Teachers and School Boards who propose conducting school or home gardens are reminded that the Department should be notified not later than the 1st day of March. No special application form is needed. A brief statement from the Secretary of the Board in the format of a letter is sufficient.
Each teacher who proposes to conduct school-gardening with his or her pupils must prepare a plan of the proposed garden, to be forwarded by the secretary of the school board when sending the above-mentioned notice to the department. As School Boards are responsible for meeting the necessary expenditures in establishing and conducting the school-garden during the season, it is necessary that they give their consent to the work.
School-garden plans should always be drawn to scale, using ink on good paper. Blue prints are not called for. Garden-plans form an excellent exercise for older pupils in scale drawing. All lettering should be neatly done, and every plan should show:
Class plots and plots for agricultural experiments should be large, not less that 400 square feet (20 x 22 feet is approximately one-hundredth of an acre). The simple rectangular form of plot is most desirable; intricate geometrical forms and designs should be avoided. Individual plots for third and fourth reader classes should not be less than 5 x 8 feet, nor more than 6 x 10 feet, and for first and second reader classes, about 4 x 6 feet, or one of the above plots between two pupils. Flower borders from 2 to 3 feet wide look well on outside boundaries, and in large gardens, through the center along lines separating the gardens belonging to different rooms or divisions.
Tall growing plants and bulky crops, like corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and vine crops (squash, cucumbers etc.), should not be placed in individual plots, but in the large class of experimental plots. Care must be exercised by teachers in the choosing of varieties of flowers and vegetables. A pupil should not be allowed to grow more than 2 or 3 varieties of flowers and vegetables at once. Early crops, like lettuce and radish, which would be used in June, should be followed by late maturing crops, such as tomatoes, cabbage, beets, turnips, parsnips, etc. Pupils may be allowed to grow only one variety if they wish, and they should never be asked to grow something that they do not care for. Garden seed should be bought by bulk when several pupils wish the same variety, and not by the packets.
In order to be eligible to receive the Government grant for school gardening, it is necessary that the school-garden have a certain area as minimum. For each room of a graded school taking gardening the required minimum area is 2500 square feet, which area is also the minimum for ungraded schools having an average daily attendance of fifteen or over. In case of small ungraded schools with an average daily attendance of less than fifteen, the minimum area for school gardening purposes is 1500 square feet. In all cases the area referred to includes the borders and walks of the garden and may also include ornamental plots and borders in the grounds which are regularly planted and cared for by the pupils engaged in the school-garden proper. When the number of pupils taking part in a school-garden exceeds twenty, it will be found desirable to have the area of the garden well above the minimum mentioned, especially if the pupils are mostly in advanced classes. In so far as possible, all of the features referred to above should be included in every school garden.
There are numerous instances in the Province where it is not practical to establish a school garden in or convenient to school-grounds, on account lack of available space or because of impossible soil conditions. In such cases a home gardening scheme should be carried out, or a combination of home and school gardening. As home-gardening makes somewhat larger demands upon the individual pupils in the second, third, and fourth grade reader classes only and that the smaller children have a small, neatly arranged garden at the school, where they can be under the constant supervision of the teacher. This school-plot for the primary classes should not contain more 50 square feet per child the necessary walks or paths. This small garden for primary classes has an additional advantage in that it also serves the purpose of a demonstration garden for the pupils who have home gardens, will be able to give instruction to the pupils operating home gardens in a much more practical and effective way.
To have official recognition the following requirements must be observed:
Cases may arise where some of the pupils in a class or division may find it difficult or impossible to have a garden at home. In all such cases the teacher should ascertain how many pupils are so situated and arrange to have them undertake some other suitable agricultural or horticultural project. The following list of home projects suggests a few which under certain circumstances might be suitable:
When possible it should be arranged that not less than five pupils in a school or division undertake the same project, so as to make a competition in the results of such project at the end of the season in connection with a School Fair. Great importance is attached to the keeping of full and accurate records in connection with these home projects, just as has already been mentioned under home-gardening. In all cases teachers are required to make at least one visit to the homes where these projects are being carried out before the summer holidays, and one after, and to report as in home gardening. Other suitable home projects may be arranged by teachers and pupils, but they must have the approval of the Director if departmental assistance is to be granted.
Although any of the above supplementary home projects are permissible it should be borne in mind that in the great majority of cases the regular home-gardening work is to be preferred, and is usually less expensive to carry out. School Boards must be prepared to supplement the departmental grants allowed in connection with this work in order to ensure the success of these school and home projects, and also the success of the School Fair held in connection with them.
For the information and guidance of School Boards who are undertaking school- gardening for the first time, the following list of tools and school-garden equipment is submitted:
Minimum for 25 to 30 pupils
Material for plot pickets and garden labels, paint and brush, bottles for seeds, small hand- saw, hammer or hatchet, block plane, file, etc.
In graded schools the same tools are used by the pupils of the different rooms. In cases where the number of pupils taking part in schools gardening is less than 25, the above list can be cut down accordingly. If there are no pupils below the second-reader class taking part, all of the garden-hoes should be of the 5 inch blade type. Additional equipment to be added later
Facilities for storing the above equipment must be provided. Toolracks are best and can be made by larger boys in most cases. All garden-tools should be kept under lock and key.
Reference:
British Columbia. Department of Education, Instructions to Teachers and School Boards with Reference to School and Home
Gardening, (Victoria, B. C.: William H. Cullin, Printer to his Excellent Majesty, 1917.
Transcribed by Angelina Christopher, History 349, Malaspina University-College, May 2001
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