Last spring, in school, this little girl with other boys and girls began planting and caring for egg-shell farms. It costs no money and but little trouble to own several such farms. The greatest pleasure and profit is to be found in having them in school, for then you have the opportunity of seeing how others manage their farms, and there is a spur in doing what others are doing. When you have read all about my plan I wish you would ask your teacher whether you cannot have some egg-shell farms in your grade. When your plants are large enough to put permanently in the open ground, you can plant them in a garden or window-box at your home. If it is not convenient to have egg-shell farms at school, ask your parents if you cannot have some at home.
Please give me your ears and your attention while I tell you how to get your farms.
In April you have eggs at some one of the three meals of the day, and the empty shells can be easily obtained. The end of the shell to be broken is the sharp or "peaked" end. Break away about a quarter or a third of it and pour out the white and the yolk that is inside. This empty shell is to hold the soil of your farm, and you can have as many farms as may be convenient to care for. On each egg-shell you may write your name, for the same reason that people have door plates on the doors of their houses or signs on their places of business. Some very methodical boys and girls write also the names of the kind of seeds sown, and the dates of planting and sprouting. Do not forget to put a hole through the bottom of each one of your farms for drainage. I wish I could be with you when you get your soil; we would go out to the pastures and the woods for a supply. I should be able to tell you much about different soils, and how they have been made. It is an interesting story that I must tell you when we are past the hurry of spring's work. If we could go afield we should find the best soil for your egg-shell farms about the roots of rotted stumps or in rotted leaves. It is necessary that the soil shall not bake hard because of frequent waterings, shall not dry out quickly, and shall have plenty of plant-food. I fancy the most convenient plan will be for all of you who wish soil to form a syndicate by contributing a cent each and go to a florist and buy your soil. Tell the florist you wish it for your use and the probabilities are that he will be so much interested in your plants that you will get more for the same amount of money than I could if I were to go for you.
The next difficulty will be to keep your farms right side up. That is easily accomplished by putting some sand or sawdust in a shallow box and making a dent where you wish each farm to stand. If you have your farms in the school-room, Tom, Dick, and Harry can have all their farms in the same box. There will be no trouble in separating them if the owner's name is written on each one.
Next comes the planting of seeds and the problem of the amount of earth to put over them. Big seeds require more covering than little seeds. Seeds like peas, beans, and corn may be thrust into the middle of your farm. Small seeds, like those of the petunia, which are almost like dust, require only the gentlest sprinkling of soil. Seeds as large as those of the aster and the balsam should be covered with a layer of earth as thick as a lead pencil. I advise you to plant twice as many seeds as you wish to have grow. Many accidents may happen and if all grow, the surplus plants can be replanted later or thrown away. The earth covering should be sprinkled or sifted over the seeds, and then it must be patted or pressed down firmly. By this means the particles of soil are snuggled close together, and the seed and the soil hold moisture much better than when the particles lie loose and far apart.
The next thing to do after planting is to sprinkle water over your farms. Do this as gently as possible, for with all your care some seeds may be uncovered. Look over the ground carefully, and those you find exposed poke into the earth with the point of a pencil or a stick.
The soil of your farms must be kept moist at all times. This is a point that will require your continued attention. When your Uncle John attended school, many years ago, there was a passage in his reader that taught him that "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." The attention required to keep plants suitably watered does not fall much short of eternal vigilance. This need not scare you. If you care for your farms you will find it a pleasure to wait on your plants.
If you have your egg-shell farms in the school-room, there will be no opportunity to water your plants Saturday or Sunday, when school is not in session. I think if you make your farms soaking wet Friday at the close of school, and then set them back from the window out of the direct rays of the sun, no harm will come from dryness before Monday morning.
You must watch to see whether all members of the same family do the same thing precisely alike. After sowing your seeds and watering your farms you will go to them many times to see whether anything has happened. You will not be able to see anything or hear anything, and you will conclude that nothing is going on in the soil.
In this you will be mistaken, for some active changes are taking place. They are of a kind that you can neither see nor hear. In days to come, when you are men and women, you will be able to appreciate the fact that some of the most important events come about silently and some of the least important come with a racket.