earth yet are unlike all others, and they too will have their day and will die away and in some mysterious process will come again. Insects crawl here and there, coming from strange crevices and all of them intent. Earthworms heave their burrows. All these, too, pass on and die and will come again. A bird darts in and captures a flying insect; a dog trots across the farther end of the plot; a cat is hidden under the vines by the wall. A toad dozes under a bench; he will come out to-night.

It is all a drama, intense, complex, ever moving, always dying, always re-born. I see a thousand actors moving in and out, always going, always coming. I am part of the drama; I break the earth; I destroy this plant and that, as if I were the arbiter of life and death. I sow the seed, I see the tender things come up and I feel as if I had created something new and fine, that had not been seen on the earth before; and I have a new joy as deep and as intangible as the joy of religion.*

Quotations

“The nature-desire may be perpetual and constant, but the garden-desire returns with every new springtime.”—L. H. B.

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“The satisfaction of a garden does not depend upon the area, nor, happily, upon the cost or rarity of the plants. It depends upon the temper of the person. One must first seek to love plants and nature, and then cultivate that happy peace of mind which is satisfied with little. He will be happy if he has no rigid and arbitrary ideals, for gardens are coquettish, particularly with the novice. If plants grow and thrive, he should be happy; and if the plants which thrive chance not to be the ones which he planted, they are plants nevertheless, and nature is satisfied with them. We are apt to covet the things which we cannot have; but we are happier when we love the things which grow because they must. A patch of lusty pigweeds, growing and crowding in luxurious abandon, may be a better and wore worthy object of affection than a bed of coleuses in which every spark of life and spirit and individuality has been sheared out and suppressed.”—L. H. B.

"The man who worries morning and night about the dandelions in the lawn will find great relief in loving the dandelions. Each blossom is worth more than a gold coin, as it shimmers in the exuberant sunlight of the growing spring, and attracts the bees to its bosom. Little children love the dandelions: why may not we? Love the things nearest at hand; and love intensely. If I were to write a motto over the gate of a garden, I should choose the remark which Socrates made as he saw the luxuries in the market, ‘How much there is in the world that I do not want.”—L. H. B.

'NOTE.- We gratefully acknowledge the permission to use "The Spirit of the Garden" from "The Outlook to Nature," published and copyrighted in 1905 by The Macmillan Company.

On January 29, 1909, we celebrated Corn Day here at our school, with appropriate exercises. During the exercises our trustee spoke to us. We enjoyed all he said, but the part that interested us the most and for which we felt the most thankful was his plan to rent a piece of ground near the school, for us to use as a school garden. He said he would divide it into plots four feet by twenty feet and give each of us a plot to work, as our own little garden, and would give us twenty-five cents each with which to buy our seeds. He asked each of us to raise one hill of corn on our plot, and he offered a prize of one dollar to the pupil who raised the best corn. We bought our seeds early in the spring of James Vick's Sons, of Rochester. In April the ground was plowed and divided into plots. The plots were numbered and each child drew a number, and then the children went out and each claimed the plot that had the number corresponding with the number he drew.

On the afternoon of May 6, Arbor Day, we planted our gardens. We planted vegetable and flower seeds, and set out little plants called firebush around the whole garden. Mrs. Sarah White gave us these plants, and many thanks we extend to her for them as they were very beautiful Just before we started to work our gardens, Miss Rhodey said she would give a prize of fifty cents to the pupil over eight years of age, and fifty cents to the pupil under eight years, who had the best-arranged garden and the best-growing garden by the last day of school. We watched very eagerly for the seeds to come up. The first to appear were the radishes on May 13; then on May 16 lettuce began to come up, and then beets, flowers, and other plants.

On May 17 we planted our corn and it came up on May 24. The corn we used for seed was obtained by our trustee in the eastern part of our State. It was a very fine-looking ear of corn. But in our experience we did not produce as good corn as the seed. I think the reason is this: In the corn plant the blossom is on the top and contains stamens which produce the pollen. The ear of corn bears the pistils (silk). The pollen drops down to the ear on the silk and nourishes the kernel. If the pollen does not drop on the silk, kernels will be lacking. Pollen floats in the air and drops on the silk. It will float from one field to another. each of us had but one hill of corn and the field adjoining was not a cornfield, there was not enough pollen floating in the air to drop on the silk and nourish the kernels, and I think that is the reason we did not all have well-developed ears of corn.

