AGRICULTUTAL EDUCATION. 93 



in its care and construction ; and as a means of tcaclilng children tlie relation- 

 ship of facts ; that is, interpretation, as tlie result of reliectiou following observa- 

 tion, wliicli is of more importance than the mere acquirement of facts. The 

 classroom is deemed the best place for the completion of garden work, the 

 teacher directing the processes leading to such understanding by recalling the 

 observations made by the different pupils and by good questioning stimulating 

 reflection, thus leading the pupils to arrive at their own conclusions or else 

 revealing to them the need of making further observations. In beginning the 

 work classroom discussion of plans and objects also helps to give pupils a 

 purpose and point of view which aids them to succeed in the work which they 

 undertake. 



Care of school gardens during' summer vacation (Agr. Qaz. Canada, 2 

 (1915), No. 6, pp. 5S6-502). — Among the methods described of caring for school 

 gardens in the summer vacation in the Provinces of Price Edward Island, 

 Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia the following may be men- 

 tioned : 



Where teachers are paid a bonus for a well-kept school garden they are held 

 responsible for its vacation care. In several Provinces children must attend to 

 the garden during the summer vacation at regular hours and under the super- 

 vision of a teacher, trustee, or farmer, or the community interest is enlisted 

 in the work, parents, trustees, the local branch of the women's institute and 

 ex-pupils being consulted. In some schools committees are appointed for each 

 week of the vacation, each in turn being held responsible for the gardens. In 

 suKiU schools which are far away from the village children harvest their px'od- 

 ucts, consisting of early vegetables, at the end of the school year. Where ex- 

 perience has shown that a garden can not be expected to continue successfully 

 during the vacation it is advised that the ground be seeded down. Competitions 

 and exiiibitions, both in rural localities and in towns, have solved the weed prob- 

 lems in hundreds of districts in one Province. In a small garden 3 hours a week, 

 preferably in the morning, has been found sufRcient for the work ; but in large 

 gardens 8 hours a week may be necessary. One hour a week is usually sufficient 

 for each pupil to spend in actual garden woi-k. 



Home projects as a.n adjunct to agricultural insti'uction in the school, 

 L. A. DeWoi-fe and R. P. Steeves (Agr. Gaz. Canada., 2 (1915), Na. 5, pp. 

 462-464)- — In this discussion the director of elementary agricultural education 

 of Nova Scotia holds that " everything that will help the boys and girls to be 

 self-sustaining and will make them useful and agreeable members of society 

 comes under the head of ' liome projects.' " The director of elementary educa- 

 tion of New Brunswick recommends that pupils be encouraged to begin home 

 plats under the teacher's supervision in the fall so that this may act as a 

 stimulus in study, observation, and reading during the winter. In his opinion 

 " the connection between education and success, between efficiency and practice, 

 is thus establislied." Last year S9 home plats were worked by the public-school 

 children of New Brunswick. 



"Home credits" for high school work, J. T. Begg (Better ScIlgoIs, 1 (1915), 

 No. 7, pp. 101-104). — In this discussion of home credits the author deprecates 

 the giving of credit for home work which would have a tendency tov.'ard making 

 children expect a rev\'ard for the performance of their regular duties of life, 

 but approves credit given for oitt-of-school work in which the principles studied 

 in the classroom are applied. 



Outlines for thirty-six lessons in agriculture, W. H. Davis (Des Moines, 

 Iowa: Dept. Pub. Instr., 1915, pp. 71, figs. 19). — Instructions are given to 

 teachers and pupils of the seventh and eighth grades for conducting 36 exercises. 



