Education. 



154 



[August, 1911, 



grown the best varieties of plants, 

 young trees and shrubs. These can be 

 distributed through the community by 

 means of the children, who will be 

 required to care for them when they 

 are taken to their homes. Plants which 

 it is desirable to distribute in this way 

 are maguey, kapok, rain tree, mulberry, 

 sabutan, better varieties of bananas, 

 pineapples, and papayas. 



The few principles which are to be 

 emphasized in this instruction are the 

 same, no matter what branch of garden- 

 ing is followed. They include a study 

 of soils ; use and care of tools ; selection 

 and preservation of seed ; seed germin- 

 ation ; methods of transplanting ; insect 

 enemies and their prevention ; import- 

 ance to the plant of tilth, watering, and 

 manuring. 



4. Flower and Ornamental Plant 

 Culture. 



Even where school grounds are very 

 limited, or where there are no school 

 grounds at all, the work may be begun 

 in bamboo tubes and boxes. Essential 

 principles of plant cultivation can be 

 taught and fondness for such exercise 

 can be developed, although the economic 

 advantages of flower culture are not so 

 apparent as those of vegetable culture. 

 Among the flowers, shrubs, and vines 

 which have been successfully cultivated 

 in the schools are violets, cannas, four 

 o'clocks, Brazilian creeper, aurora, anti- 

 gonon (cadena de amor,) roses, hibiscus, 

 ixora (santan,) bougainvillee, allamanda, 

 and jasamine (sampaguita). 



Selecting A Site. 



In school garden work the first thing 

 to do is to select a suitable piece of 

 ground. The site should be as near the 

 school-house as possible ; but area, 

 water and good drainage are of prime 

 importance, and when it is possible to 

 get a better site by going a little farther 

 away, it is best to decide in favour of 

 the distant situation. The land should 

 have a sufficient slope or fall to drain 

 off during heavy rains. The surface of 

 the garden should not contain depres- 

 sions in which water will accumulate 

 or stand. If such depressions exist, 

 they should be filled in before trying 

 to make a garden out of the piece of 

 land. The garden should not be so 

 high as to make the sinking of wells 

 extremely difficult. Water is a prime 

 necessity to all efforts at gardening, and 

 difficulty in obtaining water forms an 

 almost insurmountable barrier. There 

 should be enough land in each school 

 site for a neat school-house and with 20 

 meters or more clear land on each side. 



The school house should never be 

 crowded upon the edge of the school 

 grounds, but should have room in front 

 for decorative plants, shrubs, and trees, 

 room on each side for play grounds, and 

 room at the back for a vegetable garden. 



Planning and Plotting the Entire 

 Garden. 



Having selected and fenced the site 

 the teacher is then ready to make a 

 plan of the entire garden. He should 

 find accurately the dimensions of his 

 garden, and then calculate the possible 

 size of each plot, allowing a plot for 

 each pupil. Each pupil should be given 

 an individual plot, because therein lies 

 the key to successful school garden 

 work. A community garden does not 

 develop the idea of responsibility, and 

 each pupil has a tendency to care less 

 for the plants which another has shared 

 in producing, with the result that 

 responsibility is shirked, and there is a 

 lack of interest with a consequent lack 

 of industry. The idea of ownership and 

 a respect for property rights come with 

 the possession of an individual garden. 



In making a plan of the garden, a path 

 should be left around the outer edge 1 

 meter wide, a path should be between 

 the ends of the plots 1 meter wide, and 

 a path between the sides of the plots 

 one-half meter wide. 



Having made a plan of the garden, 

 the teacher should draw it on the black- 

 board, and have each pupil make a copy 

 of it. Then he is ready to take the 

 pupils to the garden and have them 

 separate the plots according to the plan, 

 driving a stake at the corner of each 

 individual plot. These stakes should be 

 driven into the ground deep enough not 

 to be displaced when the ground is 

 spaded. A plot is now assigned to each 

 pupil. The class should understand 

 that the paths are to walk on, and that 

 they should be kept free from weeds 

 and grass. Each pupil should be re- 

 quired to bring manure for his plot, to 

 plant the seed, to keep the ground culti- 

 vated and irrigated, and should be 

 permitted to take home all of the veget- 

 ables that grow on his plot when they 

 are mature, except one of each kind 

 which must be left for seed, 



Where the field cultivation of pro- 

 ducts of the locality is undertaken (as 

 suggested on p. 10, sec. 1, under divisions 

 of the work), half the total available 

 space should be set side for the growing 

 of a single staple product, as corn, 

 camotes, bananas, or tobacco. Rice 

 culture should not be attemped in this 

 connection. 



