The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1905-10-26
GROTON SCHOOL GARDENS

WASHINGTON, D. e., Oct. %, 1905.
| Young Theodore Roosevelt has this
fall entered Harvard, the college of his
father. While his attainment will de-
pend of course on himself, he will, new
ertheless, find his pathway considerably
smoother than that of the average boy
OF the class of 90. This for two reasons;
! first, because he is a son of an old Har-
ward man, and the President, and sec
ond, because he is Groton boy, Whit b
means lot to a freshman, for GrotOn
is one of the distinguished Harvard
preparatory schools and its graduates
! always step into the very heart of
things at Cambridge Groton town be-
gins its training with the extremely
young mind. Not the least interesting
of its educational work and which is
destined perhaps to produce greater eff
fects upon modern educational systems
than even the famous Groton ''prep'
school, are the Groton school gardens.
These have already gained some fame
and their results are enthusiastically
| spoken of.
GREEK, AND INDIAN CORN.
| Mind development and mind training
may be accomplished as we'll by means
of the study of farm crops as OF the
dead languages. The study of Greek,
says Professor Bailey of Cornell, is a
no more proper means of education
than is the study of Indian corn--the
mind may be developed by means of
either One-and classics and calculus
are no more educational than are ma
chimes and potatoes.
The school garden work at GrotOn
begins with the simple things which
naturally interest a childish mind, and
the first thing they know the youngsters
are learning while they think they are
playing. Then in the next step the in
terest in the work takes hold of them
and they begin to feel pride and pro-
pretorship in doing things and &C
comprising results which grown up
people do. The wonder of the creative
idea gets hold of the children. They
plant seed in the spring. 1t comes
up, begins to grow, enlarges rapidly,
and before they have time to get tired,
it is ripe and ready to harvest and eat.
They have made it. 1t is the product
of their work.
If it is wonderful thing to the ma
ture mind that man can bend the forces
of nature to his intelligent will and
plant and reap, that out of the same
ground will spring a dozen different
crops, all useful and beautiful, how
much more amazing must it be to the
youthful, growing mind.
THE SOWING AND THE HARVEST.
And this idea of the plant and the
harvest, of in reality making the things
which are good to eat, which will salts
fly hunger and sustain life, is embodied
strongly in the human breast. 1t needs
only to be intelligently awakened and
fostered, and the great success of the
school garden work all over the country
shows the tremendous Importance of
this kind of education.
! To men who have never watched any
thing grow, have never assisted in its
production, it may never in all their
existence have occurred that life is sus-
tanned from the soil, aud that every
man can provide his own sustenance
from the ground.
At Groton the average size of the
chlld's garden is 10X40 feet. The Viii
lage Improvement Society furnishes
the tools and pays the salary of direc-
tor. All other supplies are furnished,
most of the seed from the Department
of Agriculture at Washington; all that
is expected of the children is to work
the garden. The director tells how and
when to plant and provides good ro-
tation of crops. Turnips, carrots, cab
bages are planted after radishes, lettuce
and peas are done.
ENOUGH TO SUPPLY THE FAMILIES.
The children have. enough in their
gardens to supply their families with
vegetables and to sell some, if not keep
some for winter. One boy raised the
following things in his little garden
during the last three years: