The Library of Work and Play: Gardening and Farming. by Ellen Eddy Shaw
page 56 of 297 (18%)
page 56 of 297 (18%)
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"Not at all," announced The Chief, "this is just the sort of thing
which confronts most country schools." Sitting on a rock The Chief gathered his clan in solemn conclave. At the close of the conference Jay marched into the schoolhouse and wrote the following headings on the board: I. Constructing a wall to form an embankment. II. Cleaning the grounds and making a lawn. III. Planting of trees. IV. Preparation and planting of the flower garden. V. Cleaning and mending the road. These headings represented the general lines of work the conclave had decided were the right ones, the most pressing ones to begin on. First all the stones were picked up. The smaller boys and girls made little heaps of the small stones, while the larger rocks, requiring strength to move, were left to the older boys and girls. To some rocks the boys were obliged to take the pickaxe and crowbar. These were rolled, dragged and carted to the gutter at the bottom of the bank. A sand bank of this description where the wash is great always needs an embankment of some sort to hold the soil in place. So the boys built a stone wall. They made this wall of the stones picked from the grounds. First the height was decided on. This was to be two feet. They drove stakes, one at the beginning, and so on for every five feet of extent. After leveling, two inches was measured from top of each stake down and a cord was strung along from stake to stake. Previously, to be sure that the stakes were at the same level, one of the boys, squatting down on |
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