GARDENS FOR SCHOOL CHILDREN.
Much has been said and written during the past five or six years on the subject of school gardens, and many efforts have been made by teachers and pupils to carry out the suggestions of these speakers and writers. In the majority of cases these efforts have not been crowned with the success that the enthusiastic teacher and her equally enthusiastic pupils had reason to expect. Why is this?
In the first place, few teachers and pupils should attempt to grow anything to maturity in school gardens. The reason for this is plain. The country schools close during the latter part of May and early June; the teacher goes to her home, and the little garden in which all have taken such pleasure and pride, lies neglected and forgotten, during the very weeks in which it needs the most attention and care. In a few days, at this rapidly growing season of the year, the weeds have overrun the garden and a little later have completely starved out the plants. The garden, once a pleasant sight to look upon, becomes an offense to the eye and an object of derision to the passerby, perhaps to the children themselves. What, then, is the use of a school garden?
The school garden's sole and only use is that of an experimental plot with which to teach the conditions influencing the growth of plants and in which to interest children in the study of plant life. Here the soil may be properly fertilized, carefully prepared, thoroughly pulverized, and the seed-bad made by the children themselves under the guidance of the teacher. In this plot the seeds may be placed at the proper distance apart, covered to the right depth, and their germination and growth watched and carefully studied from day to day.
Each pupil may keep a note book in which he records the date of planting, the date when the first plants appear, the progress of their growth, and the time of the successive cultivations. He may also keep a record of all of weather conditions from the date of planting, noting the morning, noon, and evening temperature, if a thermometer is at hand, and whether the day is clear, cloudy, or rainy. In this note book he may keep a record of all of his work in this garden.
To each pupil may be assigned a particular portion and several pupils may be encouraged to cultivate the same kind of plants and vie with each other in trying to force them to make the most rapid growth. The teacher may encourage this competition and assist the less successful to find the cause of their failures.
This garden should not be large, its size depending upon the number of pupils in the school. In no case should any pupil have more space allotted to him than he can easily care for in the best possible manner.
When school is about to close, all plants should be pulled up and the plot sown to clover and oats or some other quick-growing crop, to keep it free from weeds and that it may be in good condition for the next year's garden. In no case should it be left to grow up to weeds and become an eyesore and a discouragement to the pupils who planted it. Better not plant a garden at all.
In conjunction with this school garden, and of far greater importance, the pupil may be encouraged to grow plants to complete maturity
