304 TRANSACTIONS OF THE HORTICULTUEAL 



entirely; that, other things being equal, the former will distance the 

 latter every time. Not that a beautiful house, or highly but taste- 

 fully ornamented grounds, will transform a dunce into a genius, or 

 render an obstruse problem plain and easily solvable; but it will ren- 

 der the place pleasant and agreeable for the pupils, and have a ten- 

 dency to produce good nature, a feeling of satisfaction, pleasure, and 

 a desire to attend on the part of the scholars. This state of mind 

 being prevalent among the scholars of any school, its success is al- 

 ways greater than the one where the opposite is found. As a rule, a 

 community may be very correctly judged as to the character of its in- 

 habitants, its thrift and general prosperity, by the repair and im- 

 provement of its private property and public grounds and buildings. 

 One passing through a region where the houses generally are small, in- 

 convenient, unpainted, and of the cheapest kind which will answer 

 the purpose; where the barn consists of forked sticks set in the 

 ground, poles laid in the forks, brush on the poles, and straw on the 

 brush for a roof; the sides of brush, poles, straw or weeds; the corn 

 cribs of rail pens covered with straw or weeds; the yard about the 

 house the place where the hogs are fed and the cows milked; the 

 fences about the house and fields barely sufficient to keep the hungry 

 ill-fed stock from breaking through them ; and in passing on, sees a 

 12x14 school-house set up on stilts, unpainted and unfenced, with a 

 number one hog wallow in what would naturally be its front yard, 

 and the dirty, half-clad, lawless, ill-mannered urchins, that hoot at 

 him as he passes, he naturally concludes, and without any long or 

 intricate train of reasoning, that the people of this community are 

 a little behind the times; that there seems to be a lack of thrift, in- 

 telligence, comfort and refinement. It does not come to his mind at 

 once that this community is likely to furnish the country with em- 

 inent statesmen, jurists and divines; or add great wealth, credit and 

 enterprise to the State. It is not from such a community as this 

 that the traveler would naturally expect many labor-saving inven- 

 tions, great advancement in literature, science and art, or anything, 

 in fact, for the upbuilding and improvment of mankind. 



I think there is no better criterion by which to judge of the gen- 

 eral character, thrift and refinement of a community than by the 

 care taken of its public buildings, their number, convenience and 

 neatness of design, together with their adaptation to the uses for 

 which they are made, and the repair and beautifying of their yards 

 and surroundings. I think no better use could be made of the pub- 

 lic school fund than to use a proper portion of it in judiciously orna- 

 menting the buildings, yards and surroundings of our country school 

 houses. It will have a tendency to render our schools pleasant, at- 

 tractive and homelike for both teachers and pupils; be a credit and 

 continuing sign of thrift to the community, and an evidence to trav- 

 elers and strangers that the people possess some degree of enterprise 

 and refinement. 



