226 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



opinion is strongly in favour of the gardens, and there are 

 signs in Ce3don, for instance, that they will very soon be " the 

 fashion " and be demanded at all the schools. At present 

 there are only a few hundred schools which possess them. 



The general principles which govern the management of 

 these gardens are twofold. The garden is intended to suppl}'' 

 the scholars with elementary lessons upon the cultivation of 

 plants and with nature-study lessons upon their cultivation 

 and growth. For this purpose it is worked by the labour of 

 the children under the supervision of the masters. At the 

 same time it is intended to be what we may call a village 

 experiment station, in which new crops and new methods of 

 treatment may be tried, where every one may see. If the 

 lessons in the garden were to be given upon crops which 

 are already staples in the district, the master would at once 

 invite comparison with the results of the local villagers and 

 would almost of necessity meet with much ridicule, for he 

 cannot be expected to know as much as they do about the 

 practical side of the work. But if the garden be supplied 

 with plants which are as yet unfamiliar in the district, the 

 children can learn the elements of gardening practice just as 

 well without inviting comparison and there is a very fair 

 chance that these plants may get a place in the local agriculture. 

 This, as a matter of fact, has already happened to a very large 

 extent in Ceylon. 



As the children pass the age of twelve, their lessons in the 

 garden may become more and more tinged with definite agri- 

 cultural practice, and they may learn the virtues of rotation of 

 crops and of many other things. Then by the age of fifteen 

 or sixteen the best boys will be ready to go to an agricultural 

 college, in which the staff can be selected for their knowledge 

 of agriculture ; there they can learn actual agricultural practice. 

 We have now considered in very brief outline the pre- 

 liminary factors of progress in agriculture. Until these have 

 been fully put into action, it is hopeless to look for any effect 

 from the later and more strictly scientific factors we shall 

 now proceed to consider, which as yet have only produced an 

 effect among the capitalist planting community. This in many 

 countries is almost entirely foreign but in others has a large 

 admixture of natives and in some places consists entirely of 

 the latter. As we have pointed out, it is desirable to increase 



