SIDE SHOWS 
15 
That woodworking is an important accessory to gardening 
has already been shown in the course of these pages, but the 
extent to which simple carpentry can be used in and about 
a garden seems almost unlimited. Boys and girls can learn 
to construct anything, from a bird house to a greenhouse, if 
they care to try. 
In certain private schools the laws of construction and the 
handling of tools are being taught not so much by graded 
school exercises as by actual building. The director of one 
such school^ writes : "We will build and place our own fences, 
coops, beehives, outhouses, boats, and sheds. The interest 
of the entire school in the progress of the work on the new 
boat, or the greenhouse that may be building, will stimulate 
the pupils engaged to do their best. Later when their task 
is done and the product in actual use, it will be a daily 
reminder of the dignity and worth of labor." 
Turning aside for a moment from matters of purely eco- 
nomic interest, we may consider some of those that approach 
the aesthetic. A delightful feature now being revived from 
the gardens of olden times is the sundial. Young people 
have been known to take great pleasure in one. It often 
has a subtle charm for even young children. One writer 
recalls with what awe as a child he approached the first sun- 
dial of his experience. It seemed so mysterious, he says, — 
this sentinel of light, - — that it made a lasting impression, in 
which the garden figured as a little fairy world 
Sundials, it appears, were much in vogue in the days 
of good Queen Anne. But as the years sped on, the custom 
died out, except when friends had them designed for each 
other in order to mark in unique fashion such festivals as 
birthdays. George Washington, it will be remembered, took 
1 The Interlaken School. 
2 Loring Underwood, The Garden and its Accessories. 
