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GARDENING 

 YOUNG° FOLKS 



CONDUCTED BY ELLEN EDDY SHAW 





Establishing a School Garden 



THE first step for any teacher to take who really 

 wishes to arrange for a school garden is to 

 secure a suitable list of good reference works on 

 tie subject, such as Hemenway's. "How to Make 

 School Gardens," and his "Hints and Helps 

 for Young Gardeners" (Doubleday, Page & Com- 

 pany of Garden City, N. Y); Green's "Vegetable 

 Gardening" (Webb Publishing Company, St. Paul, 

 Minnesota); Weed and Emerson's "School Garden 

 Book" (Charles Scribner's Sons, New York) ; Hein- 

 rich's " Window Flower Garden" and Long's "Orna- 

 mental Gardening for Americans" (Orange Judd 

 Company, New York). Also get the Reports of 

 the Home Gardening Association of Cleveland, 

 Ohio; "The Boy Gardener's Manual" published 

 by the National Cash Register Company of Dayton, 

 Ohio; the pamphlet on "School Gardens" by the 

 Woman's Institute of Yonkers, N. Y.; "Sugges- 

 tions for School Gardens" by Prof. E. B. Babcock 

 of the University of California; and the excellent 

 small pamphlet on school gardens issued by the 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



The next step is to secure a suitable location for 

 the school garden which should be within easy reach 

 of the school building. In cities where land is 

 valuable this is not always possible, but in rural 

 districts where land is easily obtainable at a moder- 

 ate price there is no reason why sufficient ground 

 should not be purchased with the building site to 

 insure room for a large and spacious school garden. 

 Where several school districts have been consoli- 

 dated and a rural graded school established it will 

 be found advisable to secure land enough to estab- 

 lish a small demonstration farm, comprising from 

 five to ten acres of ground according to the number 

 of pupils who wish to study agriculture. In cities 

 it will often be possible to secure the use of vacant 

 lots near the building for the school garden. 



Just imagine what a wonderful change would 

 come over every city if every vacant lot should be 

 transformed into a garden! If this were done there 

 could be raised enough vegetables in every city of 

 the United States to supply all of its demands for 

 that class of products. Having secured your 

 garden plot arrange to have it fenced and protected 

 against dogs, chickens, cattle and other marauding 

 animals. 



In city school gardens, when possible, arrange- 

 ments should be made for water connections and 

 the establishment of three or four hydrants in the 

 garden so that the vege- 

 tables and flowers can be 

 watered in dry seasons. 

 Each garden should also 

 be supplied with 50 to 73 

 feet of good rubber hose 

 according to the size of the 

 garden and the number of 

 hydrants. The plotting of 

 the garden will depend on 

 the number of pupils tak- 

 ing the work and whether 

 the pupils are to have com- 

 munity plots or individual 

 plots. My own experience 

 has convinced me that 

 community plots are rarely 

 satisfactory. It generally 

 results in the same condi- 

 tion that would come about 

 if you were to ask all of the 

 farmers of the neighborhood 

 to own their farms in com- 

 mon. The better arrange- 

 ment is for individual gar- 

 dens for all the pupils. The 

 size for these may vary, but 

 4 by 8, or 5 by 10, will be 

 found the most satisfactory. 



If possible give each pupil a plot to himself, but 

 when space is limited two to four pupils may be 

 assigned to a plot. Arrange your garden so that 

 you will have a main path or walk three feet wide 

 running through the garden from north to south 

 and a second main path or walk of the same width 

 running through the garden from east to west. 

 All small paths around the individual gardens 

 should be from 18 to 24 inches wide according to the 

 amount of space that can be spared. In the centre 

 of the garden at least four plots should be reserved 

 for flowers and ornamental plants because stress 

 should be placed upon the jesthetic side as well 

 as the practical side of the school garden. Some- 

 times it will be possible to combine these four cen- 

 tral plots into one large one with a design that is 

 both suggestive and attractive. 



