442 State Board of Aortoui.ture, &c. 



much practice to discipline the muscles of the hand and 

 fingers, he succeeds. 



Critics tell us that Milton, in liis Paradise Lost, did moi'e 

 to improve landscape gardening in England than anj 

 other man. The English gardeners at once attempted to 

 lay out and construct a garden such as Milton bad con- 

 ceived and described the Garden of Eden to be. 



The mechanic, in oi'der to construct a good plow, must 

 take into consideration, before he begins his work, the 

 nature and strength of the materials ; he must investigate 

 the laws of draft and the nature of curves, so as to give 

 such shape and proportions to the plow that it will be of 

 easy draft, and, at the same time, that it will turn the 

 soil well. 



Unless, then, the child has mental culture enough to 

 form, mentally, the letter to be made — unless the farmer 

 has an ideal garden, already constructed, and unless the 

 mechanic has a correct conception of the plow to be formed 

 — each and all must fail in their attempts, or, at least, con- 

 struct a mere apology for the thing designed. It must be 

 evident, then, that a certain degree of mental discipline 

 must be acquired before there sliould be any attempts to 

 learn a trade. It follows, naturallj'^, that the more mental 

 training the boy has, the quicker and more thoroughly will 

 he acquire his trade. 



It is said the best song has never been sung, the best 

 poem has never been written, nor the best painting has 

 never yet been put on canvass. The musician, the poet 

 and painter have their ideals which so far surpass the real 



