CHILDREN'S GARDENS EVERYWHERE 



A CHILD'S CHRISTMAS GIFTS SHOULD 

 \ HAVE IN THEM ELEMENTS OF PER- 

 MANENT VALUE. — CHILDREN CAN 

 MAKE WORTH-WHILE THINGS MORE 

 EASILY THAN WORTHLESS ONES 



Conducted by 



ELLEN EDDY SHAW 



New York 



Christmas Giving 



IT is time, high time, to make our Christ- 

 mas presents. There are many things 

 to give which spring out of our garden work; 

 and they are well worth giving. You have 

 not forgotten the seed envelopes and garden 

 markers? The directions for making were 

 given in the August magazine. Blossoming 

 bulbs of your own raising; a fern from the 

 woods, you potted yourself; a Chinese lily 

 fixed in its bed of stones; one of the geran- 

 iums you slipped last October; all of these 

 are acceptable gifts. Pictures of your gar- 

 den make good decorations for calendars. 

 If you made a hotbed there is time to raise 

 radish and lettuce. You all know what a 

 treat to most people these would be. 



For some of you who are very fond of 

 working with your own hands, we have 

 printed below directions for the making of 

 very useful and really worth-while things. 



There is one thing you boys and girls should 

 take in hand. That is to prevent, as far as 

 you, at least, are concerned, the ruthless 

 cutting of greens and butchering of trees 

 for Christmas purposes. You know the value 

 of growing plants; so do not destroy them 

 wholesale this year. The time we use these 

 evergreens, and can use them, is so very 

 short. Just take the one case of hemlock as 

 a green for decoration purposes. It drops 

 its needles or leaves almost as soon as brought 

 into a warm room. Then why cut it at all? 



I wish you would try a Christmas experi- 

 ment. It may be tried both at home and at 

 school, in country and city. It is this: "Will 

 you have an outdoor Christmas this year? 

 That is, have a tree — roots and all — which 

 may be planted outdoors either at Christ- 

 mas time or later." 



If you try this at school get an evergreen 

 which will be most ornamental to the school 

 grounds. If the ground is not frozen too 

 hard it can be planted immediately, decor- 

 ated outdoors, and hung with gifts of food 

 for the birds. This saving of one more 

 tree has vastly more of Christmas spirit 

 in it than the destroying of a tree. If the 

 planting cannot take place have a potted 

 evergreen, keep it outdoors all winter, and 

 plant when possible. Country schools can 

 get from the woods young red cedars or pines. 

 Get a very small tree. Its chances of living 

 are better than those of larger trees. If you 

 are not afraid of spoiling Christmas enthus- 



iasm get the tree now and plant it. Then 

 it will be ready for decoration. There is 

 some risk of its dying but try it anyhow. 



This same thing can be done for the 

 home Christmas tree. A splendid tree to 

 buy is an oriental spruce. It is a beautiful 

 tree in spring when it is covered with its cones 

 which look like burning candles. A Christ- 

 mas tree really planted for a child makes 

 permanent his Christmas. 



Will you join an "Outdoor Christmas 

 League " for this year at least ? Let us know. 

 Tell us the tree you select, just how it gets 

 along through the year, whether you pot 

 it or plant it. Your experience this year 

 will help someone else next year. 



Low Basket with Handles for 

 Fruit or Flowers 



AFTER our summer in the garden we 

 all know how much a basket is needed 

 for flower gathering. Some of us have 

 baskets. Some of us have used newspapers 

 to gather flowers in. What we need, others 

 having gardens need too. And so a gather- 

 ing basket is well worth giving. 

 The materials needed are: 



8 spokes, 10 inches long, of number 6 reed. 



3 weavers of number 2 reed. 

 12 weavers of number 3 reed. 

 31 spokes, 20 inches long, of number 4 reed. 



Directions: Split 4 spokes of number 6 reed 

 exactly in the centre, and slip the remaining 

 4 through the slits in the first group. 



Double a number 2 weaver and slip the 



This basket is the right size to hold small fruits 

 and short-stemmed flowers 



230 



loop over the upper vertical group and with 

 the pairing weave go around each group four 

 times. Next, separate the spokes in groups 

 of two and continue the pairing weave until 

 four more rows have been woven in. Then 

 separate the spokes by ones and weave until 

 the diameter is 4^ inches. 



Cut off all that remains of the number 

 2 weaver, and insert 3 weavers of number 3 

 reed. Continue with the triple weave to 

 a diameter of 9 inches. 



Cut off the ends of the spokes and insert 

 31 spokes, 20 inches long, of number 4 reed; 

 one on each side of the spokes, except the 

 first; in this instance insert but one. 



Use the side which has been next the 

 weaver for the inside of the basket, letting 

 rough ends come on the outside of the basket. 

 Turn the spokes up, and hold in place with 

 one row of quadruple, weave over three 

 spokes and back of one, using the number 3 

 reed. With the same reed put in n rows of 

 plain weave, over one spoke and under the 

 next. Next, one row of quadruple and fol- 

 low with 7 rows of double weave, over two 

 and under one, and finish with one row of 

 quadruple weave. 



For the first row of the border carry num- 

 ber 1 spoke back of number 2 spoke, or the 

 next spoke at the right, and out; number 2 

 spoke back of number 3, and out. Con- 

 tinue once around the basket. 



For the second row carry number 1 spoke 

 over number 2 and 3, and down; number 



2 over 3 and 4 and down, and so on around. 

 For the third row carry number 1 over 



number 2 and down: number 2 over number 



3 and down. This may be continued until 

 you have formed a roll over the entire edge. 



If handles are desired, on each side of the 

 basket insert a piece of number 9 reed for 

 the foundation of these. The end of a num- 

 ber 3 weaver is woven in at the left of the 

 foundation under the third row from the top 

 of the basket, and the long end of the weaver 

 is twisted around the foundation to the other 

 side of the handle. Here it is pushed down 

 inside the basket on one side of the ' andle 

 and over again on the other side of the handle, 

 three rows from the top, making a loop inside. 

 The weaver is then laid close beside the first 

 twist and follows it across to the opposite side. 

 Now it goes in under the third row on the 

 left of the handle and out on the right side. 

 Each row of twisting must follow close beside 