In selecting vegetables secure when possible 

 quick growing and hardy kinds. Lettuce, radish, 

 turnips, beets, pepper grass or garden cress, spinach, 

 and onions will be found the most satisfactory in 

 small gardens. For home gardens we may add 

 other vegetables such as cabbage, tomatoes, pota- 

 toes, pepper plants, melons, kohlrabi, collards, 

 brussels sprouts, cauliflower, pumpkins, squash, 

 okra, and many other similar vegetables, but their 

 development will often be found too slow to satisfy 

 the demands of the ordinary school garden. How- 

 ever, it will be an excellent plan to have the pupils 

 prepare hotbeds and in these sow cabbage and 

 tomato seed, also flower seeds, and learn how to 

 transplant them successfully either at their own 

 homes or in the school garden. When handling 

 flowers this plan will always be found the most sat- 

 isfactory. In the way of flowers I would recom- 

 mend the zinnia, daisy, verbena, sweet William, 

 marigold, cockscomb, portulaca, poppy, chrysan- 

 themums, canna, salvia, carnation, coleus, and 

 geraniums. 



In arranging the vegetables in the garden the 

 best effect will be secured if in each tier of plots 

 extending lengthwise across the garden the same 

 kind of vegetables is planted in the corresponding 

 row in each garden. When selecting plots give 

 some thought to the leaf design or pattern of each 

 plant and group them for harmony of effect as 

 much as possible. Thus for example in row num- 

 ber one in the first tier of individual gardens or plots 

 plant lettuce, in row number two radish, in row 

 number three spinach, or beets, and in row number 

 four turnips. The second tier of gardens might be 

 varied a little by substituting carrots and pepper 



A prize winning garden in Williamstown. Mass. The possibility of winning a prize was not alone 

 responsible for such, an excellent garden: the boy himself was interested in the work 



27 



grass or garden cress for two of the vegetables named 

 for the first tier of gardens and so through your 

 list. 



I am often asked when children should work in 

 the school garden and whether the time taken 

 should be at noon or recess time — especially in 

 rural schools. In reply to such inquiries I would 

 say that a regular time should be assigned for school 

 garden work even if only once a week. In rural 

 districts the whole school should be taken out to 

 the garden and the same order and strict attention 

 to business maintained as in the school room with 

 the regular studies. The teacher should be on 

 hand always to supervise and direct the work of the 

 children. In city schools only one grade at a time 

 should be taken to the garden. 



Teach them to observe and to make notes on 

 all that takes place in the garden. Require accur- 

 ate records as to conditions of soil, kind of seed 

 used, depth and date of planting, subsequent culti- 

 vation, handling of weed and insect pests, saving 

 the soil moisture, and other matters of interest. 



If the School Board will not furnish the tools and 

 seeds arrange when possible for each child to bring 

 these things from home. Sometimes an enter- 

 tainment can be given by the pupils and if a small 

 charge is made for admission sufficient funds may 

 be raised to purchase a part of the tools that will 

 be needed for the work. 



In laying off the individual gardens or plots, 

 secure several balls of garden cord or carpenter's 

 chalking cord and after locating the inside corners 

 of the outside bounding path drive stakes into the 

 ground at these places and mark off the boundaries 

 of the general school garden with the cord. Next 

 lay off with a measuring stick the width of the 

 individual gardens, individual paths, cross paths 

 and main path, and set stakes at each point in line 

 with the garden cord previously run between the 

 outside corner pegs. Then return to the point of 

 starting and lay off the length of the individual 

 garden plots, and paths along the outside bounding 

 line. These will be at right angles to the first 

 measuring line. After having set all of the outside 

 pegs run garden cord across in both directions, 

 through the general garden, and set all of the re- 

 maining pegs at the points where the cords intersect. 

 When the work is completed you will have a peg 

 at each corner of each individual plot or individual 

 garden. These pegs or stakes should be two inches 

 square at the top and ten inches long. Drive each 

 one down until only three inches of the peg remains 

 above ground. 



Your next step will be the 

 assignment of pupils to the 

 individual plots or gardens. 

 Require each pupil to clear 

 off his garden and prepare 

 it properly for planting or 

 seeding. To make sure 

 that all the rows in each 

 tier of gardens are straight 

 and in proper alignment I 

 would suggest that the drill 

 rows be laid off with a 

 wooden marker arranged 

 like a hand rake with 

 wooden teeth. These teeth 

 or markers should be about 

 an inch wide and should be 

 set at the proper distances 

 apart according to the kind 

 of seed to be sown. The 

 markers should be sharp- 

 ened a little at the point 

 and nailed to the wooden 

 cross bar in such a way that 

 the part below the cross 

 bar will be long enough to 

 make a drill of the proper 

 depth. 



