250 State Horticultural Society, 



is right or not, I do not know; we see there is enough to make this 

 an important branch of study. Then they learn of the birds, the 

 surest, safest insect destroyers yet discovered, and the little living 

 creatures one finds when he comes close to Mother Earth. 



Excellent work has been done by the Civic Improvement 

 League of St. Louis. When the plan of gardens was suggested, the 

 trustees of Shaw's Garden offered five acres of land for the purpose. 

 A young woman, a trained gardener and botanist, was put in 

 charge. Her model garden was beside the others, and it was by 

 studying it, as well as by what they were taught, that the boys 

 learned. Some took their vegetables home, some sold them; but 

 almost without exception the gardens were a success. 



The editor of one of our magazines asked 500 business men in 

 all parts of the country whether, in their opinion, there is any finan- 

 cial value in attractive surroundings to a business plant. Ninety- 

 five per cent, replied that there is, that the product of the business 

 concern is more valuable when the employes come in contact with 

 clean, attractive, beautiful surroundings. If this be true of men 

 and women, if they are influenced by their environment, what of 

 the child, whose mind is so much more plastic, more receptive? If 

 something of the beauty of life is shown him at school, will he not 

 take it home with him, and the school become a radiating center of 

 civic improvement? 



In the small town or the country the first step is not difficult. 

 The beautifying, in a suitable way, of the school grounds, with the 

 plants at hand, making it a harmonious part of the landscape. 

 This is an opening wedge where a real garden is at first impossible. 

 But the most beautiful theories amount to nothing unless they 

 bring results. We have looked hurriedly at the work done in the 

 school garden, but what definite gain do we expect? Not merely 

 knowledge ; it is a means to an end. The Horticultural Society does 

 not exist simply that people shall study horticulture, but that with 

 it knowledge shall be gained, definite improvement shall be made, 

 better work done along all the lines in which it is interested. 



The object of a school garden is in a word training, education. 

 Do you remember what Ruskin says about it? "Education is the 

 leading of human souls to w^hat is best and making what is best out 

 of them ; and these two objects are always obtainable together and 

 by the same means. The training which makes men happiest in 

 themselves makes them most serviceable to others." It is training, 

 even more than teaching, that comes to the child through his gar- 

 den. In the first place, it is a safe vent for his energy. With the 



