July, 1911.] 



57 



Education. 



ative societies for production rapidly 

 increased in number and importance. 



Prom a recent publication of the 

 French Ministry of Agriculture: Dix 

 ans de credit agricole, Paris, 1911, we 

 learn that at the end of 1911 as many as 

 123 co-operative societies had profited 

 by the new credit to a total amount of 

 4,132,180 francs. 



These sums were distributed as 

 follows: 30 dairies with a capital of 

 856,810 francs received 1,334,930 francs 

 for an average period of 12 years ; 21 

 fruiticres with a capital of 297,412 francs, 

 received 460,800 francs for an average 

 period of 15 years; 27 wine growers' 

 societies with a capital of 676,626 francs, 

 received a loan of 922,603 francs (for an 

 average period of 18 years) ; 5 wine and 

 oil societies with a capital of 62,050 francs, 

 103,250 (average period of loan 18 years) ; 

 5 oil mills with capital of 50,187 francs, 

 68,250 (17 years); 10 distilleries with 

 capital of 324,355 francs, 521,965 (16 

 years); 16 societies for collective pur- 

 chase and utilisation of agricultural 

 machines, with 66,175 francs capital, 



120,442 (10 years) ; 2 starch factories with 

 74,000 francs capital, 52,000 francs (22 

 years) ; 7 societies of various kinds with 

 356,570 francs capital have received loans 

 of 547,940 francs. 



Among the co-operative societies re- 

 ceiving larger assistance, let us men- 

 tion the co-operative dairy of Periers 

 (Manche) and the winemaking co-oper- 

 ative society of Toulouse, each of which 

 received 100,000 francs, the Distillery of 

 Ameville-snr-Scie (Seine Inferieure) and 

 the Agricultural transport society of 

 May-en-Multier (Seiue-et-Marre)to which 

 were accorded respectively 140,000 and 

 150,000 francs. 



It is well to note that the largest loan 

 the State is empowered to make, in 

 virtue of this law, to each co-operative 

 society must not exceed twice the fully 

 paid up capital of the co-operative 

 society itself. 



(Summarised from the Bulletin of the 

 Bureau of Social and Economic Intelli- 

 gence of the I. L of A, (Year II. N, 5, 31st 

 May, lyil). 



EDUCATION. 



SCHOOL GARDENS IN JAMAICA. 



By P. W. Murray, 

 Instructor for School Gardens- 



(A Lecture delivered at the Agricultural 

 Course for School Teachers, 1911.) 



(From the Bidletin of the Department of 

 Agriculture, Jamaica, Vol. L, No. 4.) 



Importance of a Teacher's Position. — 

 The work of a teacher should be not 

 merely to impart to his pupils a know- 

 ledge of letters. It should go further 

 and give the child a broad view of the 

 social life of the community, of his 

 duties as a citizen of that community, and 

 of his responsibility to prove himself a 

 useful member of society when he leaves 

 school and goes out to work. If such an 

 aim were the ideal of every teacher, a 

 boy in after life would remember his 

 teacher with a sense of gratitude — grati- 

 tude the result of success and of the 

 thought that his teacher has fitted him 

 directly to obtain that success — I say, he 

 would remember his teacher with such 

 feelings, rather thau, as so many of us 

 do, with a sense of aversion and dislike 

 because of unjust treatment in the past 

 and uncalled for impositions in the class- 

 room. 



The movement of the times points to 

 an additional and intelligent develop- 

 ment in the curriculum of our schools, 

 Experience has proved that there is no 

 power of education greater than that of 

 bringing the young mind in touch with 

 the plant and with the soil, and in so 

 doing, teaching him something of the 

 marvellous work of the Great Creator. 



Better than any book used for impart- 

 ing knowledge is the workshop of na- 

 ture, if I may so express it, and as a 

 ready and convenient miniature of this 

 mighty workshop the school garden has 

 been brought into operation. 



Jamaica an Agricidtural Country. — 

 Jamaica, as we all know, is entirely an 

 agricultural country. Our present 

 wealth has come directly from the pro- 

 ducts of our soil. Our interest in the 

 future so far as we are able to see, will 

 lie in this self-same direction ; hence the 

 necessity of giving the children of our 

 elementary schools as thorough a know- 

 ledge as possible of agriculture. Eighty 

 per cent. (80 %) of our school children 

 will probably earn their living by some 

 form of agricultural work, and we should 

 make every effort, direct every force, 

 use every means at our disposal to fit 

 them for their life's work. If we can 



