THE SCHOOL HARDEN.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15753, 30 October 1914, Page 4

THE SCHOOL HARDEN.

i i GREAT POSSIBILITIES. i NEED FOR ENCOURAGEMENT. i ; Tut- )„,..-Liii'.., of school gprdens were deal! with I'. Mr. J. P. Kalaugher in a j ] >-~, t...,l and interesting address delivered I li.-'. night in the Horticultural Hall. Audij land Domain, I" an audience consisting of memben of the Auckland Horticultural „ jely. I Of late veils. Mr. Kalaugher said, S. hool gardens, with instruction ill elementary I agiii-nltiHY. Tan become a permanent inj stitution. In Auckland alone there were I 220 schools in which elementary agricnl- i ! tore was recognised as a subject of school , . iiisirui lion, and several hours a week were , | devoted !•■ this subject. In the secondary ; ; schools, a more advanced course of study j was undertaken, ami special instructors , ; paid hi weekly visits to the schools. T!:.' speaker said that teachers who proposed establishing school gardens must hist exercise judgment in the selection of a site, which inu.-t not, if possible, interfere with, the existing playing grounds. A northerly aspect was greatly to be desired, and a light, easily-worked soil was better than a heavy loam. He had seen gardens on a south slope, with a heavy clay soil, where neighbouring land had the right aspect and a suitable soil. Dealing with j tic ei/u of the garden, lie suggested an | area of one-eighth of an acre, which would j allow of five special manorial plots. Par- , titular attention should be [aid to plants I which d" not grow in the district but present possibilities in this direction. A teacher should always have something novel in the garden, something worthy of the attention of persons in the district, for by stimulating an outside interest in tho school garden, half the battle was won. Attention should be paid to the labelling of all plants, and for this purpose tho services of woodwork classes might be engaged. The speaker deprecated spasmodic efforts in regard to vegetable gardens. He thought there should be work for students in the vegetable garden all the year round. A recoid should be kept of all work done, and where special manures were used the chemical qualities of the manure and the food it supplied should be taKen into account. Valuable experiments could be made in the matter of seed selection. Flower gardens were best laid out for the general adornment of the school grounds. There was great scope for designing work. Annuals should be grown from seed, and it was a good plan for some particular flower to be singled out for special study. He instanced tho great interest that had been aroused in daffodil culture by the competition instituted among the schools by Professor A. P. W. Thomas and the Horticultural Society. He thought this might well be extended to include sweet peas, roses, and chrysanthemums. Every school should have a beautifying association, and study should especially lie made of native vegetation with a view- to ornamenting the school grounds. If femes had to be erected live ones were preferable to any other variety. Special instruition should be given in the various inethi ds of plant-propagation, raising from seed and from cuttings, budding and grafting. It was desirable also that pupils should obtain a knowledge of grasses and weeds. In this connection he suggested that if the- society opened a competition for the best mounted collection of 12 varieties of grasses and of weeds a desire to study this subject would be stimulated. Mr. Kalaugher suggested that the Horticultural Society might assist the movement by encouraging the formation if beautifying associations in the schools, by promoting annual competitions, by members themselves taking a personal interest in the gardens and presenting schools with their surplus plants. In conclusion, he paid a ttibute to the very client work that was being done by many teachers in the Auckland Province by establishing school gardens, which I were a credit both to the scholars and to I the district. On the motion of the chairman, Mr. T. E. Pearson, the lecturer was accorded a liea.'.y vote of thanks.