GARDENING FOR WOMEN 135 



appreciated is evidenced by the number of students who 

 attend solely to cultivate those faculties for which the 

 ordinary school or college makes no provision, and to 

 acquire a knowledge of natural and physical phenomena 

 that will prove of increasing interest throughout their 

 lives.- 



For those destined for a professional career, whether 

 as teachers or gardeners, the opportunities are daily increas- 

 ing. The growth of gardens, as instruments of education, 

 in connection with elementary and secondary schools 

 within the past two or three years has been remarkable. 

 The number of elementary school gardens has risen from 

 379 in 1903 to 570 m 1905 accordmg to the last report of 

 the Board of Education. In 1906 there was a very consider- 

 able advance, but the exact figures have not yet been 

 issued, nor are any statiscics available in regard to secondary 

 schools. The great difficulty in every county is the scarcity 

 of teachers qualified to undertake gardening and general 

 nature -study. For these duties the training at Swanley 

 affords an excellent preparation. Lord Onslow, when, 

 as President of the Board of Agriculture, he distributed 

 the prizes in July, 1904, particularly emphasised this point. 

 A student who has followed the complete course may obtain 

 a position as gardening or nature-study mistress at a 

 secondary school, or as a peripatetic teacher of those 

 subjects for a group of elementary day schools. With the 

 object of assisting those already engaged in such tuition 

 as well as those who contemplate a similar appointment, 

 the college now provides a Special Third-year Course in 

 natural history. 



