MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. 135 



are banished for six hours a day, for several months of the year. Is it a won- 

 der that some of them do not like the school? Is there not a temptation to 

 use the jack-knife, to spill ink, spit on the floor, and to Ijc otherwise disorderly? 



My object in making these remarks is to call attention to some remedies. 

 It seems to me we should unite in some plans by which we can induce the offi- 

 cers of our district schools to *'fixup" the houses a little. Can we not by 

 united effort induce some rivalry in the different districts? Once well started, it 

 would become fashionable, and fashion rules the world. 



The secretary of our State Pomological Society is a graduate of our Agri- 

 cultural College. He was, at one time, foreman of the horticultural depart- 

 ment. He is an enthusiast on this subject of rural improvement. He and I 

 have often talked together about the need of improving the surroundings of 

 our country schools. These schools should be precious to all of us. 



There is much at stake in our little school houses. '^ Agriculture advances 

 with the improved condition of our common schools." AVe are an agricul- 

 tural people. As agriculture thrives so thrives our country. 



I had for some weeks been thinking of presenting this topic to an educa- 

 tional convention for discussion. I have talked with our state superintendent 

 ou the subject. He considers it one of very great importance. 



1 will now take up the questions in the order named in the circular letter. 



Before setting the trees, the surface should be smoothed, not all leveled 

 like a floor. Preserve some of the s^entle undulations of surface. Consult a 

 landscape gardener, or employ the man in your vicinity who has shown the 

 best taste in arranging and managing his own place. A few paths may be 

 marked out in the front part of the yard; the rear of the grounds will not 

 need any as they will be given up to play. In some portions of our county, 

 and of other counties also, domestic animals are no longer allowed to run in the 

 highway. AVhere this is the case, I would omit fences entirely except a neat 

 stout railing about the outside for hitching horses. If animals are allowed to 

 run at large I would build a good plain board fence, nailing the boards well. 

 This should be capped with a two by four scantling well nailed to the posts. 

 If desired the boards can be planed and painted. This can be done with some 

 cheap material of a brown neutral or drab color — never white. The gate may 

 be kept from standing open by a chain and weight. I would plant some trees 

 along the road outside. They may be in rov;s, but I should rather not have 

 them in rows. To look well in rows the trees must be all of the same variety, 

 same size, and be planted at equal distances from the fence and from each 

 other. If there is an exception to these rules (if there is a small tree or a 

 vacancy), the row is disfigured and the blemish becomes very noticeable. Such 

 vacancies are very likely to occur. If the trees are not planted in rows nor 

 symmetrical groups, a single one will not be missed. There are other reasons 

 for not planting in rows. I would plant the trees around the edges and at the 

 corners of the lot in irregular groups with now and then an isolated tree nearer 

 the house. I would not place a tree near the house, especially on the south or 

 east side. Sunlight is wholesome. As a people we do not get enough 

 of it. Al)out the outbuildings, place groups of evergreens which will event- 

 ually hide or nearly conceal them. There must be some place left 

 for play, either in a portion of the yard back of the house or in the 

 road, if the latter is not too narrow or too much traveled. The ever- 

 greens in the rear of the house may be a mixture of Norway spruce, Austrian 

 pine, white pine, arbor vitae, hemlock spruce, or almost any other of our 

 common evergreens. In front may be placed two to four or more white pines 



