300 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY; 
SCHOOL GARDENING. 
By Ronald C. S. Ross, F.R.H.S. 
The increasing importance of the whole art of gardening, and the neces- 
sity of improved methods of cultivation throughout the country, have 
raised the school garden to the level of a real national asset. As such 
it should to a great extent serve as an experimental station for the 
locality, both in regard to manuring and cropping. The observation 
and recording of garden pests — the earliest time of appearance, season 
of greatest prevalence, attacks on species of plants not usually associ- 
ated with a particular pest (e.g. the rosy rustic moth caterpillar 
(Hydroecia micacea) on the potato in 1917), conditions of weather, 
methods of treatment, &c. — would be invaluable in preventing wide- 
spread destruction of crops. Obviously the best time to check an 
outbreak is at its beginning, so that early warning would be obtained 
from these data. 
Experimental work in methods of combating insect and fungoid 
pests, the cultivation of new varieties of vegetables (e.g. Dutch Brown 
Bean, Potato Majestic) for testing yield, quality, and hardiness under 
local conditions, should also be undertaken, and the results, when 
clearly established, placed before allotment and garden holders in the 
vicinity. 
Management. — Garden classes cannot always be on the land at 
the hour allotted by the time-table, any more than one can perform 
all gardening operations by calendar, and no attempt should be made 
to keep blindly to either. Weather conditions alone ought to cause 
postponement of one week's work to another. Advantage should 
always be taken of soil condition for transplanting, seed sowing, 
and the like. 
All work should be the result of reasoning. Rule-of-thumb methods 
do not lay the foundation of sound horticultural principles, which is 
the aim of school gardening. If possible, amalgamation as a junior 
branch with a local gardening association should be attempted. In 
this way the value of co-operation in the purchase of tools, manures, 
seeds, &c, and the disposal of surplus produce would be learnt in a 
practical manner. 
As a grant-earning subject the special year begins on November 1, 
but a preliminary course might well commence in March or April ; 
though November, or a little earlier, is the best time to break up grass 
land. The number of scholars taught at one time is limited by the 
Code to fourteen, aged eleven and upwards, and practice proves that 
a much greater number is not advisable. Girls need not be excluded 
from the classes. Younger children and infants find pleasure in bulb- 
