CHAPTER XXI. 

 RAILWAY, SCHOOL, AND RE5THOUSE GARDENS. 



[For fuller information, see special Chapters on different subjects]. 



The vicinity of Railway Stations, Schools and Resthouses 

 affords in many cases excellent opportunities of establishing attrac- 

 tive and useful little gardens, often in isolated or sparsley cultivated 

 districts, and are thus capable of serving as object lessons to the 

 peasantry, in addition to their primary purpose of ornament or utility. 

 Through their agency useful and ornamental plants may be intro- 

 duced and established in remote districts, and thsy may be the 

 means of demonstrating the kinds of plants most adapted to the 

 particular climate and soil of their locality. The most cheerless 

 and bleak situations may be made attractive and interesting by 

 establishing and maintaining neat little gardens suitable to the 

 surroundings, and the effect of these also in rendering a vicinity 

 salubrious and agreeable can hardly be over-estimated. 



Laying out and Planting. The outline of the garden being 

 decided upon, the boundary should be planted with suitable trees 

 for the purpose of providing shade or shelter. These should be 

 planted closer than they are intended to remain when grown up, 

 allowance being thus made for thinning out as the trees approach 

 maturity. Deciduous trees should not, as a rule, be planted for 

 shade, as they are likely to drop their leaves when shade is most 

 required. In planning the garden, it may help to make one's idea 

 clear by first sketching on paper the general contour of the ground 

 and the outline of the scheme it is proposed to follow, afterwards 

 marking off the space with string and pegs. The plan to be carried 

 out should, of course, depend on the area, whilst the labour avail- 

 able for carrying on the work and maintaining the garden in a 

 proper condition must also be considered. Therefore, never make 

 a garden larger than you can manage to maintain in good condi- 

 tion. A small garden well kept is obviously preferable to a larger 

 one which always presents an untidy or neglected appearance. 

 Persons in charge of Resthouses and Railway gardens in Ceylon 



