SMALL GARDENS 



plants; still, it is well to study the possibili- 

 ties for general effect, and do all that can be 

 done to secure pleasing results. Where 

 plants that grow to a height of three feet 

 are grown, the best place for them^is at the 

 rear, or along the boundary of the lot, where 

 they will serve as a background for plants 

 of low^er habit. 



Children should be encouraged to take 

 an interest in the cultivation of small gardens. 

 They will do this if the parents are willing 

 to help them a little at the start. Show them 

 how to spade up the soil in spring, and how 

 to work it over and over until it is fine and 

 mellow. They will make play of this part of 

 garden work, as it is as natural for a child to 

 dig in the dirt as it is for a pig to wallow in 

 a mud-puddle. Add some kind of fertilizer 

 to the soil, and explain to the boys and girls 

 that it is food for the plants that are to be. 

 Show them how to sow seed, and tell them 

 all you can about the processes of germina- 

 tion, and encourage them to watch for the 

 appearance of the seedlings. In a short time 

 you will have aroused in them such interest 

 in the work they have undertaken that it 

 will be as fascinating to them as a story, 

 and nature will take delight in writing it 

 out for them in daily instalments that con- 



79 



