PREFACE vii 



extend and modify them as surrounding conditions 

 demand. 



In some instances a school garden cannot be 

 provided, but in rural districts this may usually be 

 obtained. It is not necessary to have a large piece of 

 ground. 



In connection with school gardening, difficulty is 

 sometimes experienced in maintaining order, and pre- 

 venting what should be serious, though interesting, 

 teaching degenerating into a useless scramble. This 

 may often be obviated by introducing the elements of 

 a simple drill into the out-door work, as by marching 

 the class to the tool-house, then passing out the tools 

 to the class as it stands in rank, and marching to the 

 plots where work is to be done, and so on. 



In the working-plots themselves the work must be 

 carried on in a manner similar to that of a laboratory ; 

 each pupil must have an idea of what he is aiming at, 

 and proceed independently to the fulfilment of his 

 object. In many cases it is well for the pupils to work 

 in pairs. 



In the garden itself, two kinds of work have to be 

 distinguished, and it is well to keep them distinct in the 

 minds of teacher and pupil. Some plants are to be 

 grown with the object of studying their mode of growth : 

 they are to be examined, and possibly destroyed in 

 process of examination, in various stages. Other plants 

 are to be grown for the sake of the crop they afford, 

 whether the crop be ornamental, as in the case of flowers 

 and decorative plants, or useful, as in the case of fruits 

 and vegetables. The proper arrangement of both kinds of 



