436 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
and in pots, as a result of the adjacent cultivation carried on by the 
children. 
" The soil here was not in such good condition as in the former 
plot, but time will remedy this. Commendable progress had, how- 
ever, been made, with promise of better results in the near future. 
Here, too, all the work done by the children was in full view of the 
surrounding houses. The vegetables noticed were similar to those 
of the first plot. 
" The third garden visited was in what may be termed ' slumland,' 
poverty and small one-storey dwellings being all round. Yet a 
general tidiness and cleanliness pervaded the place, a result beyond 
question partly due to the work of the children in their gardens. At 
one time this land, not an available site for building, and in a certain 
sense without owner, was a general dumping-ground for all the unde- 
sirable refuse of the locality — in fact, a veritable ' no man's land.' 
This, again, had not long been under cultivation. It was evident too 
that there had been great difficulties to be overcome. Potsherds, 
brickbats, and similar undesirable refuse had to be removed to some 
two feet in depth before any soil whatever worthy of the name could 
be found. This meant a great deal of labour, for all had to be removed 
by a flight of some half-a-dozen steps. The same steps had again to 
be negotiated in order to bring in some amount of loam in order 
to get it into better condition. Although the surroundings in a great 
measure excluded the free circulation of air, the crops in many 
plots were giving encouraging results, but in a few cases the soil 
appeared to be poisoned. It should be noted in this instance that 
the inhabitants around were at first much opposed to the innova- 
tion of any kind of gardening, but had now quite altered their opinion 
and were most favourable to it. 
" We next inspected a prospective site for more gardens. Nothing 
had yet been attempted here, simply for want of funds. It has every- 
thing in its favour, if and when progress can be made. The sur- 
roundings are open, light, and airy, with a good aspect towards the 
south and west. At present there are tons of bricks and brickbats, 
with other refuse, from houses that had been condemned and pulled 
down. This, Mrs. Lyons said, had all to be removed at the expense 
of the Children's Gardens Fund before any attempt at cultivation 
could be made. At present there are no funds available for this 
work. The bricks, however, would prove serviceable for foundations 
&c, but no building is at present being done in this locality. 
"The fourth garden visited was in the Vauxhall Bridge Road — a 
corner site and a most suitable one too. This had been shut off from 
the roadway by hoardings, but not in such a way as to exclude light 
and air. Here the soil was congenial and in a workable condition ; 
the crops at a glance indicated this. The best crops were the onions 
and carrots, both of excellent quality ; French beans and radishes 
coming next in order of merit. Here we were introduced to the 
children themselves, those who actually cultivate the plots. They 