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On June 11, the last day of school, we had a picnic and exercises. We invited the people of the neighborhood. There were about one hundred and twenty-five present. Dr. H. J. Webber, of the College of Agriculture, Cornell University, spoke to us on" School Gardening and Agriculture." Doctor Webber and School Commissioner Stickle judged our gardens, and they thought they were so nice that they each gave twenty-five cents for a second prize.

Robert Fargo won the first prize and Adelbert Simmons the second of those over eight. John Jenner won the first prize and Samuel and Nathan Hancock won the second of those under eight.

At this time Mr. W. F. Pratt offered prizes of sixty cents and forty cents on second and third best corn, and thirty cents and twenty cents on second and third best gardens, to scholars over eight years of age, and thirty cents and twenty cents on second and third best gardens to scholars under eight years of age, to be given the second week of school in the fall. We felt very grateful to him for this offer.

During vacation we went to our gardens about every two weeks. We would take home some vegetables and flowers. Sometimes Miss Rhodey

went with us.

Once when she went we took a lunch, and after we had hoed our gardens and watered our flowers we went over on the school yard and played games and ate our lunch. When school opened in the fall we found our gardens growing nicely. The second week of school, Mr. C. E. Shepherd and Mr. W. H. Young judged our gardens. The prizes of sixty cents and forty cents for the second and third best corn were won by Susie Dart and Florence Jenner. The prizes of thirty cents and twenty cents to those having the second and third best gardens were won by Stella and Agnes Mekowska and Marguerite Bonney. Thirty cents and twenty cents to those under eight years of age were won by Edwin Hagen and Raymond Green.

We next took up our best vegetables and flowers and shrubbery, and made an exhibit at the Genesee County Fair. We received many compliments on our exhibit, and received first premium of five dollars.

As the Education Department at Albany wished a picture of our garden, pictures were taken of it and one was sent to the department.

Now as "Jack Frost" was putting in his appearance we took up what was left in our gardens; some things we took home, others we gave to a couple of poor families in town. We saved some of our cornstalks and corn to use for decorating to-day.

We certainly enjoyed our first year's experience in school gardening. We made many mistakes, we will admit, but we did the best we knew how, and shall try another year to profit by the mistakes we made in the past year.

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A-Plots B-Paths C-Hedges D-Corn E-Vegetables & Flowers F-Flower Bed

EXPLANATION OF MAP

Our school garden is located on Ellicott Street Road, two miles from the village of Batavia. The garden is one hundred twelve feet long and twenty feet wide. This is divided into plots four feet by twenty, with a path one foot wide between them. Each child under ten years of age has one plot, and each child over ten years of age has two plots to work. This year we have grown vegetables and flowers on them.

A HOME GARDEN

EDWARD M. TUTTLE

To the boy or girl who has decided to keep a home garden this year, the following suggestions will be helpful:

1. Make up your mind to do the best you can with the piece of ground available, no matter what its size may be. If you may have all you want, it is better not to take more than you can easily handle.

2. If possible, plan the garden so that the rows may be long even if more than one thing is planted in a single row. If you can drive, plan the garden so that horse tools may be used. At any rate, plan for wheel hand tools.

3. Begin early in the spring to put the soil in shape.

4. Clear off all weeds, stones, brush, and other rubbish.

5. Spread a good coating of manure on the surface before stirring.

6. Plow or spade the manure in thoroughly.

7. Work the soil until it is level and smooth and mellow. It is easier to cultivate before than after planting the seed.

8. Read the article on soils in this leaflet, so that you will understand when and why to cultivate. 9. Plant whatever you like to plant in your garden. Have a good variety. Plan for a succession of such things as peas, radishes, lettuce, and the like. A table showing time and depth of planting is given in this leaflet.

10. Talk about the garden with your father and your mother. They will be glad to tell you and to show you about it; but you must do the real work yourself.

11. Tend your garden faithfully. Never let the weeds get a start. Thin the plants in order to give them room. Study your garden. You