August, 1911.] 



155 



Education. 



Preparing the Soil for Planting. 



The pupil should first clean off all 

 weeds and trash and then spade the 

 ground as N deeply as possible. After 

 ^pading, a few shovelsful of well-rotted 

 manure should be worked into the earth 

 in each plot. The plot should be raked 

 over, and all of the clods should be 

 broken up. It is an excellent plan to go 

 over the ground with the hands, crumb- 

 ling the soil as fine as meal. The bed 

 should be levelled up slightly higher 

 than the rest of the ground, and should 

 have the edges clean-cut and well- 

 formed. Many err in building the 

 garden beds too high above the level of 

 the paths, as the soil dries out rapidly 

 when raised too high. Rocks, bottles, 

 and such stuff should be kept out of the 

 garden. 



Planning and Mapping the 

 Pupil's Plot. 



The teacher should have prepared a 

 map of the pupil's plot. This map 

 should be drawn with the utmost exact- 

 ness, showing the individual plot, every- 

 thing that is to be planted in it, the 

 exact distance between the rows, and the 

 exact distance between the plants. 

 Everything on the map should be accord- 

 ing to a fixed scale. One to twenty- 

 five is a good scale ; in this scale 4 centi- 

 metres on the map will equal 1 meter on 

 the garden plot. The teacher should 

 paste this map up in some convenient 

 place in the school room, and should 

 have each of the pupils make an exact 

 copy of it on paper of a convenient size. 

 This map in most cases will be too 

 large to put on the page of a note- 

 book. It may be folded and pasted 

 in the back of each pupil's notebook. 

 The teacher should see that each 

 map is complete in details, and that all 

 measurements are correct. The teacher 

 should then tell the pupils how to use 

 their maps — what each of the measure- 

 ments on the map will be equal to on 

 the garden plot. 



The pupils should then be taken to 

 the garden and shown how to make 

 these measurements. They should mea- 

 sure off the distances according to the 

 map, and should place a small stick 

 where each plant or seed is going to be 

 planted. After they have done this, 

 the teacher should go around to each 

 plot and see if all of them have been 

 marked off for the plants according to 

 the map. Do not tolerate inaccuracy. 

 Do not permit any guessing or approxi- 

 mating of measurements. Anything 

 that is worth doing at all is worth 

 doing well. 



Choosing Plants and Seeds. 

 The teacher must know what kinds of 

 plants and seeds he is going to have the 

 pupils plant before be makes his plan 

 and map of the individual plot. In 

 deciding what shall be cultivated in 

 the school garden, first choice must be 

 given to the plants in cultivation by the 

 people iu the locality. With these it 

 will be well to grow others that are 

 cultivated elsewhere in the Philippines. 

 The seeds and plants for each student's 

 planting must be so chosen that he will 

 have work throughout the gardening 

 season. If plants mature quickly, like 

 pechay and radish, they can be planted 

 between the rows of the plants that 

 mature slowly, such as tomatoes and 

 egg-plants. These quick maturing 

 plants can be harvested before slower 

 plants get large enough to shade them 

 or large enough to hinder cultivation of 

 both varieties. 



The tasteful arrangement and proper 

 planting of school gardens require much 

 thought and study in order to insure 

 satisfactory results. In choosing plants 

 and seeds, study the nature of the 

 soil and consider carefully the hardiness 

 and mode of growth of the plants and 

 their adaptation to that particular soil 

 and climate. 



Do not try to raise too many kinds. 

 It is far better to grow a patch of fine, 

 luscious tomatoes, that show by their 

 size and flavour that they have received 

 proper care and cultivation, than it is 

 to have many kinds of plants in a half- 

 starved condition. Begin your garden 

 with a few kinds of plants, and then 

 year after year increase the number. 

 Good results will so be insured. 



Keeping a Record, 

 In grades III and IV and in the inter- 

 mediate grades each pupil should be 

 required to have a note-book in which 

 to record each step taken in everything 

 he does. The teacher should examine 

 the note-books often and see that they 

 are kept satisfactorily. 

 The following record should be kept :— 

 Instruction concerning seeds, plants, 

 and soil that the teacher has placed on 

 the blackboard to be copied. 



Maps of the entire garden and the 

 pupil's own plot. 



Notes on the kind of seed that were 

 planted in the germinating bed, date of 

 planting, time required for germination, 

 date and size of plants when they were 

 transplanted, method of cultivation, 

 how often irrigated, enemies and 

 methods in combating them, and the 

 time and amount of harvest. A similar 



