Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1916-05-13
SCHOOL GARDEN
WORK IN EUROPE
Johann Hepp Tells How the European
People Have Encouraged
School Gardening.

AH AlkttlE UN NtAAAN il0NU III NAlt
October (1915) number of Monatshef-
te fur den naturwiss enschaftlichen
Unterricht. under the title school
Gardens in Zurich The original
text brings out in a forccful way the
value of school gardens and how
they have served the people OF Eur.
ich. The people OF Europe have long
encouraged school gardening. and
throughout Germany and other cuun-
tries special attention has recently
been given to the work The writer
says:
How fortunate is the country
child who can take direct part in
the full swing OF work and hustle
Of the farm life. House and yard.
gardens and vineyards fields and for
ests, offer numberless opportunities
for healthy, useful. interesting, and
diversified occupations in which a
child can be employed. Through
these occupations the child becomes
closely acquainted with nature in all
its profuseness of farms and prod.
ucts. He will learn to organize his
efforts in unison with the powerful
throb of the community life He wih
acquire the priceless treasure of
good habits and moral power. and
thus, by the simplest and most nat.
ural process. will develop the ability
and inclination to work
THE city child has hut ragmentary
conception of natures life. The city
offers no visual example or stimu.
lation for work. because actual work
is done in the interiors of shops and
business establishments The family
in the city Is not a productive com.
munity any more; it has been trans
formed into q consuming unit. The
city children become familiar with
readymade products without realiz.
ing by what processes and of what
materials they were made. 1t remains
obscure to them how much time and
toll it costs to make a living, and
how much work is required to pro-
duce articles of food and other nee.
essities of life.
"In educational circles this deaci.
ency of city conditions in respect to
education in work has been recogniz.
| ed long ago. As a remedial measure,
manuel training was introduced into
city schools. Through it the children
exercise the eye and hand. learn to
handle tools and raw materials-ali
by actual work. But no manuel train
ing possesses so much educational
value as garden work Gardening is
superior to pasteboard. wood. and
iron work conducted within the mar
row limitations of school shops be-
cause 1t is done outdoors, in pure air
| and sunlight, and brings the children
into contact with nature. In Zurich
there Is an association whose exelu-
siye object is To establish and con
duct school gardens on city grounds
and to develop through this means a
healthy, industrious, and morally
sound race. Every pupil is given a
plot Of land for whose planting and
cultivation he alone Is responsible
This little garden affords an admir-
able field Of work and experimental
tion where the child learns through
his own labor and experience his
own failures and successes. There
he can dig, SOW and plant, cultivate
and harvest; there he observes how
the plants sprout, grow, bloom, and
ripen; how they protect themselves
from animals and the inclemency of
weather, and in what high degree
their thriying\is dependent upon the
memorable powers OF nature, involy-
ing at the same time the welfare of
the gardener and the farmer, and Ill
timately, Of all mankind.
'The man who can spare a little
time after his tiresome professional
daily work to attend to his garden
and flower beds, is fortunate indeed.
This gives him a healthy exercise
and an enjoyable pastime In large
cities, where every minute of time
and every power Of efficiency is util-
lied for business purposes, the neces-
sity OF diversion and free occupa-
tions become imperative The work
performed for profit or for living has
no attractions. The more monoton-
Gus becomes the work OF the indivld-
ual owing to the increasing division
Of manufacture processes into ever
simpler manipulations the more i'm
poEtant and full Of meaning will free
occupation become. Leisure time
oAPh4u DG uGtM win AAiGs hAtH VI XIV
ing the senses and the soul a proper
nourishment that will enable the
man to recover his inner balance lost
during the hours OF toll When this
opportunity is shut of. the powers
of soul waste away for want Of &C.
ton; the craving for higher things
IN life disappears. ana in its stead
come bitterness, batred, and Jealousy
What matters al the progress in
technics and science If it gives a man
no happiness? Among the remedies
for these evils Of our modern indus
trial life the joys OF garden occupa-
lions and flower planting are among
the most important. Tho garden-city
movement should therefore be en-
couraged. II fills important demands
for the protection Of peoples health,
aud at the same time promotes the
moral hygiene"
Fcr bahy's Group, Whites daily
cuts and bruises, mamma's sore
fhssaat u,