The Growing of Plants 83 



relation to the economic and social conditions 



under which the school exists. 



There is some confusion as to the objects of 



school-ground improvement. The purposes 



may be analyzed as follows : 



(i) Ornamenting the grounds, com- 

 prising {a) cleaning and tidying them, 

 {b) securing a lawn, {c) planting. This 

 is always the first thing to be done. It 

 stands for thrift, cleanliness, comfort, 

 beauty, progressiveness. 



(2) Establishing a collection to supply 

 material for nature-study and class work. 



(3) Making a garden for the purpose 

 of {a) supplying material (as in No. 2), 

 {h) affording manual-training, object les- 

 son work, and instruction in plant-growing. 



(4) Providing a test ground or experi- 

 ment garden where new varieties may be 

 tried, fertilizer and spraying experiments 

 conducted, and other definite studies un- 

 dertaken. 



These purposes fall into two main groups: 

 ( I ) The improvement or adornment of the 



