THE 



TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF THE 



CEYLON AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Vol. XXXI. COLOMBO, 15th JULY, 1908. No. 1. 



School Gardens. 



The working of School Gardens is now 

 going on in almost 150 schools through- 

 out the greater part of the island, and 

 people who are in any way interested in 

 horticulture, agriculture, or the practical 

 education of the young, will find much 

 to occupy their thoughts and attention 

 if they will take the trouble to visit one 

 of the better gardens, such, for instance, 

 as that at Mirigama (Mugurugampola, 

 close to the station), at Alawatugoda) on 

 the Kandy-Matale road), at Welhnada, or 

 at Passara. 



The general principle upon which these 

 gardens are worked is to avoid direct 

 and definite teaching of agriculture as 

 such to young children, but to pick 

 out plants which, though useful or 

 ornamental, are not familiar in the neigh- 

 bourhood, and to work at these by 

 labour of the boys (or girls), under 

 superintendence of the master, checked 



by the occasional visits of the travelling 

 inspector. The boys are given " nature- 

 study " lessons by such masters as are 

 capable of giving them, and in any case 

 they learn the general principles of 

 sowing, watering, weeding, cultivation 

 of the soil, &c, just as well as if they 

 worked with crops already familiar in 

 the district, and without inviting im- 

 mediate criticism or comparison with 

 older and more experienced workers. 



Incidentally the scheme is doing much 

 good in a small way by introducing all 

 kinds of "new products " into places 

 where they were hitherto unknown. 

 Cabbages have been taken up from the 

 school gaidens all over the island; 

 sunflower is grown for oil in the dry 

 parts of Uva ; radishes have been largely 

 taken up, and so on. The scheme 

 practically provides an Experimental 

 Garden for each village at small cost. 



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