joinr, lftll.j 



59 



Education. 



who has the best garden, the Inspector 

 of Schools presenting the prize on the 

 day of the inspection of the school. 

 These small gardens as an outcome of 

 school garden work are in my opinion 

 the best test of the work of the school 

 garden. Where a child has been so 

 thoroughly interested by the teacher in 

 his work as to imitate that work in 

 leisure hours at his home, it is evident 

 that that teacher understands his work, 

 and is himself interested in it. 



Sehool Gardens afford Practical Object 

 Lessons fur Class-room Work. — The 

 school garden should, I may be pardoned 

 for thinking, form also the basis around 

 which the major portion of the school 

 work should be centered. It 3hould 

 be used to give definiteness in 

 instruction. It is wonderful how 

 adaptable a garden is to the study of 

 the three "R's." We have already in 

 use in our schools many books on agri- 

 cultural subjects from which our reading 

 lessons are taken. I should like to draw 

 your attention to another which has 

 been recently introduced, the Hon. J. 

 R. Williams' book on School Gardens. 

 The school garden can be run in con- 

 junction with this book, and lessons read 

 from it, either by the teacher to the 

 school, or by the children to the school, 

 should immediately be put into practice, 

 or the attention of the children drawn 

 to the facts as stated in the book while 

 at work in the garden.. 



For example, when reading about the 

 flowering or the root system of a plant, 

 an object lesson taken from the sehool 

 garden should always be given. This 

 would vastly improve the child's reading, 

 and also his knowledge of the plant, and 

 doubly increase his interest in his read- 

 ing lesson. 



Nothing is more distressing than to be 

 told to write a composition upon a sub- 

 ject about which you know absolutely 

 nothing, or upon a subject about which 

 you have no interest. I am speaking 

 from my own experience and from observ- 

 ation, when I say that one chief diffi- 

 culty in the case of young children is the 

 lack of something to say on the subject 

 proposed. The teacher should find in 

 the school gardens a well-stocked recruit- 

 ing ground for composition subjects, 

 readily understood, of varied interest, 

 and on which the child, if he has been 

 previously brought into contact with 

 the work, should find no difficulty in 

 writing at some length. 



The school garden supplies material 

 for Arithmetic of all kinds, Addition, 

 Measurements, Fractions, Subtraction, 

 Division, Multiplication, Areas, Ac- 



counts, etc., etc. These could all be 

 readily and aptly illustrated from the 

 school garden, and would give definite- 

 ness to the subject under discussion. 



In order that these functions may be 

 effectively carried out, it is necessary 

 that the school garden be modelled 

 along such lines as will ensure the work- 

 ing out of the points in view. I may 

 say briefly that a school garden is not a 

 miniature ground, or a kitchen garden, 

 as so many term it. It is essentially an 

 educational medium, and should be 

 kept up to that standard, if ever the 

 results which are anticipated and 

 desired are to be attained. I have had 

 to propose very formidable changes in 

 the planning of our school gardens. 

 This has not been donetogive the teachers 

 unnecessary work, but to ensure results 

 of educational value, and in many cases 

 such a remodelling has been followed by 

 an increase varying from 30% to 100% in 

 the grant awarded at the annual 

 inspection. 



Planning a Garden. — The following 

 are some of the principal features to be 

 considered in the planning of a garden : 

 — Simplicity of arrangement, at the 

 same time embracing all that is desired. 

 Order, for without order it is impossible 

 to attempt to teach anything, much 

 less such a subject as we are discussing. 

 There must also be a methodical classi- 

 fication of the different crops of the 

 garden if results are to be attained. It 

 is just here that the gardens of our 

 country have failed. There is little or 

 no classification at all evident. It is 

 contrary to all fundamental principles 

 of Agricultural practice, to grow to- 

 gether and upon the same bit of land at 

 the same time, with but few exceptions, 

 crops of different varieties. 



We are so bountifully blessed in this 

 Island with productive conditions, that 

 it has been possible to produce two 

 average crops in many cases, on the 

 same bit of land growing together. 

 This has always been followed by the 

 absolute destruction of that land, which 

 has resulted, unless heavily manured, 

 in its abandonment, and the necessary 

 amount of cleaning and replanting 

 another such plot by the owner. Tnis 

 glaring fault has also destroyed the 

 advantages, which are to be had and 

 which should certainly be illustrated iu 

 the school gardens, that of rotation of 

 crops, which should have resulted in an 

 improved condition of the soil and 

 would have obviated the necessity of 

 removal. 



Classification is also necessary to the 

 study of the peculiarities, or of the. 



