102 



put into the place for which they are intended. Beds should be 

 formed with good gravelled paths between. The beds should 

 not be too wide ; every plant should be easily reached from a 

 path, because all treading on the beds should be carefully avoided. 

 Flowers want a good deal of sun, but foliage plants will require 

 some sort of shade. Shrubs should be planted round the outer 

 part of the garden or here and there in the middle if there is 

 plenty of room. Trees should be kept outside as much as pos- 

 sible,' for their roots interfere with the beds. By this means you 

 will have the brightly colored flowers in the middle open space, 

 foliage plants nearer the edges, and shrubs and trees forming the 

 background. If possible a small patch of grass lawn should be 

 added to set off the flowers, but it must be kept free from all 

 weeds. 



A careful plan of the garden must be made showing all its 

 paths and beds, and this should be filled up with the plants grow- 

 ing in it every season. • The children should be made to take part 

 in every kind of planting. They should be taught to weed the 

 beds and keep the paths clean. All weeds and leaves, loppings 

 from the trees and garden rubbish should be put into a pit in a 

 hidden corner with a layer of earth spread over every now and 

 then. This weed pit is a most useful adjunct to a garden and 

 when the weeds are well rotted and their seeds destroyed, the 

 leaf-mould obtained from it may be useful for potting plants or 

 in improving the soil. 



As great a variety of plants as possible should be aimed at ; for 

 each will show something of interest and the children will learn 

 something of the infinite variety of Nature. The teacher will 

 find it much easier, where there are many kinds of plants grow- 

 ing, to select just those for class work which are suited to the 

 lesson of the day. By a well-arranged school garden every part 

 of a plant's life may be illustrated, the use of each organ, the 

 causes of health and disease, animal and vegetable pests (which 

 will always be present), the efifect of the sun and light, wind and 

 shade, watering and drought. 



FERTILIZATIOX OF TROPICAL CROPS. 



Tropical Life (London) for j\Iarch, in an article on the 

 fertilization of tropical crops, pays a high compliment to 

 the aflvancement of the Hawaiian sugar industry in that 

 respect. It may serve the purpose of emphasizing the exam- 

 ple of our sugar planters for the benefit of Hawaiian small 

 farmers and homesteaders to quote some of the remarks of 

 the English ])cnodical. At the beginning the article says: 



"It is ijroiuiblv not realized, even by those who are directly 



