The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1909-07-15
cHrLDRRNs GARDENS.


EHttt LtAta
The children Of the present day have
more opportunities afforded them Of en-
gaging in gardening, and are given great
err encouragement and facilities than
those OF former generations. There was
a time when young people were some
what grudgingly awarded an odd cor
ner in the garden, to do their best with,
and II they were not imbued with a
true love Of flowers the little plot soon
went TO wreck and ruin and became an
eye sore, covered with weeds and utter
~ neglected, Nowadays it is very diff
ferent; there are schools and colleges
where gardening is practically taught
to the more favored classes, and in many
Of the other schools scattered through.
out the country the young scholars have
excellent opportunities Of becoming eff
cient gardeners. They not only learn
the names Of plants aud flowers, shrubs
and trees, and how to cultivate them
properly, but they know something Of
the different soils, how to work and en-.
rich them with advantage, and the ma
lures Of the destructive birds and insect
pests, and how successfully to cope with
them.
We have alluded above to the old style
Of children's gardens In careful and
loving hands they became little paradis.
es and were bowers Of bloom in spring,
summer and autumn The woods and
fields were laid under contribution for
primrose, violet aud other roots. espec-
tally when the children went lMaying
among tile cow-sips and oxhps, and
there were, besides the old fashioned
garden flowers, pansies, polyanthuses,
auFiculas, daisies, and splendid peonies
and fragrant wallflowers, and about mid
summer the gorgeous snap-dFagons, the
sweet williams and stocks and pinks
How proudly the youngsters would point
to some patch of delicious mignonette
or some other sweet smelling ilowerl
Perhaps the solitary go0seberry or cur.
rant hush, which looked as barren and
wretehed in the neglected gardens Of
careless children, had been carefully
tended and made TO yield fne crop or
fruit, and the border of mustard and
cress supplemented with q few lettuces
and rNdishes How cool and crisp were
the latter, and how pleasantly pungcnf
the mustard and CREST It is not i'm.
probable that the youthful gardener had
an eye to business and drove a hard bar
gain as regards the salsding, especially
II IL came early to market-Poor en-
courager les autres, loving parents would
be prepared to pay fancy prices for this
home grown produce.
But Is was only rudimentary garden
ing then. The childTen's garden OF the
present day are far more ambitious az
fairs. even II the old fashioned flowers
be not neglected, as, alasl they some.
times are, in favor Of new varieties with
high sounding names. Still, whatever
aspect. 80 long as they b well eutivat-
ed, children's gardens assume, they
should be encouraged, for not only is
gardening healthfnl but instructive, ana
many an hour, which would have been
idled away or spent unproftably IS
turned 70 good account And the young
gardeners, whale their flowers or crops
are growing, take quite a keen interest
in the weather, which previously per
haps they had not closely observed.
They are reeoncled to showery days,
for then they can plant to advantage
and after q spell Of dry weather, albeit
the winds have been chill and keen. they
knew that the time has come TO sow
their seedss aud instead Of deploring and
matchmaking the pouring rain. they
know that it viii help their plants to
grow and their seeds TO germinate. They
make mental notes of what the weather
is Ike at certain times Of the year, or
perhaps note down their observations in I
a diary 10 help their memories Such I
notes will form pretty good guide,
which they viii follow with advantage I
Those who are middle aged or grow
ing old have loving memories Of their I
little gardens of long years ago, per-
haps situated in some distant shire; nor \
viii they. we are sure, bagrudge the 1
Of the present day their
greater advantages and more ambitious I
pleasances. Do not the old well.mel- /
lowed red birch walls, with snapdragons
and wslfowers on their tops and in I
thir crannies, rise to our recollection once
moref The fruit trees are in blossom, /
tbs peas running UP the sticks, the rhu- 4
barb leaves broad and crinkley, and the
crisp, yellowish green lettuces begin \
ming to assume shape and form 1t Is
our Old World productive garden, and 4
III an add corner Of it are the little pat /
ches we so assiduousIv cultivated as
A cherry tree was trained I
against the wall Of one Of them. in |
beautiful white verginal blossom in May 1
times and presently we played bob cher \
~ with the fruit We remember that
cherry tree well, and how we watched /
the blossoms fade and the fruit set until I
il pumped and pumped and grew larger
and larger, becoming alt last ruddy, ns-
cious berries. We We're proud that the \
tree stood in one Of cur little gardens,
but is was not the only fruit which grew
there, for there was prolific goosberry
BUSH which bore a tempting variety Of /
golden drops" A few lettuces and rad.
ishes were raised but most Of the little
plot was devoted to flowers, many Of
them Of the old fashioned kind enumer-
ated above, and as the woods and fields
were full Of Wild flowers then, we fur
lively dug up q few primrose and violet
and eowslip roots, to mix with the gar.
den varieties London Globe.
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