A SUGGESTION FOR RECESS HOUR
After spading, leveling, and thoroughly pulverizing the native soil, we added a top layer of foreign soil as a fertilizer. The latter came from a compost heap of street sweepings which had been standing two years and was supposed to be nutritious. As it turned out, however, this soil contained little nutriment and was productive of more fine weeds than fine vegetables, and it required much labor to fight these enemies.
Now came the seed-planting, which was intensely interesting to the children. Rows twelve inches apart were marked off across the beds and the seeds planted according to the relative height of the plants which they would produce, those that would grow tallest being placed next to the fence, and the rest graduating to the center; thus:—
Fence
Corn
Pole Beans
Peas
String Beans
Lettuce
Radishes
Lettuce
Parsley
Flowers
First came corn, three grains to a hill, the hills twelve inches apart. Then pole beans, three beans to a hill and these hills separated twelve inches. Next we planted two peas in a hill and made the hills six inches apart. The string beans were planted just as the peas had been. Then came a row of lettuce, next radishes, a second row of lettuce, and last parsley. The end of the bed was left for flowers. On Arbor Day, in the classroom, we had sown tomato and lettuce seeds in boxes, that we might have the plants ready for transplanting when our outside soil was in condition. The lettuce plants turned out satisfactorily, but, for some unaccountable reason, the tomatoes were a failure. To replace the latter, we took a corner bed in the garden, divided it into three sections and planted tomato, onion, and cabbage seeds. In five weeks the tomato and cabbage plants were large enough to transplant, and, as the radishes and lettuce matured and were used, tomato and cabbage plants were put in the vacant places.
Two pumpkin seeds were planted in each bed, but if they both came up, after the plants had reached a good size, the weaker one of the two was weeded out (as the bed was too small to support both) and the stronger one left to bear fruit.
Why had we planted onion seed? One of the boys had brought an onion and asked if he might plant it in his bed, and if it would produce other onions. I explained to him and then allowed him to plant the seeds in the supply bed at the same time that he planted the onion in his own bed. The onion planted produced seed, while the seeds sown yielded the small sets for the next year's planting. Thus by the act of one child the fact was clearly demonstrated to the class that fruit produces seed, and seed produces fruit.
The supervisor had given us a wren-box, made by a child in a more advanced class as manual work. The children were delighted with the gift; they built a framework around a stout pole in the center bed and set the wren-box on the pole. They then suggested that a vine should cover this framework. Consequently, Japanese morning glories were chosen as the vine and the remaining space in the bed was filled with marigolds, nasturtiums and coleus.