GARDEN WORK
The pupils have now arrived at an age when they are able to do most of the work of preparing and planting their own plots. The seeds have been selected and placed in readiness for planting long before the ground is ready. The plans for the garden and the varieties to be sown in the different plots have likewise been arranged. Fertilizers, lines, tools, and labels are made ready for use. With such thorough preparation the making and planting of the garden becomes a pleasure and a delight to both teacher and pupils. The garden diary should begin as soon as the snow disappears from the garden and be continued until all the work is completed in the autumn, and the garden again blanketed in snow.
The main points to be safeguarded are:
1. Thorough cultivation and fertilization.
2. The best available seed carefully planted. Guard against thick sowing and deep covering.
3. Frequent cultivation and careful thinning while the plants are quite small.
4. Vigilance in detecting the appearance of cutworms or other injurious insects and promptness in combating them.
5. Protection of the garden against injury from dogs, pigs, poultry, and English sparrows.
6. Failure of some plots, through the owner's absence from school for long periods.
COMBATING GARDEN PESTS
CUTWORMS
In gardens where the soil is light or sandy, cutworms are most likely to be troublesome. Watch for them about the time that the plants are nicely above ground. They come up at night and cut the young plants off just above the ground. They are about an inch long, gray and brown, fat and greasy-looking. To protect the plants put one quarter of a pound of paris-green with twenty-five pounds of slightly moistened bran, using a little sugar in the water and stirring the paris-green into the bran very thoroughly. If too wet, add more dry bran. It should crumble through the fingers. Sprinkle a little of this mixture with the fingers along the row close to the plants. The cutworms eat this poisoned bran quite readily. Care must be exercised in using this poison lest poultry should get at it. On the other hand, poultry should not be allowed to get into the garden. Wrapping a piece of paper around the stem when transplanting young plants will help to save them from cutworms.
ROOT MAGGOTS
Root maggots of cabbage, radish, and onions are the larvæ of flies similar in appearance to house-flies but a little smaller. When the plants are young, the flies lay their white eggs on the stem close to the ground. When the eggs hatch, the larvæ crawl down under the ground and cause the plants to decay. The wilting of the leaves is the first sign of the trouble. Prevention is better than cure in this case. Dust some dry white hellebore along the rows of onions or radishes and around the cabbage plants; or, for radishes, make a decoction of insect powder (Pyrethrum), four ounces to one gallon of water, and pour around the root, using half a teacupful to each plant.
FLEA-BEETLES
The turnip flea-beetle quickly destroys young plants of the cruciferæ family by eating their leaves. Paris-green, one part to twenty parts of pulverized gypsum (land plaster) dusted on the plants while damp, helps to destroy these insects.
To the teacher.—When pupils who are absent find it impossible to give the necessary attention to their garden plots at school, they should turn them over to other pupils or to the teacher, who may at his own discretion use the produce for purposes of general garden revenue.
SEED GERMINATION
The seeds for the garden should be purchased quite early in the spring. As the planting of poor seed is often the cause of much disappointment, it is well to test the germinating power of the different varieties to be planted. The pupils of this Form should test especially those varieties which they have chosen. To do this, place about twenty-five seeds in a germinating dish, which may be made as follows: Take a deep plate, such as a soup plate, fill it about half full of moist sand, and spread over this a piece of moist cloth. Put the seeds upon this cloth and cover them with a second piece of damp cloth or moss. To prevent drying out invert over it another plate and set all in a warm dry place (about 70 to 80 degrees F.). After a few days count the number of seeds that have germinated. This will be a guide in planting as to how thick the seed should be sown.
The pupils should watch the development of germinating grains, such as corn and beans, germinated in the same way as in the last exercise. The following points may be observed:
1. The first change noticed. (Swelling of the seed)
2. The appearance of a growing shoot and its direction. (Root)
3. The second shoot and its direction. (Stem)
4. The appearance of the first pair of leaves.
5. The appearance of root-hairs and rootlets.
6. What becomes of the main body of the seed.
7. How the second pair of leaves differs from the first pair.
8. Length of time required to produce the first pair of leaves.
Pupils may be taught the conditions that are necessary for the germination of seeds by means of a few simple experiments which can be carried on in the school-room.
1. In February, plant a few seeds of the pea, or oat, or wheat, in a box of soil, and place the box outside the school window.
2. In April, plant a few seeds similar to those used in No. 1, in a box of perfectly dry soil, and set the box inside the school window.
3. Plant a few seeds similar to those used in No. 1, in a jar containing soil that is kept very wet, and set the jar in the school window.
4. Plant a few seeds, similar to those used in No. 1. in a box containing soil that is moist but not wet, and set the box in the school window.
5. Plant seeds as in No. 4, except that the box is kept in a dark cupboard.
Compare the results of the above with reference to:
1. The number of seeds that germinate.
2. The growth and condition of the plants.
Form conclusions with reference to:
1. The conditions that are required for seed germination.
2. The benefits of well-drained soil.
Pupils make drawings showing the boxes and plants.