July, 1913 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



349 



CONDUCTED BY ELLEX EDDY SHAW 



The Garden Contest 



NOW that the gardens are planted and the 

 summer work of maintenance is all one has to 

 think of it is time to prepare your statements for 

 our contest. Each year, for the past five years, this 

 department has been carrying on a garden contest 

 for boys and girls. This year we have changed 

 some of the conditions of the contest and the prizes, 

 too. The following table shows these changes: 



GIRLS' PRIZES 



The best color 

 scheme for a 

 flower garden. 

 The most com- 

 plete garden 

 diary. 



The best com- 

 position on the 

 owner's flower 

 or vegetable gar- 

 den. 



The finest col- 

 lection of an- 

 nuals. 



BOYS' PRIZES 



i. The greatest va-l 

 riety of vege- 

 tables. 



2. The best six 

 specimensof any 

 one vegetable. 



3. The garden 

 showing the 

 greatest profit. 



4. The best plan of 

 competitor 's 

 own garden. 



SCHOOL PRIZES 



The best drawn plan 

 for school or com- 

 munity garden. 



2. The garden showing 

 evidence of greatest 

 improvement during 

 the period of its de- 

 velopment. 



3. Plans for improve- 

 ment of country 

 school grounds. 



1st Prize in each 

 class: Gardener's 

 Basket. 



2nd Prize in 

 each class: 'Bird 

 Neighbors" or 

 "Nature's Gar- 

 den." 



3rd Prize: One 

 year's subscription 

 to The Garden 

 Magazine. 



1st Prize in each 

 class: Camera. 



2nd Prize in 

 each class: "Bird 

 Neighbors "or 

 "Nature's Gar- 

 den." 



3rd Prize in each 

 class: One year's 

 subscription to Tne 

 Garden Magazine. 



1st Prize: The Nat- 

 ure Library (or a sub- 

 stitute). 



2nd Prize: The Lib- 

 rary of Work and Play 



3rd Prize: The Lib- 

 rary of Work and Play. 



The gardener's basket, our first prize for girls, is 

 a basket fitted up to take into the garden for real 

 use. It is not a gathering basket but contains 

 scissors, measure, cord, and all those little things 

 one always is needing and does not have in her 

 pocket, especially as so few girls have nice, useful 

 pockets in their garden dresses or aprons. 



The Woodlawn Garden in Portland, Oregon, won 

 one of our first prizes, The Nature Library. 



A leading local paper in Portland sent its repre- 

 sentative to the school to see the prize which the 

 children won in our national contest and to take 

 pictures of groups of children enjoying The Nature 

 Library. This is what he wrote about it: 



"Do you remember, during your school days, how 

 your heart thumped with fear or, if you harbored 

 revenge in your tiny breast, how angry it made you 

 to be sent to the principal's office? Scores of the 

 little kiddies who constitute the great family of the 

 Woodlawn School are sent to the office every week; 

 and they are the very best youngsters in the school, 

 too. And what : s still more to the point they go 

 smiling and happy and even return to their classes 

 reluctantly. Here's the answer: As a special 

 reward for good behavior the children are being 



granted the privilege of spending some time in the 

 principal's office perusing the wonderful new nature 

 books which the school won in last year's justly 

 famous garden contest. 



"Don't ask if the children enjoy the books. That 

 is too mild a word. They are crazy about them, 

 and when I visited one of the rooms and the teacher 

 asked the children if they would like to tell me about 

 some of the things they had seen and read in the 

 books, a dozen hands went up and in their own chil- 

 dish ways they recalled what they had read about 

 some of the children of good Dame Nature." 



The following is a part of the report sent to us by 

 the garden supervisor, Miss Alice V. Joyce. This 

 came with pictures and a plan of the garden to meet 

 the requirements of our contest. This report may 

 be of help to others in working up their reports. 

 They should come in to us before November first: 



"We received the Nature Library and wish to 

 express our sincere thanks for the same. The boys 

 and girls are delighted with the books and best of 

 all that they won first prize. I assure you we can 

 use them in our work to a great advantage." 



As the Woodlawn School Garden was a means to 

 a great end in a very shoit time, it may help others 

 who are planning a school community garden to 

 know just how they did it. 



For several years the principal, Mr. T. J. Newhill, 

 bad been helping the pupils in home gardening and 

 finding how intensely interested they became, he 

 consulted the parents and teachers as to plans for a 

 community garden where the work would be done 

 under close supervision and benefited by the com- 

 panionship of others interested in the same work. 

 This plan met with hearty approval. The plot 

 most desirable was a tract of two and one-half 

 acres of partially cleared land diagonally across the 

 street from the Woodlawn School Building. 



After deciding to have a garden, plans were made 

 to have the child's mind in readiness for it as well as 

 the garden for the child, so that his time spent there 

 would be a pleasure as well as a profit 



Books, pamphlets from various agricultural 

 colleges, communications from Luther Burbank, 

 bulletins from the Department of Agriculture, 

 Washington, D. C, were distributed, read and dis- 



cussed. As soon as the weather permitted, the boys 

 under the leadership of the principal went to work, 

 with the true Oregon spirit, to clear the land and, 

 with the assistance of hired help for the most 

 difficult labor, soon had it in readiness. 



The Friday of April 12, 1912, was a gala day for 

 them when they were given an early dismissal to 

 gather roots, branches, build bonfires and do final 

 clearing. The garden tract was divided into six 

 hundred individual gardens 8 x 10 ft. with a centre 

 which was later designed, planted, and cared for 

 by the older pupils. 



The gardens were planted in uniform direction of 

 rows extending east and west. The children were 

 permitted to plant what they wished, encouraging 

 individuality. The ninth grade pupils, after caring 

 for their own gardens, planted one section with the 

 grains raised most successfully in Oregon. Another 

 section had a variety garden, where many varieties 

 of plants and flowers might be studied and ex- 

 changed. One section was planted in the various 

 kinds of berries best adapted to Oregon soil and 

 climate. 



The centre plot was designed by the older pupils. 

 In the centre was a fountain, surrounded by cannas 

 and bordered with salvia, with ground decorations 

 of pansies and sweet alyssum. 



As the Elks were convening in Portland in July, 

 they offered a cash prize of $100 for the school 

 garden showing the best floral design in the Elks 

 colors or emblems. The Woodlawn School com- 

 peted for this prize and won it. 



The expense of the Woodlawn Gardens may be of 

 interest to some. Money was raised through con- 

 tributions and by a flower sale, the entire receipts 

 being $167.12. The expenses for labor, seeds, print- 

 ing, etc., were $155.85 leaving a balance of $11.27. 



The work was planned and assisted by an advisory 

 committee consisting of patrons and teachers of the 

 Woodlawn School and inspected by a board sent 

 out by the School Garden Contest of Portland. 

 They expressed high approval of the work done, 

 which strengthened the assurance of all who had 

 helped to make the gardens a success that the work 

 was worth the effort in securing agricultural knowl- 

 edge for the children." 



The Nature Library has become a part of the school life to Wood] awn boys and 



