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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (July 23, 1914)
16 HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION Gardening Directed by the School Town Lots Transformed Into Gardens for Raising Vegetables by Boys and Girls. READ EVERY WORD!! HOME gardening directed by the school is offered by Dr. P. P. Clax ton, United States commissioner of education, as a solution for some of the most pressing educational and economic problems in city and suburban life. Dr. Claxton would have every vacant town lot transformed into a garden, where boys and girls would raise vegetables, berries and fruit for pleas ure and profit He would have one teacher in the community employed 12 months in the year to teach elemen tary science in school and direct '.he home garden work after school, on Sat urdays and during the summer vaca tion. Many Back Yard Garden. - "Of the 13,000,000 children between the ages of 6 and 20 in the cities, towns, manufacturing villages and suburban communities of the United States," ays Dr. Claiton, "not more than 15 pei cent are away from home during the summer vacation or engaged in reg ular employment. The remaining 85 per cent remain at home without any useful, healthful, productive occupation requir ing any largo part of their time. On the other hand, there is much valuable land in back yards and vacant lots that is serving no useful purpose. The prob lem is to bring this land and these chil dren together. "In every school and community there should be at least one teacher who knows gardening, both theoretical ly and practically. This teacher should teach the elementary sciences in the schools daring the school hours and shoadd, ont of school hours, direct the tome gardening of the children be tween ths ages of 7 or 8 and U or IS. If possible, the teacher should hive the assistance of an expert gardener, so that the work may be done in the most practical and profitable way. The taeher aad the gardener shonld help the children find the plots of ground in back yards, front yards and vacant lots ear their homes best suited for gar dening work, aid them by some co operative method to have the lots prop erly plowed and prepared for cultiva tion, help them select seeds, show them how to plant, cultivate and harvest so as to obtain the best results. Products For Home Use. "Vegetables, berries and fruits grown should be nsed first as food for the chil dren and their families; then the sur plus should be marketed to the best ad vantage. Through the help of the teacher this can be done in a co-opera tive way. Ten or 15 cents worth of vegetables each day from the gardens of each of 200 children would amount to $20 or $30. In the summer and fall when the surplus is large and cannot be mar keted to advantage, the teacher should direct and help the children in canning and preserving for winter use or for sale. The canning and tomr.to clubs of the southern states have already shown what can be done in this way. "It is difficult to estimate the re sults of this plan when it-shall be in full operation throughout the country. lor the children it will meau health strength, joy in work, habits of indus try, an understanding of tie value of money as measured in terms of labor, and such knowledge of the phenomena and force of nature as must be had for an understanding of most of their school lessons. Thoy will also learn something at least of the fundamental principle of morality; that each indi vidoal mnst make his .r her own living; most, by some kiad of labor of head, hand or heart, contribute to the com mon wealth as much as he takes from it; must pay for what he gets in some kind of coin. Prevents Factory Work. "This, plan in full operation would probably do more toward keeping young children out of the factories and mills than all of the child-labor laws on the statute books. A boy 10 or 12 years of age, with a quarter of an acre of land, working under careiul direction, can pro dace more for the suppor' of the family than could be purchased with the Child's wages from the mill. Children should not be ground in the mills nor sweated U the factories; their strength should aot to app' Be,r -rvea racked by working ta the neat and dust of in doors, yet all. children should learn to work; it is goo a tor tnem ana tftey joy in it. To work with its feet u: tat toil, its head in the sunshine and its lungs filled with good fresh air is not a bad thing for any healthy child. "Probably one of the most valuable results of this plan would be to make it easy for most children to attend school three or four years longer than they now do, a thing more and more desirable, Biuco education for life and citizenship in our industrial, civic and social democracy cannot be obtained before the age of adolescence. If a child can contribute to its support while in school, it may remain in school much longer than if it must bo carried as a dead weight until it quits school to go to work. Cost Inconsiderable. "Compared with tho results, the cost will be inconsiderable. No addition to the number of teachers will be required. It will only be necessary to require dif ferent preparation for one teacher in eaeh school." In the estimates submitted to con areas by the commissioner of educa tion for the support of the bureau in the next fiscal year an item of $5700 is included to enable the bureau to be gin the introduction of this kind of work in the schools or tne unueu States. The commissioner believes that it will only be necessary to work out details of plans ana to present mem to school officers, together with full information in regard to results of somewhat similar work already done at various places. Planting Corn for Fodder (Communicated.) NOTICE on the cover of the Home and Farm Magazine Section of June 27 an article stating that corn in tended for fodder or silage is planted much thicker than when raised for grain. I know this is the opinion of a great many people, but I will have to differ with them. It is a weil-known fact that the more grain there is in the feed the better it is. If corn is planted thick it will never make much ear. Of course, if a roughage is all that is wanted it may be well to plant some thicker than for grain; but when planting corn for silage, plant it and tend it as though you were raising it for the crib, for the more and larger the ear the richer the feed. As to ton nage per acre, you will get as many tons as when planted thick, from the fact that the stock and blades will be larger and. heavier, and with the extra weieht of the ear you will raise as many tons or more than when planted thick, and when it is cut up fine and put in the silo the cattle will eat it up clean, stock and all. I will say here that the finest and richest corn suage I ever saw was in a silo owned by a Mr. Studing some five miles north of Eugene, and this corn was raised for the ear, and when one looked into the silo the feed was yellow with the grain. Mr. Studing used it as the grain ration to fatten Us hogs, and with good suc cess. But as I said before, if fodder is all that is wanted, then planting thick will do; but why be contented with fodder alone when a good grain crop can be raised at the same timet Plant your corn and handle it as if you were trying to raise prize winning ears, is my advice, and you will have a heavy tonnage and a rich feed. D. W. OSBOBN. . The state of Pennsylvania celebrates two arbor days each year one for sring planting and one for the fall in April and October respectively. Mr. Kancherl Mr. Merchant! Mr. Cattle Man! . Mr. Hop Growerl Mr. Fruit Grower! Do you protect the amount of Dollars on your Bank Checks against the CHECK RAISER? Do you know that American Bank records show losses through bad check men of $500,000 in 1900, $5,000,000 1906, $15,000,000 in 1911 and the awful total of $23,000,000 in 1913 T WHO! will be called on to stand this enormous yearly lossf The Fanner! Yes, because most city business men now use Check Protection. WHY do you, at a yearly expense, protect your farm buildings, crops and stock against loss by fire, storm and disease, YET! neglect to protect the total cash receipts of all your hard work, your Bank account. RIGHT NOW buy this $10.00 New Era Machine, it will stamp in Red Indelible Ink the exact amount of your check in Dollars, show it to your Banker, use it 30 days, then if not satisfied your money will be returned without question. Sign and Mail This Order. COMMEKCE-TJTrLTTY CORPORATION, 411-12 13-14 15 Panama Building, ' ' ' Portland, Oregon. Ship me one Robert H. Ingersoll New Era guaranteed Check Pro tector a O. ft. $10.00 by Parcels Post, prepaid. . Name. Address. WE ARE SO SURE OF THE QUALITY OF old SHel a Coffee That we ask you to give Gold Shield a trial, feeling that you will then insist on Gold Shield when buying coffee. SCHWABACHER BROS. & CO., Inc. Importers and Roasters of Coffee Seattle, Wash ii 1i LIFE HEALTH ACCIDENT Phone Main 1711 One Policy COM BINATION ONTRACT J a J v9 .NSURANCH CO. HOME OFFICE SEATTLE, U.B.X Clip this Coapen ant mall te the Peat Offleo for full Information Me obligation InourroS. 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