A rectangle was drawn on the board to represent the plat. Beside it was a statement of the number of beds to be laid off and the width of the paths between. In the arrangement of these beds and paths there must be artistic effect.
A FLOWER FROM THE COUNTRY
Each child then drew a rectangle on paper and made an original plan for landscaping. Those showing most thought were placed before the class and their good points commended. The children decided that not one met every requirement. The supervisor's plan was again shown, discussed, and adopted.
This plan called for twenty rectangular beds 3×11 feet in area, four shorter rectangular beds with a triangular section marked off from the end of each toward the center of the garden; and a circular bed, four feet in diameter, in the middle of the plat. It also allowed for one three-foot path running through the center the entire length of the garden, and a one-foot path separating the beds. There was to be a 1-1/2-foot path around the middle circle.
In a further study of this plan the following arithmetic problems were developed:—
"What is the area of a garden plat fifty feet long and twenty-five feet wide?"
"What would be the cost of this plat at one dollar and twenty-five cents a square foot?"