Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-10-30
GRO0L GARDEN CROPS
low Being HARVESTED
,quash ami Potatoes the Prin-
cipal Pr>ducts-Eight Tons
of the Former Raised This
Year-Dr. Weather of August
Affected the Latter

or gathering squashes Those who arc
familiar with the situation know that
the land on which this work Is being
done is that used for the school gar
dens during the past summer. The wom-
an is Miss Georgia T. Devine, whose
able dictatorship of the school gar
dcns during the past three summers
has brought about most excellent re-
suits Miss Devine not only shows the
boys and girls of the schools how TO
make school gardens grow and how
to harvest them, but she works with
them, working just n little harder than
the hardest worker of them ALL She
leads in everything and the children
have perfect confidence in her. They
like to work for her.
AS a result. the school gardens this
past summer have been fully as sue
cessful as during the two proceeding
summers. Although the very dry
weather of August kept back the po-
tatoes somewhat, so that the yield is
not so heavy as had been hoped for
the quality of the tube-s makes up for
the lack of quantity. They are a very
clean grade of potatoes, and while
farmers in this vicinity have been hav-
ing some trouble with rot. the school
garden potatoes show hardly any rot.
and they are free from scrub. There
are not so many in a hill az In past
years but they are larger on the whole.
so that the returns on them will be
about the same as usual.
The potatoes at the Thayer school
have been dug. also those at Athletic
park. Part Of those in the Shelburne
road gardens have been taken from the
ground. The children Of the Converse
and Cathedral schools will dig their
potatoes this week. cleaning up that crop.
As for snuashes. the entire crop has
been harvested 1t amounted to eight
tons altogether. seven tons being grown
In the Shelburne road gardens, while
one ton was raised by the girls of the
Thayer school This is a good-szed crop.
Three-forrths of It goes to the children
who raised II, while most Of the other
fourth will be sold to defray the ex-
penses of the gardens. The same rule
applies in regard to the potatoes.
Squash and potatoes are the chief
products raised. The boys raise these
almost entirely. and they also raised most
Of the pea-beans The boys seem to
do better with crops which they can
raise In large quantities. while the girls
do better with the truck gardens, includ-
ing corn, tomatoes, beets. carrots, Swiss
cha I'd. winter turnips. string beans and
shell beans. All Of these things the girls
have raised this last summer with splen-
did success. The girls of the junior
high school have handled the larger plots.
This year they added Hubbard squash.
cucumbers and cabbage to the list just
mentioned. Their gardens are necessarily
smaller than those of the boys and they
are given. therefore, practically the en-
tire yield of their plots.
More than GOO children. approximately
400 boys and 200 girls, have had steady
employment in the school gardens since
they were planted in the spring, and II
is estimated that some 400 families or
more will receive the benefits of the gar
dens this winter. More than "a acres
of land have been under cultivation. This
includes II acres on Sheburne road. Ave
acres at Athletic Park, two acres on
North avenue and several other smaller
tracts.
OF the food raised on this land. the
greater part of it has been harvested
The winter beans raised by the boys OF
the junior high school in the Shelburne
road gardens will be gathered early next
week. The girls harvesting is all finished
except the turnips, which will be taken
in as soon as the remainder OF the pota-
toes are dug.
Most of the 800 children who have
worked on the school gardens this past
summer range in age from 10 TO IL years.
They come from both the public and tho
parochial schools. and from the fourth
grade through the junior high school.
The children who worked In the school
gardens are excused one day In the
spring to do planting. Through the sum :
mer they give one-half day a week to thu
work, and in the fall the boys are excus-
ed one day to harvest each crop.
| During the first year Of work. the
fourth grade pupils are allowed TO Use
four rows of potatoes 100 feet long In tho
second years work, squash Is added -
this. The boys In the junior high school
are allowed to raise eight rows of pota-
toes 100 feet long. and either 10 hills of
squash or eight rows Of beans 100 fee
long.
Two boys who worked In company on
the Shelburne road plot this summer
harvested squashes amounting TO more
than 800 pounds. this being the largest
single yield, They realized sl4ss from,
this. Many of the boys keep the potatoes
which they raise and sell their squashes
to pay for their time,
! Miss Devine states that many Of the
boys put In their third summer In thu
school gardens this year and that these
boys showed greater proficiency than
the others, worked faster and accom-
plished more, showing that their training
was really amounting to something, out
side of the crops which they raised.
When asked II she had trouble in keep
ing the children working throughout the
summer, Miss Devine said that she had
very little trouble In this matter. II a
pupil neglected the garden for a week
during the cary part of the summer, an
other pupils is put In charge. This has
seemed to work very we'll for there has
always been a waiting list of pupils who
wanted to work, and very few have real
ly given up after they started.
Furthermore, the training which they
are getting is excellent. 1t is a good sum-
mer occupation for the boys, too. and they
seem to like II. Many of them would
have no work of any kind TO do If they
were not working in the school gardens.
Each year, the expense of operating the
school gardens has been less. because the
equipment which was bought at the start
is still on hand. and In the hot beds OF
the school gardens, they raise many OF
their own plants for future use. The cab
bage and tomato plants for this summer
were raised in this way. Besides the cab
bage plants used In the gardens, a surplus
stock of these plants was sold by the
hundred last spring.
Although the harvesting will be COM
pleted almost entirely by the middle OF
peyt month Mic, Dayipa will ha hu u