OAKLAND COUNTY. 281 



whose management the work was done: '* This was my second year in the 

 district. I have just finished my fourth term in this district, and live two 

 and one-half miles from the school-house. 



"I have boarded at home during this time, and walked to and from school, 

 rain or shine. But with the aid of my pupils, I thought we would improve 

 the looks of our school yard with a flower garden. Our yard contains half 

 an acre, and was fenced on only three sides. The front, which lies parallel 

 with the public road, was not fenced. We thought we would try our luck, but 

 had to work under a great many difficulties. We had only a few poor tools 

 and our hands, but we prepared the ground. Two of the boys took their 

 wheelbarrow and brought a few loads of manure which we mixed with the 

 soil. Ic was sod ground which had not been cultivated for years, and was 

 very hard work. After the beds were made and ready to plant seeds, I wrote 

 to D. M. Ferry of Detroit for flower seeds and he sent us twenty-eight varie- 

 ties with a catalogue. With these we proceeded to business by planting the 

 seeds and covering the beds with brush to keep the neighbors' hens from 

 destroying them. Once in a while stock would come into the yard and step 

 on the beds, but with no serious damage. In the blooming season the flowers 

 were admired by all who saw them. 



"We gathered flowers from these beds to decorate the grave of a lovely little 

 girl who died while they were in bloom. She was the only sister of one of 

 my pupils, who manifested a great interest in the care of the flowers. I also 

 sent a bouquet to the Evening News, one to the Pontiac Bill Poster, one to 

 the Pontiac Gazette, one to the Rochester Era, and one to the Teachers' 

 Institute held at Pontiac. 



"Our fall and winter term commenced the first of September, and we had 

 flowers in the school room as long as they blossomed, and I think the pupils 

 enjoyed a bouquet picked by them from the school yard more than if it had 

 been purchased at the greenhouse. They proved a great pleasure to us all ; 

 not a flower was destroyed by pupils. They proved a success. 



"I will now give the second year's experience. The district completed the 

 school yard fence last fall, and this spring our assessor came and plowed our 

 ground for the flower beds, which are located on either side of the path. We 

 were very thankful to him for his kindness, for it saved us a great deal of 

 hard labor, as it was sod and had not been cultivated for years. With our 

 hoes, rakes and shovels we succeeded in making it into beds, twenty-two in 

 number, besides what we spaded up in other places in the yard. After we 

 had the beds made I wrote to D. M. Ferry and to James Vick, of New York, 

 and received seeds from both — forty papers in number — twenty-eight from 

 D. M. Ferry and twelve choice ones from Vick. The petunias and phlox 

 were beautiful, and were greatly admired. All the varieties succeeded except 

 the cypress vine. I think the pupils took more interest this year than last 

 in the ornamentation of their school yard. We planted trees on iVrbor Day. 



*'Our school closed on the twenty-eighth of June, and I used to go about 

 twice a week to weed and tend the flowers. My mother would often go with 

 me, and we would work till dark, then come home and do our own work, and 

 in this way we made the flowers a success. I took a bouquet to the Evening 

 News, one to the Michigan Farmer, one to the Free Press, one each to the 

 Bill Poster and the Gazette, of Pontiac, and sent one to the Arion Review. 

 I also took one to the Pontiac Teachers' Institute. School commenced again 

 in September, and we had several bouquets in the school room before frost. 



36 



