20 NATURE STUDY AND AGRICULTURE 
will be a help to him whether he engage in raising field crops, 
or flowers and vegetables, or trees and shrubs. To the home 
garden the experiments in germination outlined in the next 
chapter should make a special contribution. Many of the 
plants started in the schoolhouse may be taken home when 
ready to set out, and in due time specimens of flowers and 
vegetables should be brought to school with instructive reports 
by the pupils who raised them. 
The Projects which follow are the practical and more 
valuable portion of this chapter. The reader who is inter- 
ested in the school garden is reminded that all of Part I of 
this book is devoted to plant life and, therefore, helps him to 
understand the principles and problems involved. 
PROJECTS 
1. Bulb culture. — As early in the fall as they come into the market, 
usually about the middle of October, secure some narcissus and hyacinth 
bulbs. Take flower pots, or tin cans with holes in the bottom for drain- 
age, fill them with the best and richest soil you can find, and set the 
bulbs so that the top will be just covered with earth. In the case of 
hyacinths the tip of the bulb may be allowed to show above the dirt. 
After watering set the pots away in a cool cellar and cover them with 
several inches of earth or coal ashes. This favors the growth of a good 
root system before the top develops. 
In six or eight weeks the bulbs should have good roots and the tops 
should begin to grow. Now transfer them to a warm, well-lighted room 
and give them plenty of water. Let them have some sunshine, especially 
when the flowers begin to open. 
2. Decorative house plants. — Secure cuttings or slips of begonia, 
geranium, wandering Jew, and other good house plants and get some 
friend to tell you or show you how to plant them. Then keep them in 
the schoolroom and care for them. Whenever you have an opportunity, 
add to the collection and get as good a variety as possible. These plants 
will make the room more home-like and at the same time afford a means 
of increasing your knowledge of plant life. 
