School Grounds and School Gardens. 69 



SCHOOL GROUNDS AND SCHOOL GARDENS. 



By Professor R. A. Emerson. 



More Room for School Grounds. 



Country school grounds should be larger than they are. Occa- 

 sionally a school house in a town or city is surrounded by a couple of 

 acres of land set apart for school purposes. How many country schools 

 are as fortunate? Even in the older sections of the state, farm land 

 is not so high priced that school grounds must necessarily be small. 

 Figure out how many acres of land are commonly required for a bunch 

 of ten or twenty steers. How much are the steers worth after occupy- 

 ing the land for say two years? How does their value compare with 

 that of the ten or twenty, yes, thirty or forty school children that are 

 crowded onto a half acre of land — crowded until they must use the 

 public road for a play ground. Indeed a half acre is sometimes too 

 much to be "wasted" on a play ground. There is no use to which farm 

 land can be put — outside of home grounds — that will yield as good a 

 return on the investment as school grounds properly cared for. Country 

 school grounds should contain at least two acres, and might be larger 

 to advantage. One of the greatest difficulties to be overcome in the 

 •ornamentation of school grounds is the lack of room — room for both 

 plants and children. 



What the School Grounds Should Contain. 



It is not intended to list here all the things that are desirable parts 

 of school grounds. Certainly nothing is included that should not some 

 day be found on every country school ground in Nebraska. It is not 

 expected that many schools will provide all these things at once. In- 

 deed nothing is worse than to plant more things than can be properly 

 cared for. The school house should of course be the main feature of 

 the school grounds. If it were not for the house no grounds would be 

 needed. 



Next after the house and the necessary outbuildings and walks, 

 the play grounds are of greatest importance. Of the plants that may 

 "be grown on school grounds, trees deserve first consideration. They 

 are desirable for shade, for protection,'' and for ornament, and may 



