XXIII 



FOR THE TEACHER AND THE STUDENT 



IN college circles we hear a great deal 

 about the " pedagogic value " of certain sub- 

 jects. Even the professor of Greek or Latin 

 himself will admit at times that the dead lan- 

 guages are of no possible use to a living man 

 in any of the ordinary affairs of life ; " but 

 still," he will say, " they have a very great 

 pedagogic value." 



I am sorry to be forced to admit that in 

 many cases horticulture does really seem to 

 have less "pedagogic value" than Greek or 

 Latin or the Babylonian gibberish of the text- 

 books. But that is not the fault of the sub- 

 ject ; it is the fault of the teacher, of the 

 presentation of the matter, of the system of 

 instruction. The teachers of language, out 

 of the experience of centuries, have developed 

 a pedagogic system which gives their work its 

 pedagogic value. I have no doubt but that 

 as soon as Professor Garner, or some other 

 irrepressible crank, discovers the language of 



2?7 



