A Gardening Experiment.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7916, 4 September 1905, Page 4

A Gardening Experiment.

All who are interested in encouriging a iovc of flowers and gardening among our school children wil, find a particular interest in the report of a teacher who supervised some experiments in this line in an American school. It was decided thai it this school gardening should foris. i permanent part of the course of lature study, ami owing to the lack if ground near the school, it was igreed that the gardens should heat he children's home* ICach child se'f'"l three kinds v of weds. either veg•tables. or flowers, and the enthusi•sm was so great that for some (lavs flaming formeil almost the sole topcof conversation at school". The jUiwlion was. howev.-r, whether th. •nthusiasm would last through th( ■umnier. and to help nt keep it up, he children were t„|,| that Miss i hayer, the supervising teacher, was ;oing to visit thi- gardens, and wonli, .0 very disappointed if there was nothing for her in see, and they were iskeil lo exhibit at the annual Agriultural .Snow of the district. Hiss '"haver had Im) gardens to inspect, :iit by win king haril she kept an eye n all of them, and hail the satisaction of seeing a great luany good esults. '1 he good gardens were in 'hi' majority, and in most cases oi 'oor gardens, the children were not o blame, for the failures plainly.resulted from bad soil to lack of'sunhine. 1 luring the hot, sultry days of .umnier it was wonderful to sec how nany gardens continued to do well •lothers told Miss Thayer that the hildren did not want to go away ■ven for a few days, liecause the garlens would nii-d attention 'during their absence. Children compared tile ;ardens in a most interesting and lelpful way. and the boy ur girl whose garden was a little in advance >f the others was looked upon with 'n\y. Then the show ratne, and each child who exhibited was given a free ticket for each day. which privilege ilone more than repaid for the hours spent in the garden) work. iThe school carried off the seven dollar irize for the Ijest collection from my one school, and thirteen pri/es vere won by individual children. It hoiild 1m- not ill that none of thes! hildren were over fourteen. The lounges! was live, and the average age ten. Miss Tha>er, in brief, finds he experiment an uuc|uali(icil snc■ess. ''They had definite, pleasing, uut-of-door occupation, and not once t hearit a complaint, heard so often •iinuners before. that the mothers ivould lie glad when school began, so 'hat bo,\s and girls would be away row the street and its dangers.''