116 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



occasional instruction the teacher should conduct some of the regular 

 lessons in the garden when the weather permits it. The greater number 

 of lessons in Nature-study must be given during the summer out of doors, 

 as the garden furnishes the best subjects for direct observation." 



German educators warmly advocate instruction outdoors, and at a 

 conference of teachers held at the instance of the Emperor it was recom- 

 mended in these words : " Outdoor instruction shall be furthered in every 

 way for the study of the natural sciences as well as for the study of the 

 home geography and home history." 



Based on his own experience, a noted German natural- history or 

 Nature-knowledge teacher has indicated the many uses to which a school 

 garden may be put, and we think it will prove serviceable if, in an 

 abbreviated form, we reproduce his points, more especially as in England 

 we are rather apt to limit the value of school gardens to instruction in 

 gardening. According to Jung of Kiel, " lessons and reviews may include 

 the plants and animals found in the garden ; the most beautiful trees in 

 the garden ; the useful shrubs ; flowers and their forms ; the most 

 beautiful field flowers ; the useful garden insects ; the destroyers of fruit ; 

 plants injurious to man ; plants raised for food, &c. . . . Besides, natural 

 history, geometry, physics, and mathematics in part, may be taught in the 

 garden. Thus a class of pupils under the teacher's directions can measure 

 off the garden and beds and calculate areas. The pitch of the ground can 

 be calculated by means of a levelling instrument or a water-level ; the 

 height of a tree can be ascertained by the length of its shadow ; and the 

 area of variously shaped beds and subdivisions can be found ; finally the 

 calculation of surface and volume may be combined with the classification 

 of all kinds of geometrical figures. . . . Countless specimens for other 

 studies are furnished by the school garden ; as, for instance, for drawing 

 leaves for the study of their outline, parts of flowers and foliage ; further- 

 more, objects for perspective study. . . . Many physical laws studied in 

 the classroom can be exemplified, as, for instance, the construction of a 

 fountain ; the well, as an example of the suction-pump ; ripe fruit's fall 

 in consequence of the law of gravitation ; water poured into the saucers 

 under flower-pots will rise in obedience to capillary attraction ; the 

 temperature is higher beneath the snow than in the open air ; the air is 

 colder after rain ; the greater the angle of incidence, the stronger the in- 

 fluence of the sun's rays on slanting hot-bed frames ; dark objects get 

 warmer more quickly than light, &c. Abundant material for compositions 

 and language lessons is likewise furnished — such subjects as the garden 

 in summer and in winter ; my flower-bed ; the life of the honey-bee ; why 

 are fruit trees planted ? how is a nesting-box made ? the uses of singing- 

 birds ; how to fight the enemies of fruit ; the gardener's friends among 

 animals ; why is the goat of no use to the gardener ? The garden also 

 furnishes much material for the study of home geography and singing. . . . 

 Finally, instruction in gardens suggests constant observation of natural 

 phenomena which the children can make under the teacher's direction. 

 They refer to weather conditions, sunrise and sunset at different seasons, 

 winds and clouds, development of plants from germination to fruit forma- 

 tion, the actions of useful and harmful animals, and other things. . . . 

 These observations are a preparation for instruction ; they render the 

 senses more acute, exercise thought and judgment, and arouse interest." 



