CHAPTER

      I. The Garden Club

     II.  The Boys’ Garden Difficulties

    III.  The Girls’ Secret

     IV.  Garden Experiments Performed Indoors

      V. The Work Shop End of the Garden

     VI.  What the Girls Made Winter Evenings

    VII.  Improving the School Grounds

   VIII.  Myron’s Strawberry Bed

     IX.  Jack’s All-Round Garden

      X. Albert and Jay’s Drainage Problem

     XI.  George’s Cabbage Troubles

    XII.  Peter, Potatoes and Profit

   XIII.  Philip’s Backyard

    XIV.  The Corn Contest

     XV.  The Girls’ Secret Work

    XVI.  More About the Girls’ Work

   XVII.  The Girls’ Winter Work

  XVIII.  The Grand Wind-Up—­Girls vs.  Boys

PART II.—­THE CHIEF’S GARDEN TALKS

CHAPTER

     I. The Soil

    II.  Plant Food

   III.  Seeds

    IV.  The Plant Itself

     V. Increasing Plants

    VI.  Garden Operations

   VII.  Common Weeds

  VIII.  Garden Pests

    IX.  Vegetable Culture

     X. Flower Culture

    XI.  The Wild-Flower Garden

   XII.  Landscape Gardening

  XIII.  How Boys and Girls Can Make Money from Their Gardens

ILLUSTRATIONS

    Dee’s Garden Was a “Lovesome Thing” Frontispiece

    The Way The Chief Taught His Boys to Handle Tools

    Jay’s Tile Drain Converted a Swamp into a Garden

    Philip’s Backyard Made Beautiful by Annuals and Quick-growing Vines

    The Bulb Story

    Constant Cultivation of the Soil Saved George’s Cabbages

    Jack’s Rake Handle as a Measuring Stick

    Albert Sowing Large Seeds Singly

    Elizabeth Sowing Small Seed from the Package

    Myron Transplanting His Long-rooted Strawberry Plants

    Katharine Transplanting Her Flowers by a Method of Lifting

PART I—­THE GARDEN CLUB

I

THE GARDEN CLUB

The door opened.  A gust of wind and rain literally swept five boys, wet and breathless, into the room.  The man at the big oak table in front of a huge open fire looked up, smiled, and said, “Off with your duds, boys!  Bar the door securely, Jay, for it’s a wild night.  Throw a fresh log on the fire, Albert.  And all line up.”