STATE HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 289 



THE CULTIVATION AND ADORNMENT OF SCHOOL GROUNDS. 



By Mils. C. O. Van Ci,eve, Minneapolis. 



Mr. President : — 



Tlie subject assigned to me on this occasion is of great interest to all of us, and it 

 is gratifying to all who have at heart the best interests of the rising generation to 

 have it brought before the Society. I am to speak now of the beneficial effects of 

 cultivating and adorning our scliool grounds, and making them a factor in the edu- 

 cation of our children. The best way to carr}'^ this measure into effect is for after- 

 thought and discussion. 



Not only would our school houses look more attractive in the midst of beautiful 

 flowers and ornamental trees and shrubs, and become an element of beauty to cheer 

 and gratify the passers by, but upon the children of the schools the moral effect 

 would be most salutary. Children learn many things at school that ai-e not in the 

 text books, and the eye takes in much that has power in forming habits and in 

 waking up aptitudes. 



And there is something elevating, refining and improving in surroundings of 

 this kind ; the impressions made on young minds through such channels, though 

 perhaps not fully realized at the time, are lasting as life. Very many influences 

 are conveyed inperceptibly to the mind and heart through what we see from day 

 tp day ; the truth of this assertion all will acknowledge. There is a story, which 

 may be familliar to many, of a farmer's son, who, brought up far away from the sea 

 or other navigable water, in poverty, obliged to work hard every day, having little 

 time to read and scarcely anything to divert or amuse him, developed an intense de- 

 sire to go to sea and urged this so strongly that his parents consented. But it was 

 a matter of wonder to them when and how he had imbibed such taste, as there 

 seemed nothing about his home or associations to inspire or foster them. At 

 length, the mother's eye lighted upon an old cheap picture which had hung over 

 the mantel piece for years and had become very dim and indistinct in the smoke 

 and dust, representing a ship at sea, tossing on the billows in a storm, and she felt 

 that this picture had been the boy's inspiration, that imperceptibly there had come 

 into his mind through its influence his ardent desire to be a sailor. Picture the 

 tired boy as coming in from his labors and sitting by the ample fire place, drawing 

 in comfort and cheer from the blazing logs, and ever and anon contemplating the 

 one poor decoration of his liumble home, till it awoke in his breast inclinations that 

 took full possession of him, gave him an imtense longing for a "life on the ocean 

 wave" and shaped his whole future life. 



Then think of the many children who come to our schools from bare, desolate 

 liomes, whose only hours of ease and comfort are those spent in and about the 

 school house, whose only opportunity for receiving good impressions is the time 

 spent at school, and try to realize what a powerful influence on their lives might be 

 the beautiful, restful surroundings in these cultivated school yards and grounds. 

 Many children will go out into the world empty handed to fight the great battle of 

 life as best they may ; some will be established in business by fathers able to give 

 them a start, but all will be exposed to temptation, and the impressions received 

 while at school will have much to do in forming their characters for good or ill. 

 When tempted to go astray they may be influenced by the sweet memories of their 

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