Chapter III 
CHILDHOOD IN THE GARDEN 
I F all children might be brought up in gardens, there 
would probably be few criminals raised, and many 
of the more unhappy developments in the race be 
finally swept away. Practically every child loves gar¬ 
dens, adores digging in the ground, and comes very 
soon to taking an interest in the right way of planting 
and caring for growing things. Put a child into a gar¬ 
den, and with little instruction and no trouble you make 
him healthy, happy, and quite wise enough. How bet¬ 
ter can you educate his sense of beauty and order or 
cultivate in him a perception of natural laws ? Give 
him his own special corner, his feeling of responsibility. 
The burden of flowers is a slight one to lay on young 
shoulders, and will broaden and straighten the alert 
young bodies, not bow them down. Answer all his 
questions too; it may necessitate a good deal of study 
on your part, but you won’t be sorry for that. 
On many of the English estates a portion of the land 
is set aside for the “children’s garden,” and as much 
attention is given to its arrangement and completeness 
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