Part 13 (1/2)

By this tiround was in condition to be worked Which should we do first, spade it up, or lay it off? We decided that ould first dig up the entire plat and level it Now, in spacing off, should we begin at the center or froly advocated, and finally, the children themselves concluded that it would be easier to measure for the center and space off froht Children stood at the sides and ends of the garden The middle points of the sides were determined and connected with a cord, and likewise the two ends The intersection of the cords was the center of the plat and here a stake was driven

Attaching a cord to this stake two feet along the cord wasthe cord as a radius, a circle was made and the middle bed staked off Next the three-foot path to opposite ends was marked off, then the center one-foot path to opposite sides

Thisthe rest of the plat was easy Two s portion and when the ends were reached the measurements were found to be accurate

The paths between the beds were next

[Illustration: A SUGGESTION FOR RECESS HOUR]

After spading, leveling, and thoroughly pulverizing the native soil, we added a top layer of foreign soil as a fertilizer The latter cas which had been standing two years and was supposed to be nutritious As it turned out, however, this soil contained little nutrietables, and it required ht these ene, which was intensely interesting to the children Roelve inches apart wereto the relative height of the plants which they would produce, those that would grow tallest being placed next to the fence, and the rest graduating to the center; thus:--

Fence Corn Pole Beans Peas String Beans Lettuce Radishes Lettuce Parsley Flowers

First carains to a hill, the hills twelve inches apart

Then pole beans, three beans to a hill and these hills separated twelve inches Next we planted two peas in a hill andbeans were planted just as the peas had been

Then came a row of lettuce, next radishes, a second row of lettuce, and last parsley The end of the bed was left for flowers On Arbor Day, in the classrooht have the plants ready for transplanting when our outside soil was in condition The lettuce plants turned out satisfactorily, but, for some unaccountable reason, the tomatoes were a failure To replace the latter, we took a corner bed in the garden, divided it into three sections and planted toe seeds In five weeks the toh to transplant, and, as the radishes and lettuce e plants were put in the vacant places

Two pumpkin seeds were planted in each bed, but if they both caood size, the weaker one of the teeded out (as the bed was too ser one left to bear fruit

Why had we planted onion seed? One of the boys had brought an onion and asked if he ht plant it in his bed, and if it would produce other onions I explained to him and then allowed him to plant the seeds in the supply bed at the same time that he planted the onion in his own bed The onion planted produced seed, while the seeds sown yielded the s Thus by the act of one child the fact was clearly demonstrated to the class that fruit produces seed, and seed produces fruit

The supervisor had given us a wren-box, made by a child in a hted with the gift; they built a framework around a stout pole in the center bed and set the wren-box on the pole They then suggested that a vine should cover this fralories were chosen as the vine and the reolds, nasturtiums and coleus

[Illustration: A GARDEN IN THE YARD OF A CITY SCHOOL]

The seeds being planted, the work in the garden was at a standstill until the plants appeared, then systeroups and two children were assigned to a plat We worked in the garden on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for half an hour each day Thus, each group had its day once a week regularly

Finding that it was impossible to direct satisfactorily more than twelve children at a tio to and coarden took a half-hour, and with half an hour's work there the child ay from the classroom one hour a week This allowed ample time to keep the beds in order, for two children were apportioned to a bed, and these tent on separate days, so that each plat orked twice a week

[Illustration: GARDEN BEDS AROUND THREE SIDES OF THE PLAYGROUND]

The first crop of peas and of beans were gathered as vegetables When the plants ceased to bear a second planting was s When ripe, the seeds were gathered and carefully put away in the sectional seed-boxes which the children had constructed for the purpose

[Illustration: ANOTHER SECTION OF THE SAME GARDEN]

The children took care of the garden during vacation, gathered the vegetables as they ripened, and with pardonable pride carried theratified and as much interested as the children Several of the boys had individual appliances arden Often on Monday s would come the account of the Sunday ith arden and how much the parents admired it

One instance occurred which proved the value of this garden work and showed how devoid of a knowledge of vegetable growtharound the root of his to I asked what he was doing

”I want to see if there are any small tomatoes there,” he replied As the fruit of the radish had coround he expected to find the toh his self-activity was proved in several instances, one of which I will h a poor student, was placed on the list of garden children and proved to be the roup Why? His father was a baker; the boy worked in the bakery until eleven every night; slept until four, then arose and delivered goods until eight, and was in the classrooy as a student? When he was removed from the confinement of the classroom the pure outside air acted as a tonic, his interest akened and his ell done

This same child, whenever relieved of hoarden instead of devoting it to play He hauled a quantity of shells hich to pave the paths, and brought all the sod we needed to fore around the center bed Can there be any doubt that this boy was benefited?