SOCIETY OF CENTEAL ILLINOIS. 153 



for them. It has been said, those who love flowers are more apt to 

 live upright lives than others. What children are taught in their 

 youth will mould all their future lives, and when plants have such a 

 decided influence for good over their after lives, why not strive to 

 cultivate them about the pupils. 



Ornamental trees and flowering shrubs make the best decoration 

 for a school yard as they are not as liable to be injured by the rough 

 games of children, and in the winter they relieve the monotony of 

 the landscape with their bare arms stretching up toward the sky. 

 Have nice turf for them ; what if they do trample and wear off .the 

 carpet of green, it was made for use. If possible have one or more 

 beds of hardy flowers and some vines, if not afforded for yard let the 

 scholars contribute to the windows, and in the midst of some puzzl- 

 ing primer lesson or torturous geometry the}^ look into the flower 

 faces and imperceptibly take courage. If we would that they apprec- 

 iate their value more, give them a more prominent place in their 

 daily lives, for tree-planting is so little trouble, estimated with the 

 rich reward it brings, and a few plants will cost but little labor. Let 

 them value nature's true worth, for already, — 



" Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, 

 And waste its sweetness on the desert air. 

 Full many a gem of purest ray serene. 

 The dark uafathomed caves of ocean bear." 



ROAD AND STREET HORTICULTURE. 

 BY PKOF. T. J. BURRILL, CHAMPAIGN. 



In the early .settlement of a country the sole thought given to 

 roads is, and must be, in regard to the requisites and facilities of pas- 

 sage. The needs of the traveler, as such and such only, must be first 

 attended to. Bridges and turnpikes must be made, an escape pro- 

 vided for water, the rough places made smooth and the road-bed 

 itself, where necessary, improved. These things usually cost a good 

 deal of labor, and wise servants of the public will see to it that the 

 prime requisites, and these only of traffic, shall be given first atten- 

 tion. No country can be prosperous without good roads, and other 

 things being equal, the better the roads for wagons the earlier will 

 civilization and society become established in the land, the more pro- 

 fitable and enjoyable the farm and the more thriving the town. 



In our part of the country, while the initial cost of road-mak- 

 ing is less than common elsewhere, so that, for certain seasons of 

 the year, the passage is easy and pleasant; still there is much room 

 for skilled direction of labor, and abundant use for money in making 

 permanently good our thoroughfares for teaming only. Doubtless 

 there are many who still say nothing else should be considered until 



