Report of the Executive Committee 6i 



season. I supplied a quantity of seed potatoes from my own stock, 

 and with a levy of ^d. each from the boys, together with sundry surplus 

 seeds of my own, we had no difficulty in raising a good crop of various 

 vegetables the first season. The next year I obtained the gift of a 

 quantity of manure, and with a subscription or two from sympathetic 

 friends, we purchased a small stock of tools and sufficient seeds for 

 sowing the ground. We had now got into good working order, and I 

 divided our ground into small plots, each to be cultivated by one boy, 

 and all on the same plan for sake of order and facility of teaching. I 

 next saw the possibility of creating greater interest by stimulating the 

 boys to competition amongst themselves. Prizes were offered for the 

 best-cultivated and most-productive plots, and being secretary of the 

 local Horticultural Society, I was, with the ready approval of the com- 

 mittee, able to affiliate my Garden Class with the Society. The boys, 

 therefore, appeared as competitors in a special class at the next Annual 

 Exhibition; and this arrangement was so effective that in a year or two 

 the boys' exhibits were regarded as one of the main features of the 

 show, and developed so amazingly that ultimately the boys' section 

 required a tent to itself. Since the collapse of the Horticultural Society 

 at Holloway we have made a still greater advance, and we now have an 

 Annual Exhibition of our own, which, I believe, is regarded as one of 

 the great events of the summer season in our district. And I should 

 here say that the success of my efforts has in no small measure been 

 due to the kindness of the owners of the land adjacent to the school, 

 who some four years ago placed at our disposal a splendid piece of 

 ground — which was most highly appreciated after the hard work ex- 

 perienced on our original plot — and to the kindly encouragement of 

 our school managers and others. 



"Since the recognition of the subject by Government, and the payment 

 of a grant, we have easily covered the expenses of manures, tools, and 

 seeds. The produce is, as it matures, to some extent shared between 

 the boys and myself, though the whole of the selected exhibits, shown 

 for competition, are retained and taken home by the boys. The en- 

 thusiasm of the boys is as keen as ever it was, and I have always more 

 volunteers than I can admit. I have now two classes of fourteen each — 

 one of seniors, who have had from one to four years' experience, and 

 the other of juniors, who have entered upon their first year's work. 

 Every senior has supervision of the work of a junior (or two in certain 

 cases) on the same plot, and I find this arrangement is a good one. The 

 lessons are given by myself to the whole of a class gathered round one 

 particular plot; and the boys then go to their own plots and do exactly as 

 I have done in their presence. Every operation is performed at the same 



