370 
Garden Work 
the sentences, &c., because they will understand the subject thoroughly. 
They are then doing two things at the same time, learning to read and 
learning gardening. 
Gardening should be correlated with writing and composition. When 
the composition is chosen from some subject with which the children are 
familiar they will naturally put their thoughts down in regular order. For 
instance, they might be told to write an account of any piece of work which 
they had done in the garden, and such subjects are plentiful. If this were 
the rule, the children in the gardening class would pay better attention to 
their work in the garden, and then, given time to think it over in com- 
position lesson, would be better able to put their observations into sentences 
and paragraphs. When one listens to the conversation of children it is 
seen that they can generally make themselves very well understood to each 
other on any subject which they really understand; therefore, when they 
have done any piece of work thoroughly in the garden they know all about 
it, and a composition lesson on it is a comparatively easy matter; and what- 
ever tends to make a lesson easier is good for the child as well as for the 
teacher. 
Few subjects lend themselves to correlation with gardening more 
readily than drawing. If the garden itself is laid out in a simple design, 
the whole may be measured by the children and drawn to scale. Then 
each individual plot may be measured and drawn to scale, and may after- 
wards be marked out for the crops it is proposed to grow on it, keeping 
strictly to the scale. This, of course, will also serve as a lesson on mensu- 
ration, as every part will have to fit in exactly. When the cropping plan 
has been properly prepared, the children should be able to work from it 
correctly at seed-sowing or planting-out time. Then, again, there is free- 
hand drawing; what more suitable subjects could one get than those which 
the garden produces, the leaves of various plants, a young plant itself, a 
flower, a fruit, &c. The children will naturally take greater pains in repro- 
ducing on paper an object which they have carefully watched over since it 
first peeped through the soil, or since the tiny brown scales burst in spring, 
liberating the beautiful foliage of the fruit, or other trees or bushes. If a 
boy or girl comes across anything abnormal in the garden it should be 
drawn, or if any of their plants are attacked by disease or insects they 
should draw them, thus keeping records of their work which will be a 
guide to them in future years. The work will always be better done when 
there is a sound reason for doing it. 
Where woodwork is taught at school it may be most advantageously 
