240. THE Ottawa NATURALIST. [March 
The school garden has taken advantage of the love of ac- 
tivity so prominent in child nature, and by providing a field for — 
the exercise of these activities has afforded an excellent opportu- 
nity for training the hand and the eye, and thus reaching the 
mind. 
The care of the garden during the summer holiday has proved 
the most troublesome of all the school garden problems, and 
its solution is yet incomplete. Last summer very satisfactory 
results were attained by having the instructor and pupils meet 
once each week at the garden and spend two or three hours in 
caring for the plots. This vacation attendance was entirely vol- 
untary; yet, so thoroughly were they interested in their work that 
there was a weekly attendance of 33 to 60 per cent. of the pupils 
enrolled. This was regarded as very satisfactory and sufficed to 
keep nearly everything in good order. One or two of the larger 
boys were usually hired to do any further work required to keep 
the weeds in check. Should the teacher be absent during the 
holidays, a hired caretaker for the summer will be necessary. 
While it will not be desirable to abolish the summer vacation, 
where school gardens are established it may with advantage be 
shortened. The school should not close before the end of June, 
nor open later than the middle of August. 
The commercial side of garden work has received no 
emphasis, although at one school a globe was purchased with 
money coming from the sale of vegetables, while many of the 
pupils have augmented their supply of pocket money by the sale 
of the produce of their plots. 
The possibilities of the school garden as a field for natur® 
study and as a treasury from which material may be drawn for 
class work in natural science, are as yet only touched upon. The 
drawing books contain representations of things from the garden, 
while diaries and reports of observations made, and experiments 
attempted, have given pupils practice in expressing their ideas in 
good English. . 
The experimental plots have done good work educationally. 
Plots of better varieties of vegetables and grain have attracted 
8 ee ee 
t 
onl PS eer Se ee a 
a ae eee 
ot en a a 
ae eee Gee eye 
