Vacant Lots Cultivation in Philadelphia 
THE BOYS AT WORK IN THE SCHOOL GARDEN 
very successful. He is a firm believer in his 
present occupation. “I tell you,” he said, 
“the people of the city should seek fortune 
in the country. Not the fortune of dollars 
alone, but also the fortune of health and a 
happy life. I wish all young men in the 
country could know that they have a better 
thing at home in nine cases out of ten than 
they have by coming to the city. I am going 
to convert some of the city men to the idea of 
going to the country.” Would that Mr. 
Rowe’s philosophy could be brought to the 
attention of every country boy in the land 
who is dissatisfied with his surroundings! 
Mr. Rowe’s health is greatly improved. 
Besides raising enough vegetables for their 
own use, the families associated with him 
share in the profits of all that is sold. Mr. 
Rowe buys the vegetables at the wholesale 
market price. They are then sold by the 
farmer’s children, who receive a commission 
of 20 per cent. The boys attending school 
also profit by the farm and many of them 
earn 50 cents a day by selling vegetables 
before and after school. The output is in 
great demand. Before the juvenile huck¬ 
sters are half over their routes their wagons 
are emptied; they never have to return with 
unsold produce. Often a line of women, 
with baskets, waiting for the vegetables to be 
picked, is one of the sights that greets the 
passer-by. It is amusing to see some of the 
rigs by which the children huckster the vege¬ 
tables. Some of them are improvised from 
old baby carriages, from soap boxes, and 
from whatever will answer the purpose. “It 
is like playing,” said one urchin, “and getting 
paid for it.” 
Mr. Powell, the general superintendent, has 
many interesting incidents to narrate in con¬ 
nection with the work. He says: “Going 
over the land under cultivation early in Feb¬ 
ruary, I discovered that some one was sleeping 
in a small shanty that was erected on one of 
the gardens as a tool house. It was an open 
board box about five feet wide by seven in 
length, with a dirt floor and a tarred paper 
roof. The bed was a wide board resting on 
short sticks of timber, on which were spread 
some fifty newspapers. They were placed 
on the board in such a manner as to cover 
it thoroughly and extend up the side wall 
about eighteen inches. An old sack filled with 
grass was the only semblance of a pillow. 
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