CHAPTER XXV. 



THE SCHOOL GARDEN. 



AN important adjunct to the nature work is the school 

 garden. It has a place in education which is quite dis- 

 tinctive, especially in rural schools where the industrial 

 aspect of it receives prominence. Apart from this, the 

 school garden is most appropriately an important centre of 

 interest both for teachers and pupils alike who are engaged 

 in nature studies. It is a place in which horticulture is 

 practised and the art acquired in such a way that pupils 

 obtain an understanding of nature's processes and of the 

 effect of varying external conditions upon vegetable life. 

 School gardening wisely taught ought to foster an intel- 

 ligent interest in country life. 



Incidentally the garden should also -be used for general 

 nature work. It may be used as a place in which to study 

 the interrelations between plant and animal life as well as 

 those of the plant and its inanimate environment. It 

 ought also to prove a fruitful source from which to draw 

 materials for detailed examination and study indoors. In 

 town schools in particular, where the best type of nature 

 study is admittedly difficult, the school garden goes a long 

 way to solve the problem. 



Local circumstances will generally determine the par- 

 ticular form the work in school gardening is to take. In 

 most cases emphasis is naturally laid upon the practical 

 aspect of such work, and whilst this is no doubt a sound 

 principle to go upon, the aesthetic value of gardening 

 should be recognised. It is possible so to arrange a garden 

 that flower-beds, trees, and shrubs give it a pleasing aspect 



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