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Rural School Lkaflkt 



THE SCHOOL GROUNDS 



Each year we have included in the spring leaflet a discussion of the 

 improvement of the school grounds in connection with the Arbor Day 



A fine opportunity for attractive planting 



activities. While some schools have greatly improved the grounds l)y the 

 planting of trees, shrubs, or flowers, by the development of fine lawns, and 

 by constantly keeping the school property neat and attractive, there is 

 much yet to be done. This is an important subject, because boys and 

 girls get more out of their school life when the surroundings are attractive, 

 and when they have a share in the development of the school property. 



Arbor Day is rather late in the season to do work on the school grounds. 

 Moreover, Arbor Day is usually devoted to some kind of school exercises 

 in which the community shares. There is a tendency to lay greater 

 emphasis on the program than on the work for the improvement of the 

 grounds. It is much better to plant a tree or a shrub so well that it will 

 be sure to live, even though no song is sung or poem recited at the time, 

 than it is to plant it carelessly and have ever so fine a song or a poem. 

 However, it is possible to do both and to do them well. 



The planting and other work should be done before the leaves begin to 

 grow in the spring, and for most parts of the State this is some time before 

 the last week in April, depending on the season. Earnest, serious work 

 in planting can be done as a part of the work of the school day. The 

 grounds can be studied, and a plan can be made ahead of time so that 



