method of 

 procedure. The parents may compete 

 also in these contests. When the fall 

 meeting of the children is called and the 

 prizes awarded it is understood that these 

 report cards are the basis of the ratings. 

 The prizes are given by the society. 



Mr. E. K. Thomas, who has charge of 

 the garden work in Providence, R. I., 

 sends the following about his work. This 

 is especially suggestive for schools: " In 

 regard to the home gardens here, I have 

 had such a limited amount of time for the 

 work that no well organized system has 

 been developed. Early in the year when 

 talking up school gardens and receiving 

 applications for the same, I encouraged 

 the pupils to make home gardens as well, 

 and invited them to bring a sketch of their 

 home yards, drawn to scale if possible, 

 to the school on the day I was expected 

 there, also a sample of the soil. Then I 

 advised them what to plant or instructed 

 them in planting the crops they desired. 



'At the State NormalSchool,theseweekly 

 consultations were very interesting and 

 valuable. The teachers encouraged the 

 pupils to have questions ready, and the 

 intelligent way in which they were asked 

 and the nature of the questions proved that 

 they were really seeking information upon 

 the practical problems which must have 

 come up in connection with their work. 



"Whenever time would allow, I would 

 visit some of the home gardens and take 

 pictures. In some places, the parents be- 

 came so much interested that they decided 

 to spade up the whole yard and have a 

 garden themselves." 



For further help on planning home work 

 write directly to the " Children's Gardens 

 Correspondence Bureau," care of The 

 Editor. 



