PARK AND CE;ME.T£,R1C 
11 
VACATION COMMITTEE OF SECOND GRADE CHILDREN, 
FRANKLIN SCHOOL, WASHINGTON, D, C., POI’R MONTHS 
AFTER PLANTING. 
setts Horticultural Society for many years had offered 
a yearly prize for the best school garden and the best 
made of it. In 1900 individual plats were first culti- 
vated and in 1901 the Boston Normal School operated 
the second garden of the kdnd. The Normal School 
now offers a lecture course in simple agriculture, lay- 
ing out school gardens and teaching gardening to chil- 
dren. The difficulty in all the older cities is to find 
convenient land for the garden itself, and in Boston 
some of the brick paving about the school premise! 
has been taken up to provide the necessary facilities. 
There are now a number of prosperous school gardens 
in Boston,' but the expense of the work is as yet largely 
borne by private contributors tbrough such associations 
as the Twentieth Century Club, etc. 
The Education Society of Brookline, Mass., has es- 
tablished three school gardens to demonstrate the prac- 
tical value of such gardens and with the hope that the 
school board would adopt the garden as an adjunct 
to public schools generally. The experiment has been 
highly gratifying, demonstrating that the plan is feasi- 
ble under adverse circumstances and full of promise of 
wide adaptibility. 
.About the best experience on record as vet is that 
of the State Normal School at Hyannis, Mass., where 
the principal. Prof. W. A. Baldwin, has made a very 
close study of the relations between school gardenr- 
and other school work, and has worked up a scheme 
of grade education in which the correlation of the 
two makes for the good of both. The figures, facts, 
and particulars comprehended in the garden work are 
incorporated into the class e.xcrcises, and even the busi- 
ness connected with the work of garden making, plant- 
ing and disposing of the products, is included in the 
class work of the higher grades. A summer normal 
course for teachers affords an opportunity for teach- 
ers to study this growing question. 
Much attention is being given to the subject in 
Worcester, Mass, although but little practical aid has 
been accorded by school authorities. A number of the 
more progressive teachers, assisted by a public spirited 
citizen, Mr. Walter D. Ross, enlisted in the cause, and 
Mr. Ross has furnished seeds and fertilizers for over 
two years to all schools desiring them. In 1904 twenty- 
seven schools availed themselves of the offer. The 
work is done in the nature-study period of the child’s 
education, the out-door work following informal les- 
son in the classroom. Since the idea took firm hold 
there has- been considerable improvement in the neigh- 
borhood of the schools. 
Inspired by interest in civic betterment through the 
Woman's Institute of Yonkers, N. Y., and supported 
by a private subscription, the Yonkers garden-school 
was started in 1903, when two small gardens were 
established in the tenement district with 36 bovs from 
public and ]iarochial schools in the vicinity. Two un- 
sightly vacant lots were first occupied and with such 
success that it was determined to engage in larger 
operations the next summer. The garden-school now 
covers i^ acres of ground, on which some 250 plats 
are laid out, and a proper equipment is maintained for 
working them. A superintendent and laborer are en- 
gaged and are assisted by volunteer help. Each boy 
]mpil pays 2 cents per week as a membership fee. If 
he is unable to pay in cash, an equivalent is accepted in 
produce, and a book account is kept for each plat. The 
instruction in the main is individual, and is as com- 
plete as possible under the circumstances. In 1904 
the estimated market value of the produce was $1,200. 
Each boy was entitled to the fruits of his industry. 
The interest has increased and far greater facilities 
must be provided. It is stated that were girls admit- 
ted and land available, nearly 1,000 children could be 
cared for. Another local association has also entered 
this interesting field in a smaller way. 
Rochester, N. Y., sets a good example. The school 
authorities grade and sod the school yards, while the 
A LESSON ON WEEDS AND WEEDING. HYANNIS, MASS. 
