6 
GARDENS AND THEIR MEANING 
If, however, gardening must at present be judged on its 
incidental merits, there is one of these, as yet unmentioned, 
quite worthy of leading all the rest. It is the subtle, sunny 
influence of gardening which has mellowed the atmosphere 
of many a schoolroom. Garden teachers themselves are the 
first to realize this. " Whatever else,” begged one director 
of her associates, ” do not make the garden into a school- 
room, but make the schoolroom more like a garden.” Put- 
ting this plea into words would hardly seem necessary ; for to 
carry the formal and repressive customs of some very good 
schools out into the exhilarating life of the open would be as 
impossible as to carry the powdered wigs and low curtsies of 
the minuet into a game of basket ball. A whiff of the spicy 
air and the call of the warm Mother Earth are in themselves 
enough to snap the ties of formality between teacher and 
children ; and it very soon happens that in spite of itself, 
the hand of the disciplinarian relaxes its rigid grasp and gives 
rein to elasticity, buoyancy, and good comradeship. In an 
atmosphere charged with these life-giving qualities there 
is developed, out in the garden, an. easy give-and-take in 
opinion, a cordial comparison of results, and a respect for 
the efforts of others and for their possessions such as never 
was known indoors. 
* 
The value of having workmates as well as playmates is 
something that very early appeals to children ; it seems to 
them only good sense to make common cause with others. 
In gardening they must organize, at any rate, for mutual de- 
fense against foes, whether two-footed or four-footed. This 
may be done so effectively that in a school garden there is 
seldom any trouble from intruders. As a matter of fact, there 
are no more efficient guardians of property anywhere to 
be found than the children themselves. To put it in bar- 
baric terms, they have learned once for all through these 
