George Washington Carver: A National Agricultural Library Digital Exhibit

1905

National Agricultural Library

During the past few years there has been a growing interest in school garden work in this country. While the movement here is comparatively new, it has for a long time been a feature of the educational work in continental Europe. It is obvious that no set rules can be laid down for the management of a school garden. In the heart of a city the work may be an entirely different thing from what it is in a rural or semirural district. In the city the main idea may be an aesthetic one. Combined with moral and physical training.
The general trend of the work in this country is practical, so that its application will eventually have more or less effect on our industrial development. Manual training has been made a feature in many of our schools, and no one will deny that valuable results have been obtained from it.

Agriculture in its broadest sense is the primary basis of wealth in this country, and it seems essential that efforts should be made in our educational system to bring early to the mind of the child facts which will be of value as emphasizing the importance and necessity of agricultural work. There is no better way to do this than through a well-managed and well-conducted system of school garden training. Aside from the fact that the interest of the child is early awakened in an industry which means much to the future prosperity of this country, there is often a broader application of the work in its moral effect on the child. Then, the work is valuable in broadening lines of thought, enlarging the scope of the child's observation, and improving its physique.

School Gardens

A Report Upon Some Cooperative Work With the Normal Schools of Washington, With Notes on School-Garden Methods Followed in Other American Cities