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The Girl and Her Religion by Margaret Slattery
page 102 of 134 (76%)

XV

A MATTER OF CULTIVATION


A great many people are willing to sow seed. There is an inspiration in
the picture which the word "Sower" brings to the mind. I can never
forget those days when the boys and girls just entering their teens took
their spades and hoes, left the schoolroom with its algebra and
technical grammar behind and went out into the glorious spring sunshine
to plant their school gardens. On the various packages of seed were
pictured the promised flowers or vegetables and with joy they looked
forward to the day when they should be able to proudly exhibit the
results of their planting.

When the planting was done most of the children believed that the
hardest part of the task was over. Year after year successive classes
failed to realize the fact of _Time_. As the weeks passed and the slow
development that is nature's way to perfection went on, one would hear a
boy say, "Next year I'm going to plant radishes; they grow faster," and
another, "You will never get me to plant squashes again; they're too
slow."

These young gardeners found very difficult, and some found quite
impossible, the task of _waiting_, meanwhile working with the soil and
protecting the growing plants, that the flower and fruit might be as
fine as possible. Despite encouragement from other children and from
instructors, some of the boys and girls lost their enthusiasm entirely
and seldom looked at their gardens.
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