260 NATURE STUDY REVIEW [9:8— Nov., 1913 



The school authorities examine the Hst to see that each grade school 

 is represented, so far as the limited number which can be handled 

 in the University garden and laboratories permit. Since more 

 teachers have always applied than can be accommodated, those 

 asked to postpone their training are the ones whose schools are 

 already represented. 



Three courses continuing throughout one university year are 

 now required of all garden-inspectors. The basic course consists 

 of practical training in plant propagation by seeds, cuttings and 

 grafts, the preparation of window-boxes and potted plants, seed- 

 testing, cold-frame and hot-bed management and the raising of an 

 individual bed of flowers and vegetables. This course occupies 

 three hours on Saturday morning throughout the year. The 

 specific principles involved in this practical work are explained in 

 another course, consisting of lectures, discussions, trips to green- 

 houses and parks, and assigned readings. This course occupies 

 one hour each Saturday morning, and its purpose is to give the 

 inspectors a broad enough knowledge of applied plant physiology 

 to enable them to determine upon investigating a given plot of 

 ground, what kind of plants will thrive best upon it, and how they 

 should be treated. 



The third course is given on Tuesday afternoon from 4 :oo to 5 :oo, 

 throughout the year, and consists of lectures on the human associa- 

 tions connected with common cultivated plants ; where each first 

 grew wild, what nation began its cultivation, to what other coun- 

 tries it was carried by commerce and exploration, what new varie- 

 ties have been produced, what their present value is to the human 

 race and what folklore tales and religious associations have grad- 

 ually become clustered about it. This information increases the 

 personal interest which the child takes in these plants, giving his 

 growing garden a new significance and importance. 



At the end of the university year, the instructors in the gardening 

 coiirses send to the superintendent of schools a list of those teachers 

 whose work in the three courses has been satisfactory and who are 

 thought to have the personal qualifications advisable for efficiency 

 in garden inspecting. These receive an official appointment as 

 garden-inspectors from the school authorities and at once begin 

 their work. They visit the homes of the children of their own 

 schools, talk with the children and their parents about window-box 

 or garden possibilities and offer to advise and look after any plant- 



