28 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



F E B R U A R-Y ,1914 



In planting or sowing the seed place the 

 pupils at their respective gardens and pour the 

 seed to be used in the pupil's left hand and 

 require him to plant with his right hand. Have 

 each of the four drill rows planted before any of the 

 drill rows are filled with soil, and make sure that the 

 children do not cover the seed too deep when the 

 order to put the soil on the seed is given. Next 

 require each pupil to place a label peg on the south 

 side of his garden containing his name, the list of 

 the four kinds of vegetables assigned him, and the 

 date of planting. If possible arrange to have the 

 gardens inspected, weeded, and cultivated once or 

 twice each week until the vegetables have matured. 

 Should the season be dry some attention also must 

 be given, when possible, to watering. 



However, do not let your work stop in the school 

 garden. In your school room have a few window 

 boxes, a few soup plates for seed testers or a ger- 

 mination box and also a liberal 

 supply of tin cans, lamp wicks, 

 lamp chimneys, Mason's fruit 

 jars, cigar boxes or chalk boxes, 

 etc. With this outfit, a few 

 seeds, and some good soil ar- 

 range to demonstrate the physi- 

 cal properties of soil, the proper 

 preparation of the seed bed, 

 proper planting depth, proper 

 aeration of the soil, proper 

 drainage, correct distribution 

 of sunlight, and many other 

 things pertaining to agricul- 

 ture and plant life concerning 

 which your pupils should be in- 

 formed. If you will do this 

 the work will become interest- 

 ing and the whole school will 

 want to take it up. 



In this work you can get 

 much help from the bulletins 

 issued by the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture at Wash- 

 ington, D. C, as well as from 

 the bulletins issued by your 

 own Agricultural and Mechani- 

 cal College. Also organize a 

 Junior Agricultural and Do- 

 mestic Science Club and have 

 the members discuss topics 

 pertaining to Agriculture and 

 Domestic Science. Invite in 

 the parents of the pupils and 

 give them an opportunity to participate in the 

 work and you will soon be surprised at the re- 

 sults that will follow. 



Stillwater, Okla. Jno. W. Wilkinson, 



State Supervisor Junior Agricultural Club. 



Community Garden Work 



NO CHILDREN'S garden work had been 

 attempted in our locality at all until the sum- 

 mer of 191 2, and people discouraged the effort say- 

 ing that all the children had to work in their fathers' 

 home gardens, anyway, and would not attempt a 

 garden of their own. The ladies of the club to 

 which I appealed last year, however, voted the sum 

 of fifty dollars for me to try the experiment. I took 

 thirty-five dollars of that for the salary of a super- 

 visor; a graduate of the State Normal School who 

 lived here accepted the work in the spirit of help 

 and experiment. The remaining fifteen dollars 

 were used for prizes and printing. Sixty-one child- 

 dren started gardens and forty continued through 

 the summer. The local prizes offered by the Good 

 Will Club in this garden competition were: 



1. For the best general improvement in the home 

 surroundings and in the work of the garden, even 

 though the special product was not of prize quality 

 — $5.00 $3.00, $1.00. A photograph of each place 

 entered in the competiton was to be taken between 

 April 15 and 30, and of those meriting it a second 

 photograph was to be taken between August 15 

 and 29. 



2. A prize of $1.00 was offered for the best 

 vegetable garden kept by a boy in any of the 

 5th and 6th grades of the town schools, pro- 

 vided that there were at least three varieties of 



vegetables raised and that at least eight boys 

 would compete. 



3. A similar prize of $1.00 was offered for the 

 best flower garden kept by a boy under similar 

 conditions. The same two prizes were offered for 

 the best flower or vegetable garden kept by any 

 girl in the 5th or 6th grades. 



4. As stated for the boys and girls of the 5th and 

 6th grades, the same four prizes were offered for the 

 boys and girls of the 7th and 8th grades. It was 

 allowable to compete for both the flower and vege- 

 table prizes. 



5. A prize was offered for the best essay sub- 

 mitted by any scholar in the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th 

 grades, containing an actual account of work done 

 during the summer. When any of the products of 

 the garden were sold it was desired that this fact 

 be given with the amount of profit from the garden. 

 No prize was awarded in any grade unless at least 







thoroughly moistened. Place the cuttings in this 

 damp sand bed in rows about two inches apart. 

 Place the cuttings as closely together as possible. 

 For the first few days shade with newspapers from 

 the direct rays of the sun. When the cuttings have 

 rooted transplant them to individual three inch 

 pots. All cuttings are made much alike but dif- 

 fering in length. Geranium cuttings should be 

 about three inches long, while those of coleus and 

 begonia may be not more than one and a half 

 inches. 



