Omaha daily bee., 1907-02-03
RIVALRY In CITY GARDENS
Work that Makes Cleveland Homes
Rrettier and Brings Returns
MUNICIPAL BEAUTY DOCTOR At WORK
School Children Encouraged to Grow
Flowers and Vegetables in
Vacant LOts-Their Pa
rents Also Interested.

There is only one city in the country
which has a curator of school gardens
That is Cleveland, and the curator is Miss
Louise Klein Miller. former New Yorker.
Miss Miller was in attendance at the re-
cent meeting of the American Associa ton
for the Advancement of Science, of which
she was made fellow last year in recogni-
ton Of her social and educational work.
The Cleveland school gardens, which
have been in existence only year or two
are declared to have already had a very
great effect on Cleveland children, first by
giving them healthful, useful and agree
able Occupation for the long weeks of the
summer vacation, when so many Of them
run wild in the streets; secondly. by bring
ing school in touch with their lives at
new and practical point. Garden work and
attendance at the gardening lectures are
entirely voluntary. and the children ave-
rage two hours work apiece week in
term time given after school hours. while
the attendance at the lectures is always
good. At the end OF the gardening season
each fall little certificate is given each
child who has cared for his bed satisfac-
torily through the season.
Work Done scientifically.
At the Rosedale school there is a propa-
and potting house. Here cuttings are pre-
pared for the gardens scattered over the
city later in the season, and here, during
the last summer, an economical botanical
garden was started. II is intended to grow
in this garden all the food, fiber and drug
plans which the climate will permit In
this plan the supervisor OF geography is
much interested and the work will be
made TO correlate with the study of
geography.
In different parts of the city. are various
vacant lots, the use of which has been
given to the children by their owners. All
around the borders these lots are banked
with flowers. while the central space is
filled with individual varying beds, from
5x16 to SKIS feet in dimensions.
The children who wish to do so take these
beds at the beginning of the season and
keep them as long as they care for them
properly. They raise vegetables. which
they take home for family consumption.
They care comparatively for the flower
border.
There are flower shows with prizes in
the fan. 70 which the children bring the
flowers grown at home as we'll as those
in the school gardens. But this season
there will be monthly flower shows from
May to October. and in February and
March for winter bulbs 70 that the flow
ers Of each month may be displayed.
Prizes are also given fer the best vegeta-
BILE beds.
The school gardening work is connected
with the home gardening of Cleveland.
The school gardens were really secured by
the Cleveland Home Garden association.
Organized by Private Effort.
E. w. Haynes, president OF some woollen
mills in Cleveland, organized this associa-
ten some years ago and has been its
president ever since. They began by offer
ing prizes for home gardens establishing
flower shows with prizes for flowers and
selling seeds 20 the school children at /
cent a package.
Cleveland has in its poorer quarters great
numbers Of small one-family houses, in
which workngmen live instead Of in tene-
ment houses. The policy Of the associa-
ton in the last few years has had the
effect of cleaning up yards. front and back
and Kidding them OF all refuse to make
room for gardens.
Many of these little houses are bowers
of beauty in summer and families who do
not 20 TO this extent are ashamed TO DO
nothing when neighboring grounds are
poisoning so brightly. AS a result there
Is scarcely one such house in Cleveland
which has not at least vine trained over
its porch. its gay bed of nasturtiums or
some other SPOT OF greenery or brightness
This has been very noticeable in Polish
and Bohemian neighborhoods and others
which in some cities are apt to be uncared
for. Last fall a hardy chrysanthemum
show was held in a distinctly Polish quar-
ter, where geese meandered through the
streets There was scarcely a yard in the
quarter which did not contain hardy ehrys-
anthemums.
Seed Sales Pay Expenses.
The Home Garden association pays all
its expenses out OF the sale Of its 1-cent
packages of seed, and last summer II pre-
scented the school board with $500 for school
garden work. Some $4,000 packages OF
seed were sold last year and a carload OF
bulbs imported direct from Holland The
association has now twelve branches and
5000 members among whom dozen differ-
ent nationalities are represented.
The mothers of the children often attend
Miss MilleT's stereopticon lectures at the
school houses. Summer before last khe
made i6-cent garden in the back yard
Of her own home. She took one of each
variety Of the l-cent packages sold the
children.