Staff Photo/Nanine Hartzenbusch

Scientists are reporting that playing in the dirt does more than make you dirty. It makes you smarter.

The Washington Post reports that a pair of biologist at Sage College in Troy, N.Y., found that mice who ingest a harmless bacteria found in dirt everywhere were able to negotiate a maze faster - and they retained that knowledge, too.

The scientists are suggesting that this, as much as learning to appreciate vegetables, is good reason to encourage children to get into gardening.