Illlllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll SCHOOL GARDENS lllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll^ 
School Garden, Coamo, Porto Rico. 
The Effect on the Life of the Gardener and 
Non-Gardener 
Most educators agree that the farm is the best place to raise children, 
not only because of the pure air, but because they learn the great lessons 
of nature from the concrete rather than from the abstract. True, it is 
not possible to move all the children of the cities to the country, but it 
is possible in a large measure to bring country conditions to the city, by 
establishing gardens and introducing nature study as an important part of 
the daily lessons. 
Reports have come to us of many cases where children previously 
incorrigible, have become some of the most industrious, and brightest 
children in the school after the inauguration of the school garden. 
The normal boy and girl has an abundance of enthusiasm, and must 
have some kind of a safety-valve. Give them a garden plot, and teach 
them the many interesting and valuable lessons to be learned therein, 
and they will have less enthusiasm for things you do not wish them to do. 
What Can be'iProduced on a City Lot 
Many do not realize what can be produced on an ordinary city lot. 
We receive many letters telling what the children have succeeded in 
growing. The following from a little girl in Ludington, Mich., is an 
illustration of what can be done even under difficulties. She writes, “The 
lot contained one house, a barn, coal shed, an 8 by 8 cage containing an 
eagle, five apple trees, two cherry, one plum, one crabapple and one pear 
tree, two grape vines, besides seventy-five cords of wood.” In this 
garden she raised corn, beets, turnips, cucumbers, onions, squashes, 
dahlias and other flowers. Who will say in the face of such experience 
that children’s gardening is not worth while? 
ii i hi iiiiiim i mi 11 ii 11 hi i hi i in i ii 11 hi i hi mi.. 
33 
