May 1907.] 313 Miscellaneous. 



SCHOOL GARDENS AND THEIR WORK IN THE UNITED STATES. 

 (From the Transactions of the Blassachusettes' Horticultural 

 Society, 1905, Part XI.) 



The year 1905 marks a turning point in the activities of this committee, 

 it being the last year that prizes Avill be awarded for Children's Herbariums and 

 Native plants, and it has been most successful. In the year to come the committee 

 will be known as the Committee on Children's Gardens, and all our efforts will be 

 directed to the encouragement of gardening among children, which is more directly 

 in line with the objects of the Society. 



During the year we offered prizes for school gardens, children's home 

 gardens, children's herbariums, and native plants. The work now dropped is that 

 connected with the last two, and we think that we can carry out the purposes of 

 the Society better by this change. While Ave regret being obliged to make the 

 change, we are very glad that the Trustees concur with us in the matter. Early 

 in the year, very soon after our prize circular was distributed, a letter was printed 

 in the Boston Transcript criticising our offering prizes for children's herbariums, 

 the writer complaining that we were encouraging the destruction of native plants. 

 It was thought wise to call together the members of the committee and to ask 

 several members of the Society for the Protection of Native Plants and others 

 interested, to meet with us to discuss the subject. While this gathering was not 

 largely attended it resulted in a decision that we were not encouraging the 

 destruction but rather helping the protection of native plants, and we made no 

 change in our efforts. As it has now been decided to drop this work as too botanical 

 for our Society, nothing further need be said. 



On looking over the results already accomplished we felt, that, while we 

 had fostered the school garden movement from the very beginning, we were not 

 having entries from all the gardens in the state, and that we were not giving 

 encouragement to more than a few of the older gardens. In order to bring our 

 work before the public four articles were written, one on each phase of the work, 

 and published in the Boston Transcript. We also sent out a large number of our 

 circulars to superintendents of schools and others likely to be interested. The 

 results of this canvas were most satisfactory as seen by the increased interest in 

 our work and in the number of entries for prizes. 



In order to become better acquainted with the children's garden movement, 

 and that we might carry on our work successfully, your chairman visited nearly 

 all the gardens entered for prizes. In this way it was possible for him to better 

 understand the existing conditions as well as to talk with the garden worker. A 

 number of other gardens were also visited ; among these were the School of Horti- 

 culture at Hartford, Conn., and the School Gardens of Hartford aud Amherst, 

 Mass. The gieat lesson learned was that children's gardens are successfully carried 

 on when under the leadership of an experienced garden director or teacher. No 

 matter how enthusiastically the work is undertaken, without a proper understand- 

 ing of gardening it is usually a failure, and the movement likely to be given up. 

 In all cases during these visits your chairman was cordially welcomed, and usually 

 a conference resulted which was helpful to both. There is a crying need for an 

 institution in this state similar to that at Hartford, Conn., where school garden 

 work can be taught, and it is hoped that such an institution will be started in this 

 vicinity at an early date. 



Children's Garden Conference. 

 With the hope of bringing together those interested in the movement, a 

 conference was planned in connection with our Children's Herbarium Exhibition 

 in December, and it proved a great success, Invitatious were sent out to a number; 



