Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1902-06-05
CHILDREN AS GARDENERS.
Lessons in Raising Plants and Veg
etables at the Boston Schools,

IBoston HERALD
/ About 10000 feet of land at Dart
mouth street and Warren avenue has
been snatched from the limbo of I'M
productiveness and neglect by boy and
girl classes in gardening. This in
novation in the education of children
| in this part of the world was first
tried as an experiment one year ago
The initiative in the matter was taken
by Miss Annie Wilmington of the south
| end house, and Miss Dora Williams,
| head of the science department of the
Boston Normal school,
| The vacant lot where perhaps many
future captains of industry are now
engaged in coaxing mother earth to
| seNd up onions, beans, corn, radishes,
beets, lettuce, potatoes and tomatoes,
adjoins the Latin school building, and
on Thursdays of each week when the
weather is fine boys from the Rice
school, girls from the Franklin school
and ten young women from the Boston
Normal school meet in the garden to
plant and weed, rake and refresh new
ly transplanted slips with sprinkling
pots.
The boys and girls are from the
seventh grade of their respective
schools. healthy appearing children,
who look eargerly forward to the COM
ing of each Thursday for their week
~ outing in the garden.
The young women from the Normal
school are well advanced in the science
OF gardening, and while learning more
each week concerning soils, fertilizers
seeds, plants, weeds and other things to
prepare them for careers as teachers
they devote considerable time to assist
Ing Miss Williams. who has full charge
OF the gardening scheme this year.
Miss Mary E. Mailman, of the Rice
school and Miss Ella Erksine of the
Franklin work with their classes.
Teachers and pupils alike are enthusi-
astically in favor of the scheme, which
in several countries of continental Eu-
rope has long obtained as one OF the
chief branches of nature study.
The garden is conducted under the
direction of the Boston Normal school.
Or. Field of the institute of Technology
has taken great deal of interest in the
scheme. helped in the laying out of the
plots, and gives lectures to the children
on plants and seeds and soils, their care
and selection.
work last year was begun infmedi-
ateiy after the spring vacation. Nor
mai school pupils visited the city
greenhouse, where they We're instructed
IN soils, the preparation of the earth
Tor seeds, the method of planting diff
ferent kinds of seeds, and the care of
the garden while the plants are grow
ing. The knowledge thus acquired was
transmitted to the pupils of the Rice
and Franklin schools. One half of the
nature study class at time was taken
into one of the recitation rooms OF the
normal school and given q lesson in
planting by one of the normal pupils.
Each of the young pupils was sup
piled with cigar box filed with earth
to represent a garden. Pebbles were
placed In the bottom of each box to aid
in draining. The children We're then
taught to make straight burrows, to
plant seeds at the proper depth, and
how not to SOW them too thckly. In
door training at an end the pupils |
were taken to the open lot, which had
been partly prepared by a gardener
who assisted in teaching them to turn
the land over and spade in the manure
He also illustrated the handling of gar
den tools. Ii
Eighty-two beds, each ten feet long |
and three feet wide, We're staked out,
and to each child was assigned par
ticular garden. Interest in this new