254 
SCHOOL GARDENS. 
The Director of Agriculture of Madras (India) in addressing 
the students of the Teachers' College at Madras said, in connec- 
tion with agriculture and education : 'Tn no other profession is 
the error of confounding the passing of examinations with the 
acquisition of real knowledge more likely to lead to disappoint- 
ment, ^ * ''^ There are two main defects in the mental equip- 
ment of the educated classes of this country — the habit of identi- 
fying book-learning with knowledge, and the want of observation 
of, and the general indifference to external nature. 
"The real value of school gardens to agriculture will be the in- 
fluence .which they should have on the minds of both teachers and 
pupils. We all know that education is not the pouring of informa- 
tion into a receptive vessel, but the process of turning the mind 
to the light. The great obstacle to agricultural progress lies in 
the light esteem in which the farmers' profession is held. 
"If children see that the teacher himself is keenly interested in 
gardening and is not above working in the garden himself, it will 
tend to raise their respect for manual labor and for the profession 
of agriculture usually thought unworthy of the serious attention 
of an educated man. It will also help them to see that the work 
of the school has a direct bearing on their after life. The school- 
master himself will find that the garden brings him into closer 
touch with his pupils, and it will help him to understand the 
problems which his pupils will have to face when they leave his 
school." 
INTERESTING THINGS ABOUT COFFEE. 
From an exceedingly interesting lecture on "The Cultivation of 
Coffee," delivered in Glasgow by John H. Bowron, member of a 
coffee company, the following passages are taken : 
Now the State of San Paulo, the source of the world's chief 
coffee supply, is located in the middle of South America, its entire 
eastern coast is washed by the waters of the South Atlantic Ocean. 
It is distant about 15 days' journey from this country, and is one 
of the wealthiest, fairest, most picturesque, and most dehghtful 
sections of the Globe. Contrary to impressions current in Great 
Britain, San Paulo is a land of culture and civilization, of pro- 
gressiveness and promise inestimable. San Paulo is a country 
covering about 112,000 square miles, or a trifle under double the 
size of England and Wales, and it has a population of about 
4,000,000 people. 
Well, the Government of this State decided to try and popu- 
larize their coffee generally in this country. It was felt that the 
first thing to do was to guarantee the general public being sup- 
plied with the good article in as fresh a state as possible. After 
mature consideration it was therefore decided, both in the interests 
