farmers' institutes. 531 



out with winding walks from gates to doorway and tastefully ornamented 

 with shrubbery and flowers, all as well kept as the grounds of a private 

 residence. 



On entering the building he found everything in keeping with tlie 

 beautiful exterior. The floors were clean, the stove polished, the curtains 

 and maps in place and in condition, pict\n-es on the walls, flowers in 

 the windows, desks nearly as good as when new, tifteen years before, and 

 the halls from the first to the third floor apparently untouched by pencil 

 or knife. On the third floor was a large and well used library and a fine 

 collection of minerals and other natural history specimens, all the results 

 of the efforts of teachers and pupils. 



On inquiry it was learned that the people took great pride in their 

 schools and that for years there had been very few cases of punishment, 

 <a somewliat unusual experience at that day. 



It did not require the gift of prophecy to see that the youth here 

 schooled would as a result of these beautiful surroundings have an extra 

 picture on the wall of their homes, howsoever humble, an extra rosebush 

 in the yard and higher virtues in life. 



The several illustrations show more forcibly than formal directions 

 what is needed to meet the condition of easy discipline now under con- 

 sideration. They give assurance that the time and care spent in making 

 the surroundings of the school pleasant and attractive will come back 

 to the teacher in increased interest and application in study and improved 

 order. 



In no place has a beautiful picture more influence for good than on 

 the walls of an elementary school, and how easy it now is for an earnest 

 teacher to secure pictures for this purpose. Engravings, chromos and 

 other pictures are within the easy reach of nearly every school in the 

 country, and the need of suitable frames can be met l)y making rustic 

 frames, an art that is not beyond the skill, with a little assistance, of 

 every pupil. 



There are many districts in Avhich tlie temporary loan of pictures by 

 the patrons of the school can be secured by simply awakening an intei*- 

 est among the pupils. The wall back of the teacher's table in a rural 

 school was thus adorned with appropriate pictures during an entire ses- 

 sion. At the beginning of each month a new picture took the place of the 

 one that had hung there the previous month, and each successive picture 

 awakened a new interest. It seems proper to add that care should be 

 taken in selecting pictures for a school. It is easy to disflgiu'e a school- 

 room with daubs of color that lend no charm, but rather dull the esthetic 

 sense and vitiate the taste, pictures that have neither beauty nor color. 

 The schoolroom is not the place for the portraits of men or women of 

 immoral life. Goodness is more important here than fame or station. The 

 schoolroom should keep in the eyes of its pupils, as well as in their 

 hearts, the beautiful sentiment of Tennyson; 