In purchasing trees for the school grounds buy 

 those having points of real beauty. The flowering 

 dogwood, cockspur thorn, Japanese maple, um- 

 brella tree, mountain ash and cucumber tree, all 

 make good ornamental trees. The most practical 

 thing to do in tree planting is to use a tree com- 

 mon to the locality. Such trees always do rather 

 better than those not indigenous to the section. A 

 young tree dug from a near-by 

 swamp and planted in the 

 school grounds has every ad- 

 vantage, if the planting has 

 been properly done. 



Excellent shrubs for this 

 same purpose are: spice bush, 

 Japanese barberry, cranberry 

 bush, weigela, forsythia, Re- 

 gal's privet and rose of 

 Sharon. Among the vines try 

 Chinese wisteria, Dorothy Per- 

 kins rose, trumpet creeper, 

 wild clematis and bittersweet. 



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Weekly Calendar 

 for February 





A 6th grade problem : How mucfi lime to put on a 10x20 ft. plot at 1.000 pounds per acre 



five essays were submitted. A second prize was 

 offered in a grade when ten or more essays were 

 submitted. A year's subscription to The Garden 

 Magazine was given to the grade submitting the 

 most essays. 



Last year the club voted $50.00 for the salary of 

 the supervisor, and $9.00 for general improvement 

 prizes. Other prizes were secured from interested 

 ladies. Beside this the children brought home from 

 the Hoosac Valley Fair in North Adams the sum of 

 $12. 75 in premiums for their vegetables and $4.00 

 for their flowers. 



Williamstown, Mass. Elizabeth L. Clarke. 



The Month's Work 



IT IS time to transplant some of those little 

 seedlings you started last month. When the 

 first pair of true leaves appear it is quite time to 

 transplant. It is often wise to transplant seedlings 

 in groups. Instead of taking a single seedling take 

 a little group and place in new quarters. A wooden 

 label is a good instrument to use for this work. 

 Make the soil one half sand and one half garden soil, 

 well mixed together. After a time if you have used 

 the group plan, the seedlings will have to be trans- 

 planted again so that only one or two little plants 

 remain permanently in a pot. The number to 

 remain finally in a pot depends upon the size of the 

 plant and its demands upon the soil. For instance, 

 dwarf nasturtiums, making great demands, must 

 have finally a six inch pot for each plant; but do not 

 make the mistake of giving too large a pot at first. 

 Shifting on by degrees is better. 



If cuttings are started fill a box or flat with build- 

 er's sand. Press this down firmly after it has been 



1st week (2=7). Start toma- 

 toes in boxes. Thin out the 

 seedlings already started. In 

 class rooms give lessons on 

 root structure; also method of 

 transplanting and reason for 

 the same. Continue planting 

 pots of sweet peas from time 

 to time for the coldframe. 

 Make a study of plant families, 

 e. g., Pea family; sweet pea, 

 garden pea, bean, vetch, 

 clovers, locust, wisteria, pea- 

 nut, sensitive plant. Parsley 

 family; parsnips, caraway, 

 celery, carrot, wild carrot. Mustard; Shepherd's 

 purse, sweet alyssum, candytuft, horse radish, 

 cabbage, turnip, field mustard. 



2d week (9=14). As bulbs cease blooming, let 

 blossoms completely wither, cut off all foliage up to 

 one inch of bulb, dry thoroughly. Then store away 

 in tin boxes. These bulbs may be planted out 

 next fall, but will not be very satisfactory. Take 

 cuttings from old garden geraniums. Start in 

 moist sand. Then pot into individual pots. If 

 the weather is cold, see what the birds try to do to 

 buds of fruit trees and small fruit bushes. Watch 

 for pests on house plants. If lice appear, wash off 

 parts with strong soap suds with a little kerosene 

 in the water. 



3d week (16=21). Transplant tomato seedlings 

 and continue to plant seed in flats. Sow seeds of 

 half hardy annuals indoors. Repot any house 

 plants which need it. If house plants are not going 

 well give them a tonic of nitrate of soda. Add a 

 teaspoonful to a gallon of water. Use this to water 

 plants with once a week. Take up in class the 

 effect of water on certain soils. See School Garden 

 Bulletin for this or Hodge's "Nature Study and 

 Life." 



4th week (23=28). Make plans for the decora- 

 tion of your school grounds. Consider such questions 

 as that of tree planting, hardy borders, vines, fern- 

 eries. Send to Washington for bulletin on fores- 

 try. Start Madeira vine roots. Get samples of 

 garden soil and test for acidity with litmus paper. 

 Work out the amount of lime necessary to use on 

 garden plot if soil is acid. Peas may be planted in 

 deep trenches outdoors. 



