340 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



avenues seemed closed. I, as teacher, felt the true significance 

 of Froebel's words, when he said, 'Come, let us live with the chil- 

 dren.' After the vegetables and seeds were gathered and put away, 

 one little fellow asked, 'Will we have a garden next year, Miss 

 Roby?' 'Yes, Ernest.' 'Oh, it is so long to wait, I'm afraid you'll 

 forget it.' " 



It is well to remember that entomological studies may be very 

 appropriately carried along with garden work. Bees perform a 

 very useful labor by conveying pollen from flower to flower. Butter- 

 flies and other winged insects afford an interesting study. Even 

 the common toad, that inhabits the garden, furnishes valuable study 

 lessons for children. Insect pests that are a menace to gardening 

 can also be intelligently studied in connection with the garden exer- 

 cises. 



It is a common observation that children are inclined to loiter 

 around school buildings and mar the walls. To obviate this, several 

 years ago I planted annuals, perennials and shrubs around our cot- 

 tages, ten feet from the walls out. The result was an attractive 

 border around the buildings, an attraction for the children and an 

 absolute protection to the walls of the cottages. And by these means 

 nature lessons from the wall gardens are permanently fixed in the 

 mind. 



There is a daily companionship with living and growing things 

 that express power and vitality. The companionship with a plant, 

 as with a bird or an insect, means more than the feeling for the 

 plant itself. Impressions made react on the individual. The forces 

 of nature impinge upon the child from every side, and he responds 

 at once to* their touch. Animal, plant, mineral, river, sunbeam, 

 mountain, physical and chemical change, are all matters of equal 

 and absorbing interest to him, and if left to himself, he will, as a 

 rule, inquire as freely about one as the other. It is through natural 

 science that we find direct means of introducing the child to its 

 earthly habitation. The principal life and happiness of an individual 

 is dependent upon his knowledge of the things about him, his knowl- 

 edge of their relations to each other and himself. Concepts must 

 come through actual contact with the things, through the medium of 

 the senses. Children deal principally with the concrete. 



It is a pleasure to note that the pedagogical forces are taking 

 hold of this field of instruction, so that now there are many school 

 grounds enlivened by forestry, floriculture and garden adornment. 

 I need not go into detail as to implement equipment, size, location, 

 etc., for the garden. Begin the work, and needs will suggest what 

 to provide, and the equipment will follow. It is not the main object 



