The Washington times., 1917-03-22
CLUB WILLHIRE
GARDEN EXPERTS
Three important Meetings Held
to Further Movement for
Community Work.

washington were held yesterday aft
ernoon and last night.
The first meeting this year OF the
Capital Gardening Club. composed of
society women, was held yesterday
Cleveland Perkins, 1TO1 Connecticut
avenue The election OF a board of
governors, to be composed OF fifteen
members OF the club, landscape gar
deners and seed experts, was discuss
ed, but no action taken.
The intention or the. Capital Gar
dening Club is to give financial sup
port to the various gardening move
ments in Washington. Expert gar
deners will be hired to give advice
and visit gardens. Teachers will CO.
operate with community and citizens
associations. These people will be
paid by the Capital Gardening Club.
The club hopes to retain people who
will be in Washington during the en-
tire summer, so the. the gardens will
not be neglected during vacation pc
riods.
Explains Seasons Plans.
A meeting held in the Wilson Nor
NAL School last night was well at
tended. Mrs. Lyman F. Kebler. who
presided, explained plans for the
work to be done by the schools this
summer.
Miss Susan B. Sipe, prineipai'of the
school, with the aid OF slides. told OF
the work done in Washington by the
schools in the last several summers,
and showed the close relation between
the work done by the schools and the
work done in the back yards. Lessons
which are taught in the school gard
ems. she said. are applied at home,
and in this way the parents, as well
as the children, are reached
One Of the great drawbacks to the
work being done by the schools. said
Miss Sipe, Is the fact that the gard
ems planted by the children are not
safe from thfefs. She told OF po-
tato garden planted last summer by
one of the schools near the Speed
way. According to experts the
garden should have yielded about
bushels OF potatoes. but
at the end of the season the children
had been able to save only one peck,
the rest having been stolen by auto
lists and others.
Tells of Training.
Miss Sipe explained the method Of
training the teachers Of the Wilson
Normal School in gardening methods.
She showed views of the teachers
working in green houses. learning by
the best and most practf-
cal methods of small ground garden
Ing. A greenhouse has been planned
for Wilson Normal School. but due to
the smaIlness Of the appropriation by
Congress, which is about half Of the
amount needed. the greenhouse has
not been built
Every student of the Wilson Nor
NAL School, according to Miss Sipe,
Is required to take, a certaln amount
Of gardening work and be proved
competent to teach gardening in the
city schools. This is the best pos
sibIe substitute which could be de-
yised for a paid gardening teacher
In each school she said.
That the city flower of Washing
ton, the nasturtium, Is the favorite
Of washington school children was
the statement of Miss Sipe. She said
the nasturtium Is planted around
the city schools more than any other
hower.
The entire plan of school garden
ing is not to teach the children how
TO make money, but to teach them
how to live, said Miss Sipe. The
plan also teaches the children the
proper respect for the property OF
their neighbors, in as much as they
are taught to tend to their own gar
den and to leave that Of the other
children alone.
Following the lecture by MISS
Sipe. Stephen E. Kramer, assistant
- NnnhnCfAn
4 question box
Amusing Questions Asked.
Some of the questions were amusing
and revealed that many gardens In
this summer will be cul-
tIvated by city bred amateurs who do
not know the difference between
rake and a table fork
Some of the questions were:
What is the best thing to do for a
soil composed of rocks and clay?
why did my lima beans bloom so
and make such large
caves. and then yield no beansT
should garden rows be planted nat
,r banked?"
Mr.. Kramer was followed by Mr..
rhurston, Superintendent Of Schools,
who complimented Mrs. Kebler upon
he work she has been doing, and
,rophesied success this summer.
At Community Center.
O. r. Benson and Prof. G. E. Far
-ell. of the Bureau Of Extension. De-
oartment OF Agriculture, were speak
ers last night at a meeting of the
Jefferson Amidon Community Center,
1t jefferson School Mr.. Benson spoke
lpon Home Gardening" and Mr.'Far-
-eII told OF the Department of Agri-
cultures approved method of canning
homegrown vegetables.
Miss Ernestine Jenner, secretary
IF the Girls Gardening Club of the
Jefferson School, gave a detailed &C.
>ount of the work being done by the
girls club in home and school gar
iening.
Mrs. Giles Scott Rafter, president OF
he Congress OF Mothers, compliment
d the school upon the splendid work
,eing done for garden preparedness.
The Southwest Citizens Association,
" which DIR. Louis A. johnson is
president, attended the meeting in n
body. This association has already
rome on record as indorsing all forms
II summer gardening. and has done
much to encourage children's gardens
n its community. Mrs. Millard F.
Thompson, newly elected president of
he association, presided.