BULLETIN 152. J [DECEMBER, 1906. 



Ontario Department of Agriculture, 



MACDONALD INSTITUTE. 



ONTARIO AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE. 



Gardening for Schools. 



By S. B. McCready, B.A., Professor of Nature Study. 



INTRODUCTORY. 



This is the fourth College Bulletin on Nature Study that has been 

 issued for teachers of the Province. The first three are : — 



No. 124. Dec, 1902. Nature Study, or Stories in Agriculture, by 

 College Staff. 



No. 134. June, 1904. Hints in Making Nature Collections in 

 Public and High Schools, by Dr. W. H. Muldrew. 



No. 142. May, 1905. Outlines of Nature Studies, by Prof. Loch- 

 head. 



For the preparation of this Bulletin, the experience and help of Mr. 

 J. Buchanan, of the Agricultural Department; Mr. E. J. Zavitz, of the 

 Forestry Department, and Professor Hutt, of the Horticultural Depart- 

 ment, have been freely placed at my service, and are gratefully ac- 

 knowledged. 



Its chief object is to bring the Ontario Agricultural College and the 

 schools of Ontario closer together for their mutual benefit ; to make avail- 

 able to our teachers and scholars lines of work and instruction which 

 have been in use and development in and through the College for years, 

 and which present educational conditions are demanding for our common 

 schools ; to indirectly deepen the influence of the College down to the boys 

 and girls who may never have the opportunity for direct instruction, 

 recognizing the principle that a college receives its best impetus forward 

 only in directing its service downwards. The needs of the rural schools 

 especially, have been kept in view. The graded urban schools do not 

 have the same demands put upon them for instruction in agricultural 

 subjects, nor does nature study at large touch the lives of city dwellers 

 so practically as it does those of our farming population. 



In this connection, the observations and conclusions of members of 

 the Mosely Educational Commission are suggestive. This Commission 

 was made up of twenty-six prominent selected educationists of Great 

 Britain, under the guidance and patronage of Mr. Alfred Mosely. From 

 October to December, 1903, they made a close inquiry into the American 

 school systems. Their findings, published in a Report issued in 1904, 

 afford a valuable contribution to the literature of education, although, 

 naturally, their aim was the betterment of British schools. 



