124 :massachusett8 horticlxtural society. 



To recapitulate : — The four essential processes of thought — real 

 and ideal analysis and synthesis — must all be made subjects of 

 exercise in a system of education. If man is to be at home in 

 the world which he inhabits, he must know not merely things, — 

 he must also be trained to observe the action of the classes of 

 forces by which things are produced. The study of physical 

 forces must be supplemented by the study of these as combined 

 with life forces in the study of plant or animal. The laboratory 

 method must be adopted. The biological laboratory is often 

 impossible ; the garden is the botanical laboratory. 



Can the means of such teaching be supplied ? I must leave it 

 for you, gentlemen, to decide how much good ground is essential 

 to the school garden. There is surely ground enough in the 

 country, and attached to the city school there may be. I found a 

 fine collection of plants on the roof of a school house built for 

 the poor of East London, the boy's playground being also on the 

 roof, and those who have seen the beautiful flower garden on 

 the roof of the market house on Princess street in Edinburgh,, 

 will have a vivid idea of the possibilities in this field. 



Is such an extension to school work anywhere found? Yes, 

 and as part of a national system, I will read the course in horti- 

 culture prescribed by law for the common schools of France, 

 and the course by which teachers are to be prepared in the Normal 

 Schools for the direction of this work. In France, whatever is to 

 be in the education of the people must be in the normal schools. 

 The problem of manual labor was solved there by putting it into 

 the normal schools. 



Horticulture takes a place beside agriculture in the courses of 

 study of the normal schools and of the elementary or common 

 schools. The course for the third year of the normal schools for 

 male teachers lays doAvn the following as the subjects treated, 

 under the title, Fr%ut and Vegetable Horticulture. 



1 . The site (for garden) ; preparation of the soil ; planting. 



2. Special culture of trees and shrubs: The vine, the peach 

 tree, the cherry tree, the plum tree, the pear tree, the apple tree, 

 the rose, etc. 



3. Grafting. 



4. The vegetable garden. The teacher will give special atten- 

 tion to the modes of cultivation and the varieties of plants most 

 important in the section of country in which the school is located- 



