The evening herald. [volume] (Albuquerque, New Mexico) 1914-1922, 1916-02-22
Development of Gardening
Among Indian School Pupils

hut she had q Gnc garden Nearly
all of the gardens were ~ new land.
brush hcing cleared OF aud n new plot
of ground cleaned up for each child
Whore there were two or three chil-
Grcn in the family their gardens were
separate They were sometimes adj
jncvnt but more often were pui,o "a
little distance apart.
Al the spring II rlincd nearly every
day IN the afternoon Tho gardens
were made late, and We did not get
10 visit them while il rained. when
pleasant weather came, and ~ began
TO 20 afternoons TO see the gardens.
we were surprised at the pleasure we
derived from our walks. We usually
took the whole lass. In this way
they learned by observation and com
parison. In one garden. " the rows
were not ns straight as In some 9TH
ers. they all noticed II. Each chi'd
In turn would show his OF her garden
with l.. ic and with n feeling OF own
crship. but IL a weed was spied the
pupil would hasten To pun II out be-
fore the visitors saw H. when the
garden was near the house the mother
would come out and go around W.T.
Us. We talked about the vegetables.
which ones We cook. how to serve
lettuce aud many other things often.
when We were walking along the road,
We met Indian men IN were inter-
csted and would stop TO SNOW what
we were doing. ono man. wnen ! told
rim hat we were on our say TO see
his sons garden. said wait Till to-
morrow" He wanted to bc home to
how MS around. We waited and
when we went the next dav ne was
very proud to show the garden.
Indian children belong out Of doors.
When We get out In the pen air and
are doing something. they seem to
forget to be shy. and they ak and
tell things SO ON our walks To visit
gardens they spoke English to me,
showcd hic birds nests. gathered
flowers ard made the walks very en-
joy able. besides furnishing material
for language lessons the next day.
The hes, Of the boys gardens was
that of a first grade boy, who Is In
the FIRST grade only because he is too
large To- be in the primary. In the
Sc hoolroom he Was "a failure, In spite
Of all that We could do. yet his gar
den was a success In every way. II
comprised two plots. one Was
L-shaped. the other IA triangle lying
between his house and corral He had
spaded the ground to the proper
douth. rakcd and worked II over and
over again until " WAS In perfect con-
dition. and then laid out the plot for
irrigation and planting with the skill
of an artist. The second time | visited
his garden nearly all the seeds wer,
up ana the plants were making IN,
most rapid growth OF any. The boy
was the happicst person In the pueblo
except his delighted mother. lie had
found a place in the school work
where he could excel. Were this fic.
ton | would have the boy nov max
ing rapid progress In all Of his stud.
les. but. alas, | am telling the truth
and he seems just rs duh in school
az before. However. I nave found
that he is interested IN his garden
and hope. by using garden English
he will do more In school than be.
fore. and | am sure that mex sprina
he will enter INTO the work with AZ
energy n skill that will give inspira'
ton to renewed garden effort.
, The prcttiest garden Of all belonged
to a girl II years old. | shall neyei
forget the first time | saw IT. II Wa
quite IA distance from the school an,
/; We had visited "A numbcr OF gnrdcni
/. before starting Ia this one. but he'
, eyes were 50 bright n she was :,
, sure that | could walk that Tar, tina
, / kept ON going. When We finally go
there / was well repaid for the walk
, We had been going up hill all th'
4 way from the pueblo. The view a
we stopped and looked back over tn
valley was beautiful. Then the gar
dent II was u piece Of new ian out
side u little orchard. The ground ha
been spaded by her sister. her father
/, IN dead. The soil had been well pre-
/, pared, the rows were straight an
, even. with "a border of flowers al
around. outside were sage brusl
, and plum bushes. This cultivated spo
was "a picture. l only regretted tina
I'll did not have a camera. canno
tell OF the girls pleasure, nor the ap
probation Of the other girls. Bu
anytime afterwards. on mcntioninI
/, that garden, II was easy to see tina
/, all understood and remembered.
N There has been nothing phenomena
IN the years work. We have mad
= mistakes aud perhaps done som
q foolish things; but take II all In a
/ IL has been "A beautiful work. II Ia
been infinitely worth while. The par
4 etns, the boys, the girls n tn
: teachers have had a good time Ia
49, 49,. Aa. g-tnF IA "A.