House and Garden 
GARDENERS WHO HAVE PASSED THEIR USEFULNESS IN THE MORE USUAL COMMERCIAL 
FIELDS. THEY MAKE MANY DOLLARS DURING THE SEASON 
and tools from our two gardens last year. 
Apart from this, 250 children and their fami¬ 
lies have a personal interest in the tract, and 
they prove to be excellent guardians.” 
The Baldwin school, located at Seventeenth 
and Porter Streets, has the largest school 
garden in the country. It has six hundred 
individual plots, on each of which a pupil 
can raise enough for his family; there are 
also class plots for six hundred small children. 
A benevolent gentleman contributed $1,000 
to the improvement of this garden. This 
same benefactor recently purchased 1,400 
acres of land near London, England, which 
he turned over to the Central Poor Board of 
that city, to be used for the employment and 
maintenance of inmates of the poorhouses. 
The Baldwin garden contains four acres, 
and the work is under the care of the Vacant 
Lots Association and the Civic Club. A 
member of the latter said: “Philadelphia 
takes the lead in this good work. The growth 
of school gardens as a branch of industrial 
education in this country and in Europe 
during the past few years has been remark¬ 
able. Last year in this city perhaps one 
thousand school children had gardens. This 
year there will be three thousand and next 
year ten. The largest garden last year was 
at Fifty-sixth Street and Lansdowne Avenue, 
where there are 300 plots. To-day at Seven¬ 
teenth and Porter (Baldwin’s) we have 1,200, 
and who shall say hut that this will he called 
a small garden next year ? The Vacant Lots 
Cultivation Association began the work, the 
Civic Club and the Board of Education took 
it up, the papers and magazines are spread¬ 
ing it abroad, and to-day it is all over the 
world. The only wonder is, why some one 
did not think of it before.” 
One of the most pleasant results of the 
Vacant Lots Cultivation Association work, 
and one which has its approval, is what may 
be termed the graduates’ farms, the most 
notable example being that conducted by 
D. F. Rowe, an old newspaper manager, who 
began work on a vacant lot some years ago, 
although regarded as an almost hopeless 
invalid. Mr. Rowe believed that even the 
little help which the Association gave was 
lowering the standard of independence, and 
resolved to establish a garden to be “com¬ 
posed of men, women and children -former 
vacant lot gardeners—who desire to coop¬ 
erate in carrying out our declared purpose” 
(that of maintaining an enjoyable, healthful 
and profitable occupation for ambitious peo¬ 
ple, by raising and delivering to our friends 
and neighbors the best vegetables, fruits and 
flowers fresh from the gardens at the lowest 
price consistent with the quality and service 
rendered). Mr. Rowe’s efforts are proving 
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