2 NATURAL HISTORY AND TOPOGRAPHY OF GROTON, MASS. 



James Lawrence and the other in our own yard. An unusu- 

 ally beautiful purple beech is in the yard of Dr. Kilbourn. A 

 large oak grows on the Reedy Meadow road. A larger 

 maple stands in front of the Champney Place. A row of 

 beautiful Norway spruces is near the Groton Paper Mill. 

 Larches and pines grow in Mr. James Lawrence's grounds 

 on the West Groton road. The willows on Broad Meadow 

 Road form a pretty avenue. Besides these many pri- 

 vate estates abound in native as well as cultivated varieties. 

 Over ninety trees and shrubs, cultivated and wild, could be 

 found eight years ago beside the road between my home 

 and the top of Long Hill. Too little care is taken to 

 preserve the native shrubs and many are destroyed. There 

 are many old-fashioned gardens as well as the more formal 

 ones. 



The Groton Improvement Society has done much toward 

 keeping the small parks in good condition, setting out shrubs, 

 providing rubbish barrels, giving money to promote school 

 gardening and nature study. The Groton children have won 

 many prizes at the School Garden Competitions of the Mas- 

 sachusetts Horticultural Society in Boston, not only for the 

 best school and home gardens but also for the best display 

 of vegetables and for the best herbariums. 



The third and fourth grades of the Butler School have found 

 every tree included in the Course of Study, growing between 

 the Public Library and the Baptist Church. It is hoped 

 that in the near future a School Garden may be started on 

 the Lawrence Playground in connection with the vegetable 

 and flower gardens, where every native tree, shrub and plant 

 may be represented. 



It is well to begin with the lowest forms of plant life 

 and ascend the scale. The smaller are the more numerous. 

 The following classes include the whole vegetable king- 

 dom, each being represented by at least one species in 

 Groton : 



