Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-09-11

Children, says Superintendent A. L. Stuart
of the public schools, las the school garden
movement. There will be an exhibit of
flowers grown by the children in the school
gardens and under school influences at their
own home gardens the latter part Of this
month soon after school opens"
The extent Of the garden enthusiasm ana
the method by which the school yards have
been turned into Towering gardens is made
clear by the remarks of Miss Susan Sipe OF
the Normal School. who says:
Miss Sipe's Experience.
For the last three years the Department
of Agriculture, through the bureau of plant
industry, has made possible the training In
elementary gardening of the students In
Washington who are preparing to teach IN
the public schools
Statistics taken In Normal School No !
before this privilege was granted showed
that two-thirdS of the students. young Ia
dies from eighteen to twenty years of age
and graduates of the high schools of the
city, had never put seed in the ground.
Few had any knowledge Of the preparation
of the soil for even so small place as a
city yard. One student was found endeav-
oring to dig her whole garden three feet in
depth with a trowel in order to prepare
seed bed for coreopsis. The lack of gen
eral Information among them of our
common flowers and vegetables was aston
ishing One girl did not know peas when
the pods were on the vines. OF class of
twenty-four but one positive that 1t
took radishes less than two seasons to ma
ture. A list of the names of our common
est flowers, Zinnia, marigold larkspur, scar
let sage. brought little response from them,
for they were, until recently, simply known
as flowers and these young ladies were the
prospective teachers of the city.
Realizing that the teachers must be
trained before the children can be reached,
the bureau of plant industry is urging the
establishment of elementary courses in
horticulture and agriculture in all normal
schools, and is demonstrating its ideas
through the normal schools at Washington
Three years ago the chief of the bureau,
DR.. B. 7. Galloway, through whose efforts
the work has been accomplished, sent de-
partment expert to the Normal School to
present to the students, in simple lecture
form, such information as would be helpful
in planning and planting home gardens.
every season since, to improve some por-
ton of the home surroundings. One hum
dred and seventy students have taken the
course since Its establishment.
Every Garden Inspected.
"As this Is legitimate school work every
garden has been inspected by the teacher
in charge and suggestions given when nee
essary. OF eighty-flve gardens visited in
the spring but three were failures. and
these were caused by obstacles too difficult
for the gardeners to surmount. My own
experience has been that these young teach
ers find much pleasure in watching the
gardens to their full fruit that it Is de-
light to them to help the children. If a
teacher hopes to inspire the children under
her charge she should by all means have
her own home garden from which to de-
rive her enthusiasm and inspiration.
Last winter large greenhouse on the
RI 10
school and facilities are now at hand for
giving both theoretical and practical in
structions to the students Necessarily,
much material is propagated, so that the
school has become the supply department
for plants for school ground decoration
throughout the city. Such impetus
has been given by this means to the
of school grounds that three
in the District whose grounds showed care
the rest were neglected. Now 120 of the
124 buildings for graded schools have gar
dens. But few Of these are pretentous
but what has been done has been done by
the children. They have brought tools
from home and given the labor; shrubbery
has been bought by the teachers and do
mated by parents and some OF our public
spirited florists; seeds have been given gen.
erously by the Department Of Agriculture
These school gardens have inspired the
children for home planting, so that a local
scotsman sold to them 10000 penny pack
at work in the District thousands of young
gardeners looking forward to the flower
show in the fall who have been immensely
benefited by the instructions given. who
will never lose their fondness for the soil
and who will make better citizens In the
future for 1t. The children have learned
that 1t takes labor to produce flowers. that
ones property should be respected and pro-
tected. so that neghborhods which for
merry suffered much from vandalism have
had immunity, from such for two years.
Lessons in Nature Study.
"Skillful teachers have been able to re-
late the garden work with the school room
work. obtaining from 1t material for les
sons in nature study. composition spelling,
drawing and arithmetic. However, where
there is sufficient space the garden com
posed of Individual plots-that in which
each child has a small space wholly his
owns better adapted for correlation of
the outdoor work and the indoor work.
again. through the Department of Agri-
culture has the Normal School been granted
an added privilege. Seven thousand square
feet of land adjoining the main building has
been set aside for the use of the school
and here the students have the opportunity
to handle classes outdoors. which is such n
necessity In a teachers training. A class
OF sixth grade boys from a school in the
vicinity was selected to carry out the ex-
pertinent. Once week. while the girls of
the class are at cutting and fitting school.
the boys report at the Normal School green
house for gardening lessons. Elementary
work in soils and seed planting precedes
the work on the grounds. When the soil is
In condition to work II is measured and laid
off by the boys in plots. nine feet by twenty
feet, paths two feet wide separating the
plots. On these each boy raises during
season eight kinds of vegetables and two
kinds OF flowers. Whatever ne raises is his
own, and II is OF sufficient value to pay
him to work two mornings E. week through
out vacation. The quantity OF Vegetables
grown or the quality of them is not the
main thought. but the development of the
boy is paramount. He is the important
factor of growth in the garden. To aid him
in his geography, plots OF the common
grains and fiber plants of the United States
border the garden. AS these mature les
sons on their industrial and commercial
relations to man are given. The freedom
OF speech engendered gives much oppor-
tunity to promote the use of correct Eng
fish. Problems of a practical arithmetical
nature are continually arising. The boys
have calculated the amount and the cost
of the fertilizer needed. the cost Of the
garden and OF each individual plot the
amount of lime needed on a plot at a given
amount per acre; the quantity of rainfall;
the cost of fencing. The earnest teacher
finds constant opportunity to relate the in