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REN 5 GARDENS EVERYWHERE 



THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT TIME 

 IN THE GARDEN. FUTURE SUCCESS 

 DEPENDS UPON ONE KIND OF DIS- 

 AGREEABLE WORK. THIS WORK 

 IS WEEDING. ONE MUST WEED AND 

 WEED — AND THEN WEED AGAIN! 



W&1S5&. 



Conducted by 

 ELLEN EDDY SHAW 





New York 



HOW is the garden to be cared for this 

 summer? That is the question before 

 us now! It is a serious question, too. No 

 one of us can feel it is right to let run to 

 waste this garden upon which so much care, 

 money, energy and enthusiasm have been 

 showered. And, after all, the school garden 

 is quite a responsibility to place upon the 

 children undirected, is it not? v 



All those who have solved this problem 

 without a regular garden director would 

 assist others by writing us their methods for 

 publication. 



After all, garden work which is left almost 

 entirely to children to superintend often 

 loses much of its value. Children cannot 

 cope with all those little points constantly 

 arising. Yet again a judicious 

 throwing of responsibility upon 

 the upper grade children is well. 



Some schools appoint their 

 best gardeners as summer assist- 

 ants. The girl assistants go 

 back three days a week and the 

 garden is open for the girls. 

 The boy assistants go back the 

 other three days and the garden 

 is open to the boys. Every so 

 often a teacher or the principal 

 appears to inspect the work. 



By careful selection of assist- 

 ants this has worked well. One 

 of the New York City schools 

 can testify to this plan as it was 

 conceived in this school and 

 worked out. There are many 

 variations to the plan which 

 have been tried in different 

 places. 



Another school had commit- 

 tees of older people from the 

 town who took turns at supervis- 

 ing through the summer. This 

 stands for public spirit and 

 some sacrifice to the individ- 

 uals. The drawback to this 

 method is the lack of real gar- 

 den knowledge among those 

 volunteering for the work. 



Some schools shut the garden 

 to the children and pay the jani- 

 tor for its summer care. The 

 authorities state the case fairly 

 and it is thus understood that 

 it is the children's garden with 



the summer work done by an adult. In this 

 case the child is the loser. 



Quite the most practical method for sum- 

 mer care would be the union of playground 

 and garden under the direction of a play- 

 ground man or woman in sympathy with and 

 having knowledge of garden work. This 

 should be a part of playground equipment 

 for work. Pittsburg has tried this garden 

 and playground union with success. It is 

 a saving of money and energy. 



Play and work together are normal. The 

 spirit of play working off some of its energy 

 on the garden seems, after all, quite like the 

 sort of spirit which is balanced properly. 



The garden and the playground do not fit 

 together with benefit unless the playground 



Economize in ■watering by constant hoe cultivation 



361 



director has equal sympathy with the garden 

 end of the combine. 



Other schools refuse to make an issue of the 

 summer problem. This issue is avoided in 

 one of two ways. Either early maturing crops 

 are planted or the garden work is thrown over 

 the back fence into the children's own yards. 

 In the first case garden work is over and 

 properly finished when school closes. In the 

 second case, gardening becomes a work un- 

 der the parents' eyes all summer. So it is 

 supervised, many times carefully, sometimes 

 poorly. It all depends on the parents. 



HOME GARDENING 



It is not too late even now to start a home 

 garden. It means that you children must 

 garden pretty actively, but that 

 is all the better. 



You can put in lettuce, rad- 

 ish, beets, turnips, late corn — 

 almost anything in fact. 



Many of the flower seeds 

 may still be planted with good 

 success. It is far easier to 

 plant in rows as you do lettuce 

 and radish. Because, as the 

 seedlings come up, the stick 

 which marks the row guides 

 you to a knowledge of your 

 plants. 



Scatter small and medium- 

 sized seed along in these rows. 

 This scattering should be done 

 very carefully so as not to get 

 too much seed in. Tear a 

 hole, the size a mouse would 

 nibble off, in the corner of the 

 seed envelope. Shaking the en- 

 velope very carefully will send 

 out a tiny stream of seed. 



Large seed, like nasturtiums 

 and zinnias, may be placed one 

 by one at regular intervals in 

 the furrow. Later, thin the 

 seedings out so the plants may 

 stand at proper distances apart. 

 For instance, put zinnia seeds a 

 foot apart. When the seedlings 

 are four inches high, take out 

 every other one. 



Some girl may exclaim : 

 "Have zinnia plants stand 

 two feet apart!" Surely, un- 

 less you are planting dwarf 



WH II B iB—WM 



