BEAUTIFYING SCHOOL GROUNDS. 



39 



"Plants were put out and bloomed pro- 

 fusely all summer." 



"A g-arden which is niy very own pleases 

 and interests me very much." 



And one little tot whose enthusiasm sur- 

 passes her grammar, exclaims : " Flowered 

 like something- awful !" 



GENERAL PLANS. 



So much for some practical results with 

 which I am more or less familiar. It may 

 be asked what general plans, if any, have 

 you for improving our school grounds ? 

 That is not an easy question for an amateur 

 to answer. But, generally speaking, it may 

 be said that three sides of the school grounds 

 might be bordered with trees, shrubs and 

 flowers. The centre should be kept clear as 

 a playground, and the front partially so. 

 This depends upon the size of the grounds, 

 their topography, and the location of the 

 school buildings. Convenience and effect 

 should be studied. The school house — ivy- 

 covered where brick or stone — should be the 

 picture, and the trees, shrubs and flowers 

 the frame. The plot within the trees, shrub- 

 bery and flowers should be sodded and well 

 kept. A lawn mower is of course a ne- 

 cessity, although I venture to say it is al- 

 most a stranger in our rural school grounds, 

 and in a majority of these in towns and cities. 



Of the trees to be planted around the 

 grounds, I would suggest such common var- 

 ieties as can be easily procured. Maples, 

 elms, beeches, birches, basswood and ever- 

 greens. Many ot the shrubs also may be 

 got from the woods, and so of wild flowers. 

 Of cultivated plants, a bed of bulbs (tulips 

 preferred) is a great attraction in the spring, 

 and later on, showy annuals, such as geran- 

 iums, petunias, ageratum and salvia, with 



some common tropical plants such as castor 

 beans, dalhias, cannas, and even a Scotch 

 thistle. 



GARDENING A RECREATION FOR SCHOLARS. 



School gardens do not add an additional 

 subject of study to the present curriculum. 

 They are simply an educational object lesson 

 for the use of the teachers and the informa- 

 tion of the scholars. By their aid the 

 teacher and scholar may enjoy, say once a 

 week, a few minutes' pleasant recreation in 

 the open air and sunshine, while the one is 

 teaching and the other is learning a little of 

 practical botany, chemistry, floriculture, 

 forestry, drawing and landscape. Could 

 there be a more delightful or profitable 

 lesson for both teacher and pupil? And, 

 what is also important, the experiment 

 would cost little or nothing ; not only so, 

 but the movement might be extended in 

 modified form to hospital, church and other 

 public grounds, all of which could be thereby 

 greatly improved and beautified. 



But to begin and carry on this work will 

 require the aid of an intelligent and sympa- 

 thetic public opinion, progressive and en- 

 lightened school authorities, horticultural 

 societies, municipal bodies and govern- 

 ments. All of these may do much to en- 

 courage teachers and scholars to develop 

 our educational system in this pleasant and 

 practical direction — a development, or rather 

 advertisement which will improve the system 

 and will make our schools more attractive, 

 , which will help to secure for them a larger 

 and more contented attendance of the 

 pupils, will inspire the latter with higher 

 ideals of living and of citizenship, and will 

 implant in their minds loving and im- 

 perishable memories of the happy days spent 

 at the old school. 



