"Special Topic in Botany" 



Dorothy Horn 



A Planting Project as a Part of Botany. 



The outlook and experience, step by step, of the pupil who is carrying on 

 any out-of-door project in connection with school work are interesting and 

 have special value for teachers who are superintending and planning this sort 

 of work. The following experiences of Miss Dorothy Horn and Miss Nellie 

 Jones are especially interesting in that they used as their chief authority the 

 very beautiful and important bulletin on Landscape Gardening by Dr. Wil- 

 helm H. Miller, published by the University of Illinois. — Editors. 



In the High School at Springfield, Illinois, each student in 

 Botany is expected to select one or more special topics for work 

 outside of class. The topic which I selected was " The Planting of 

 the Stuart School Lawn." The reason for my selecting this topic 

 was because I was interested in making the appearance of the lawn 

 more beautiful, first because I am a graduate of that school and 

 second because I live in the adjoining vicinity. 



The school's location made the School Board interested in 

 beautifying its lawn. It is located in one of the oldest neighbor- 

 hoods and adjoining one of the most beautiful boulevards in the 

 city. The President of the School Board asked our class in Botany 

 to have a plan drawn and have it submitted to the Principal of the 

 Stuart School, for adoption. 



The first point which I did in working out this topic was to go 

 at once and have a talk with the Principal. This enabled me to 

 see what idea she had on the subject. 



The next was to draw a plan remembering several facts I had 

 studied when the class took up the subject of landscape gardening 

 also referring to a book which I found would help me. 



Then I found what was best to plant in certain places and where 

 it was best to place beds. This I obtained mostly from The 

 Illinois Way, a magazine edited by The Agricultural Department 

 of the University of Illinois. 



The Mothers' Club had planted some shrubbery such as bar- 

 berry, Japan quince, viburnum, spirea van Houtteii and yellow 

 currant in front of the school building a few years ago, so I decided 

 to make the planting thicker by planting such shrubbery as bar- 

 berry, sumach, ninebark, for a foundation, and using coxcombs and 

 dahlias as a touch of color for the fall, then tulips for the Spring 

 color. Then I made four other beds which I placed on each side 

 of four walks leading from the four corners of the lawn. 



315 



