FARMERS' INSTITUTES. 153 



trict can afford to be without them. In framing pictures for the school- 

 room it is best to use a flat, smooth frame, of a color to harmonize with 

 the picture. If a mat is used, it should not be conspicuous, that is, the 

 color of the mat should be such as to throw out or bring out the picture, 

 rather than hide it, and when the eye turns to the picture it should note 

 the picture first and not the mat or the frame. Great care should be 

 taken in hanging pictures so that they shall receive proper light in order 

 to get the best effect. 



There is a strong movement to place in the modern schoolroom copies 

 of the best works of sculpture and this movement will certainly produce 

 the highest results. Casts are made, first, *'in the round," that is, the 

 whole figure or bust, or, second, "in relief," that is, raised from a smooth 

 surface. In placing casts in a room the greatest care is necessary in 

 order that the light shall produce proper effects. 



Teachers must take the initiative in all this work, because they are 

 in constant touch with the school, and I would say to teachers, "Make a 

 bold beginning, believing in your ultimate success in securing what you 

 want." 



The question may be asked "Why all this care and arrangement?" I 

 would say, first, because it makes the work of the schoolroom easier. 

 Nature loves harmony. Though the child may be unconscious of it, his 

 nature constantly reaches out to the beautiful, and if his surroundings 

 harmonize and if there is beauty in decoration and arrangement it will 

 soothe his nerves and elevate his thoughts. Order, symmetry, and purity 

 will result in his life. Second, it will produce optimistic ideas and culti- 

 vate ideals. In other words, it will produce real soul culture, which is 

 one of the greatest necessities in the modern schoolroom. The uncon- 

 scious influence of the child's surroundings either makes or mars his life 

 for all time to come. Unconscious tuition is one of the greatest factors 

 in education and with the ideal teacher and ideal surroundings we may 

 expect that the child will approximate the ideal in his life. 

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