154 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



study is diversified by the inspiring music of the cow-bell, and in others the 

 beauty of the school-yard is enhanced by the attractive radiance of the thistle, 

 — that delectable bugbear of the progressive farmer. Inside you will find 

 bare walls, — outside, disgraceful desolation. And with such surroundings we 

 expect the childish mind to be contented. No beauty, no grace to attract 

 them towards the house where the seeds of education are to be planted in their 

 minds, — nothing to brighten school life, nothing to aid the teacher in making 

 the school anything but a prison. In some of the large towns of our State the 

 citizens have entered into sympathy with nature, and cultivated aesthetics in the 

 Bchool-grounds as well as in the school-rooms. In the utilitarian city of 

 Jackson this is specially noticeable, for there the splendid school structure is 

 surrounded by well-kept grounds. But in nine tenths of our villages, and in 

 ninety-nine-hundred ths of our districts, no words can be too strong to express 

 the neglect of everything that will inspire the children to love neatness and 

 beauty, or train them to surround themselves with things that are lovely in 

 their after lives. Were it not foreign to my subject, I would also enter a pro- 

 test against the over-forcing of the young in -what is, by courtesy, called the 

 common school education of our day. But sufiicient for my subject is the evil 

 complained of therein, and it would need stronger words than I can utter to 

 do justice to what may be considered a disgrace to ourselves, and a grave in- 

 justice to the young, who are so entirely at our mercy. It would be a blessing 

 to many a boy and girl if, at this meeting, the inspiration were given to some 

 ■who are school officers to make their school-houses and school grounds beau- 

 tiful and attractive. Probably it is not unwillingness to do this that is the 

 obstacle, but a phase of that apathy which stands in the way of school visit- 

 ation on the part of parents. Bestir yourselves, then, and strive to infuse into 

 school life some of the brightness which beautiful surroundings will bring, 

 and if, by doing so, you help to lead one young soul towards love of nature and 

 nature's God, such a blessing given will flow back into your own lives, to 

 brighten and comfort your steps as you totter down the hill of old age towards 

 the beautiful city that lies beyond the river, — the paradise of God. 



A. S. Dyckman said that in ornamentation we should not lose sight of na- 

 ture. He took exception to the remarks made by Professor Ross about beauti- 

 fying school grounds, and attributed the absence of ornamentation about the 

 school-houses to the general poverty of the people, claiming that they could 

 not afford to spare money for that purpose. He denounced the practice of 

 trimming trees in order to give them unnatural shapes, claiming that their nat- 

 ural beauty was thereby destroyed. He was a great lover of nature in all its pu- 

 rity, and he even thought it marred the beauty of lawns to remove dandelions 

 therefrom. He was also opposed to the removal of fallen leaves from lawns 

 and gardens, as he thought the rustle of the leaves was music to the ear and 

 added to the natural beauty of the garden landscape. 



Mr. Woodward: I take issue with the idea that any people or any district is 

 too poor to beautify the school yard. It is downright shiftlessness and lack of 

 public spirit. In the school-house and yard are the places to sow the seeds that 

 shall grow into the best kind of horticulturists ; while planting trees and water- 

 ing flower borders the children are acquiring a taste for the things that will 

 give them comfort and satisfaction when they are older. It is hard work to 

 get the older ones in a school district to add to the school grounds, but by put- 

 ting the matter properly before the children there will be no lack of workers. 

 Emulation between the two sides of the district by giving each party one-half 

 of the grounds and asking for results has been known to work wonders. 



