howes] THE SCHOOL-GARDEN AT BOWESVILLE, CANADA 53 



curriculum, get time for all these extras ?" In reply to this it might be 

 well to state that, in the opinion of the writer, the work carried on at 

 Bowesville is too extensive for an ordinary ungraded rural school, 

 unless conditions are very favorable. In this connection I take the 

 liberty of quoting from the new book on nature-study, written by 

 Professor John Dearness, of the London Normal School, '-It is 

 possible to accomplish a good deal with only a couple of square rods 



of ground and borrowed implements Aim to have as fine a garden 



as the Bowesville one. Failing that, you can surely, if you try, have 

 one at least as good as that described here." Very little of the time- 

 table of Bowesville school is marked off for garden work. This is 

 gladly performed during intermissions and in the evenings, and even 

 two or three plots have been maintained by ex-pupils. A little 

 difficulty is met wilh in plot maintenance during summer holidays, but 

 neglect occurs in isolated instances, few pupils caring to have such a 

 standing monument to their neglect as a weedy plot furnishes. It 

 might be preferable and even necessary to arrange for the services of 

 two or more reliable care-takers, picked from the ranks of the pupils. 

 Let no teacher refrain from beginning a school-garden on account of 

 the idea that he cannot find time for the work, and the labor is one of 

 pleasure. Then when he comes to correlate the garden work with 

 that in drawing, writing, composition, arithmetic, technical agriculture 

 and nature-study, he will be agreeably surprised with the material he 

 has at hand on which he may draw when necessary. Let him begin 

 the work and he will find time to carry it out. The school-garden is 

 not an added burden, but a relief to the so-called burden he now 

 carries. 



This garden is one of six in Carleton County, four being under the 

 able supervision of Mr. J. \V. Gibson, travelling instructor in nature- 

 study, and one established at Leitrim, near Bowesville, by independent 

 effort on the part of teacher and trustees. Ample evidence of far- 

 reaching results from the work conducted in these gardens is already 

 at hand ; but as this is a report of Bowesville garden, we will confine 

 ourselves to results in this locality. In the school itself the good 

 effect on school attendance, on interest in school work, and on the 

 moral tone of the school lias far surpassed the expectations of an 

 optimistic teacher. At the homes of the pupils we find many 

 duplicates of the school fence, school flower pots, borders, and 

 ornamental trees and shrubs as evidences of local interest additional 

 to that shown in the experimental work at the school. The erection 



