Evening star., 1902-08-28
SCHOOL G. A RID E N s
CHILDREN LIKE TO LEARN
THROUGH THIS MEANS. 80
Interest in the Cultivation Of the Soil
Grows Yearly-Experiments
in American Cities.
Richard ]. Crosby in the Independent.

Richard ]. Crosby in the Independent.
Modern school gardens began to be push
ed about thirty-fve years ago in Austria
and Sweden. There are more than 1900
school gardens in Sweden and more than
$4,000 in Austria. in some of the Austrian
provinces no school being without it's gar
den. In Belgium garden of at least 391a
square rods is required by law for each
school. In Switzerland great attention has
been paid to school gardens, and in France
the students at the 100 normal schools re-
ceive training in horticulture and agricul-
ture part of their course. In 1897 Rus
sia contained 5000 school gardens. many of
them containing colonies of bees and silk
worm hatcheries.
American Gardens.
In America school gardens were unknown
until the subject was introduced by the
Massachusetts Horticultural Society In
1890. Since then the society has given
three annual prizes for the best school
gardens offered for inspection, and the first
prize has in each case been taken by the
George Putnam School. Medford, Mass,
has three school gardens, and at Framing
ham and Hyannis there are gardens in
connection with State Normal practice
schools. Wenham, Mass, has five school
gardens. Similar gardens have been start
ed in Bath, Me; Trenton, ST. Louis, Louis
vile and Rochester. In Rochester four or
five schools have undertaken school ground
improvement, and in spite of many dis
coura gementS have accomplished note
worthy results. They have been aided and
in part directed by the nature study
bureau of Cornell University, which is also
doing much in other parts of the state for
the Improvement of educational methods.
Movement in Cleveland.
In Cleveland a movement similar to
those already described, and yet not the
same, was successfully inaugurated three
years ago by the Home Gardening Asso-
citation. In this instance, however, home
gardens-the Improvement of home grounds
Improvement of school grounds was at tirst
incidental. At present the work fostered by
the Home Gardening Association comprises
both these features, and also kitchen gar
den work for boys at the Goodrich House
farm Some idea of the popularity and
growth of the movement can be obtained
by comparing the number of penny pack
ages of seeds sold to children last year and
the year before. In 1900 over 4S,SC0 such
packages were sold, and in 1901 the num-
Der was over 121 ,OGO. This year more seeds
have been sold than last year. notwith-
standing the fact that many of the chill
dren raised their own seed.
The Ohaha. Neb., city schools are just
entering upon the school garden movement.
Garden work begins in the kindergarten
and extends through the eighth grade, and
includes the growing of both flowers and
vegetables. At Central Park the pupils
have put in one acre of vegetables and
have engaged to care for them all summer.
The vegetables are to be sold and the pro-
ceeds used in procuring decorations for the
school rooms. Princeton, N. j., has also
undertaken the work this year, and is try
ing a modification of the Cleveland plan.