University of California Los Angeles - Bruin Life / Southern Campus Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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we have recently learned, are of such vital importance in determin- ing the richness of the soil. The little helpers, the bacteria, reduce their activity or lie dormant as the air supply is exhausted. An aeration of the soil revives their energies and provides for their numerical increase. The roots of plants spread out under ground in many cases to greater distances than do the branches above it. Roots breathe just as truly as we do, although, to be sure, less ac- tively. Entire exclusion of air from the soil smothers the plant. For these reasons, not only breaking the sod, but later and frequent tillage is advantageous. The importance of the admission of water into the lower strata of the soil cannot be too strongl}- emphasized. In California, the sunshine of which we are justly so proud, becomes a menace to plant and animal life. Our schools are, of course, located where water is accessible, but there are many reasons why, in school gar- dening, we should be careful to make the best use of the water furnished during the rainy season. First, teach the economy of water. In the great areas where water is so scarce the problem of water supply is the ruling question in the establishment of a new community or of an agricultural enter- prise. Such a matter should not be neglected in a community like ours. Children should be trained to handle the soil in such a waj- as to allow the least possible loss by evaporation. Second, the actual difficulties in the way of irrigating. Children of the lower grades are often furnished with little sprinkling pots which they are to fill at a central supply and carry to their own plats for irrigating their small crops. The result is too often muddy clothing and wet shoes for the child and an equally unhygienic con- dition for the plants. For the arduous task of carrying water soon exhausts the child; and the plants have too little water. Again, the water is showered upon the delicate plants till they are beaten down into the earth, the top soil becomes mud while the roots of the plant remain dry. A hard crust forms over the top as the earth dries, and the seedlings are clod bound ; a maximum of harm with a min- imum of good. If the school garden be in need of water, let it be furnished by the gardener on Saturday evening and given in adequate amount. B} ' Monda} morning the soil will be in good condition for the top mulch by the children. We desire them to conserve the natural soil moisture. First let us get it down out of the reach of the dry- ing effect of sun and air. This penetration is made more complete by deep spading. Even the freest soil will show a tendenc}- to be- come packed at the surface into a layer that sheds a large percent- age of the rain water where it falls at all rapidly. Some soils, indeed, become almost impervious to water. Often a water puddle that has stood in a slight depression for many daj ' S may be drained away into the lower soil strata by spading a few holes in the bottom of the depression. Water is not lost by thus penetrating the soil, for roots will seek it out if they are permitted; and by capillarity the moisture is drawn back toward the surface as this dries out.

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stream to silver, while black shadows still lurk along the shores, and one ' s boat glides softly through light and shadow, and the spell of the night is on one ' s heart. The charm of this peaceful outdoor life laj ' S hold on the sojourner more and more as weeks roll by. He enjoys its unconventionalit} ' ; he delights in its freedom from rush and hurry and the strife for gain ; he takes increased delight in its simple pleasures ; and his soul opens wider day by da} ' to the sweet ministry of nature. It is little wonder that increasing hundreds seek health and pleasure in this region every year. For several miles up and down the beautiful river are scattered, singly or in groups, the camps and cottages of these summer pilgrims. -In remote farmhouses, too, miles away among the mountains, the summer boarder finds a peaceful retreat and helps to swell the farmer ' s scant} ' income. Many of these visitors to the Russian River return year after year. We met families that for a decade had never failed to make their annual pilgrimage to this spot. At first the new comer wonders at their constancy ; but when the charm of the place has entered his blood, he resolves to go and do likewise. And if, perchance, an unkind Fate forbids his return, he still looks longingly, as summer approaches, toward this home of woodland beauty and peace. —JOSEPHINE E. SEAMAN. .i uggesitions; for tlje i§ci)ool 25arben N the work to which the normal graduate goes forth, the school garden is so essential a feature that these few suggestions on its establishment and care are offered with the hope that they may be of general in- terest. The various points are discussed with the view of making the method of procedure logical and, in greater or less degree, comprehensible to children. Having the necessary space for the garden, what is the first step in its preparation? The schoolhouse is established so early in the life of a comnui- nity that it occupies ground that has never known the plow. Its grounds are virgin soil, so the first step is that of the pioneer — to break the sod. In your garden this is done by deep spading. A firmly trodden school yard will generally require a pick to precede the spade. But whatever the requirement, the result must be a deep and thorough stirring. The reason for this step may be con- sidered under the heads aeration, penetration and fertilization. Natural soil, like natural water, is a medium teaming with life. There are, besides the multitudes of visible forms, such as earth- worms, larvae, crickets, etc., the hosts of invisible bacteria which,

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Penetration by roots is an exceedingly important end aided by deep spading. To be sure, those rapid-growing and virile plants we call weeds will grow in the most forbidding soil and wedge their roots into the forbidding hardpan; but our cultivated plants have had their energies directed into other channels, such as the pro- duction of more succulent, more richh ' flavored, or more perfectly formed plant parts, or the production of their desirable parts in greater abundance. They need a little bit of coaxing, especially in their early life. They have responded to cultivation by improve- ment of their qualities. Without the cultivation the quality suffers or even the plant itself succumbs. In tree planting, a hard substratum may even require a blast of giant powder to make root penetration possible. Part of the orange growing land of a neighboring town is underlaid by decomposed granite, which in some ca.ses approaches to within a few feet of the surface. Ten-year-old trees in excellent condition and fruitage are growing in such regions where blasts were required to shatter the substratum before planting. The spading also affords opportunity for the working in of various ingredients which are desirable in modifying the character of the soil. The soil on the grounds of this school is a putty-like adobe — an almost hopeless soil for children ' s work, unless modified by the addition of other substances. A dozen loads of sand, half as man}- of stable manure and a great quantity of lime were worked into the plot during the early winter. The result is a fairh ' satis- factory- soil. All these ingredients tend to overcome the stickiness of the adobe: the sand and straw by purely mechanical means; the lime by means of a peculiar coagulative effect which it has upon clay. Of course, the character of the soil must determine what dress- ing is to be applied, and the materia medica of soil treatment is too extensive for a leaflet of this sort. In general, adobe soil is quite rich, but needs loosening ingredients. I oose soils are sometimes too pervious to moisture and dn - out too rapidly, or else allow sol- uble plant food to leach out. The latter defect calls for enrichment. The former can be overcome in large measure by the addition of humus which retains moisture most tenaciously. A single treat- ment combining both qualities is the addition of an abundance of coarse barnyard manure. This treatment is to be recommended for the ' school garden, since plant foods are not so abundant as to make the danger of overfeeding the soil very great, while the abun- dance of decaying straw retains moisture and warms and mellows the soil in most efficient manner. The further advantages are gained in that the children see the particles of organic matter in the soil in their work of soil examination, and those little soil culti- vators, the earth worms, are attracted to the garden by the abun- dant organic matter. By whom is all this work to be done ? A most pertinent question indeed, and one of the hardest to solve in some cases. Some outside help will probably be needed where the ground requires the more laborious treatment. A day ' s work b} ' a good strong man with a