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THE NA TURE-S Tl 'D V RE VIE W b . 2 - fb „ruary, ,906 



during the past summer of a fine modern school-building, pronounced 

 by prominent educationists to be the best of its class in Ontario, 

 may be attributed in a measure to increased local interest in school 

 improvement. As an old gentleman remarked when the project was 

 under consideration. " The school garden is making a fool of the old 

 school-house." Is this a plea for or against school-gardens ? Near 

 the close of last May a union convention of four hundred teachers 

 was held at Ottawa, and these teachers, in bus loads, drove out to 

 Bowesville, and after examining the work there, listened to addresses 

 given by Hon. Sydney B. Fisher, Dominion Minister of Agriculture, 



A modern school building, the indirect result of local interest in improvement stimulated by the 



school-garden. 



Professor James W. Robertson, and Dr. C. F. Hodge of Clark 

 University— rather a novel driving party. These are a few of the 

 most striking instances of the effect, seen and hoped for, of the work 

 at this one little centre — a record of visits to the garden would run 

 into hundreds. Time will show what has been carried away. 



In conclusion, let me make a direct appeal to school teachers for a 

 trial of the school garden in connection with their work. Do not 

 attempt too much — be content with small beginnings. If you have a 

 listless pupil, apparently " dead from the ground up," or a refractory 

 pupil, or perhaps a truant, try a garden plot on him. If you are 

 weary of the bone dust you have been handling in the shape of book 

 work, tiy the effect of this vitalizing factor in your school life. You 



