SCHOOL GARDENS. 



447 



regularly announce what plants may be expected, and teachers con- 

 sult with the gardeners as to what ought to be sown or planted. 

 Teachers take their classes into the school gardens for lessons in 

 botany, and are aided by the gardeners, who cut the specimens. 



The gardens in Berlin are few in number, and lack many advan- 

 tages to be found in the country gardens. Comparatively few 

 pupils can see the plants growing from seed to seed, or growing at 

 all. The butterflies, beetles, and other insects which are constantly 



IIepatica Triloba. George Putnam School Garden. 



at work on growing plants come to the notice of only a few children, 

 consequently their habits can not be known to many. The nature of 

 annuals and biennials, the growth of plants from week to week, 

 the results of varying conditions of soil, light, heat, and moisture, 

 which are so necessary to a broad and sound understanding of 

 plant growth, can not be properly understood if reliance is to be 

 placed on cut specimens alone. "With cut specimens there are cut off 

 more than half of the advantages to be found in the study of plants 

 growing under favorable conditions. 



Such considerations lead to the conclusion that every school 

 should have its own garden, where the opening and closing of blos- 

 soms, the springing and unclosing crosiers of ferns, the clinging ten- 

 drils and rootlets of various vines, and numerous other habits of 

 growth may be observed at the right time. 



In March, 1890, a paper entitled Horticultural Education for 



