PBEPAFTNG SCHOOL GARDENS 



189 



first, but several, finding the work too 

 difficnlt, dropped ont. Others took their 

 places, and the gardens have been occupied 

 all summer, and each boy has engaged the 

 same garden for next year. I taught them 

 something each day, and often found it 

 difficult to make them stop work. One 

 day we were driven in 1jy a storm. After 

 the tools had been put in their proper 

 places, they begged me to stay and talk 

 to them. They arranged themselves on 

 a pile of lumber. I sat in the wheelbar- 

 row; the rain poured without, the light- 

 ning flashed, the thunder pealed, but there 

 sat that little company of boys, breath- 

 less. They were being initiated into some 

 of the marvels of creation. 



The boys are alive to many things. They 

 have been much interested in the soil and 

 the way plants take their food. The po- 

 tatoes for planting gave an opportunity 

 for a lesson on the storing of plant food. 



The boys became interested in the in- 

 sects we found in the garden, and each 

 one is making a collection of them, and 

 separating them into beneficial and in- 

 jurious species. They are learning how 

 to combat those having biting mouth parts 

 and those having sucking mouth parts. 

 One day while we were resting under the 

 shade of an apple tree we discovered a 

 tent caterpillar's nest. We examined the 

 web and larvae, the defoliated branch, and 

 discussed the effect upon the life con- 

 ditions of the tree, the function of the 

 leaves, etc. I gave them the life history 

 of the insect, and they decided it would be 

 easiest to destrov it in the egg state. How- 

 ever, they destroyed every cocoon they 

 found. One of the assistants is a great 

 bird lover, and the boys have learned to 

 recognize by flight, marking, song and call 

 notes, all the birds in the vicinity, and 

 their value in keeping insects in check. 



Thus we are taking up in the garden 

 the same work which seems so illogical in 

 the school room. All nature is a unit. 

 The study of soil, plants, insects and birds 

 is so closely related that to separate them 

 would be Litterly irrational and impossible. 



A gentleman who recognized the value 

 of such training has offered two prizes to 

 the boys. Boys will Ijc bovs, and they are 

 not always thoughtful, and I have had oc- 

 casion to speak to them about politeness. 

 I asked them to raise their hats when they 

 spoke to the teachers and before they left 

 the garden to come and say good-night. 

 1 urged them to be kind and considerate 

 of one another. When they were agreeing 

 upon the points to be considered in award- 

 ing the prizes — attendance, punctuality, 

 care of tools, well-kept garden, good 

 products — one boy suggested courtesy. 



PART OF HIS HARVEST 



They had learned the lesson. They are 

 dear, interesting boys. They have organ- 

 ized themselves into a club. During the 

 winter I am giving them some experi- 

 mental work on soils, plant physiology, 

 simple work in physics and chemistry, and 

 a stereopticon lecture on the life histories 

 of the insects they found in the garden, 

 and the birds that keep them in check. 

 The possibilities are endless. The object 

 is to make not gardeners, but men. 



