1900.] ESSAYS. 93 



Flowers also should contribute their share of color to our laud- 

 scape picture. Many of the shrubs and trees bear flowers, but 

 to a large extent we shall be obliged to depend for floral effect 

 upon herbaceous plants. These will appear to the best advan- 

 tage, if placed irregularly along the front edge of the border 

 shrubbery, where they have a setting of green and a back- 

 ground. Flowers never show ofl' so poorly as when placed in 

 the centre of a lawn. 



SCHOOL GROUNDS. 



I wish to urge the improvement of rural school grounds, and 

 what is said regarding the home grounds will also apply to the 

 school. Most rural schools are bare and uninviting. In some 

 portions of New England the school-houses and grounds are a 

 disgrace to the civilization which they represent. I hope it is 

 not so in Massachusetts. To begin with, the school-house is 

 usually placed in some bleak spot, or perhaps in a gravel bank. 

 There is not enough land connected with it for the boys to play 

 upon and so they trespass upon the neighboring fields. What 

 land they have is frequently rather poor for gardening purposes. 



We can improve these grounds by obtaining more land (there 

 should beat least half an acre), and if a new school-house is to 

 be constructed, obtain a pleasant site for it. We can make an 

 enclosure by hiding the fences and concealing the boundaries, 

 and all the outhouses should be concealed by planting. Have 

 as few walks and drives as possible and perhaps indicate the 

 limits of the boys' and girls' playgrounds by planting. Only 

 native shrubs and plants should be used in ornamenting the 

 school grounds, and the children will not break them down or 

 injure them, if properly taught to appreciate them. W^e might 

 go a step further and give the children much incidental instruc- 

 tion about the care of plants and about how they grow and 

 reproduce their kind. 



DECIDUOUS TREES. 



The elm and the sugar maple have long been considered 

 valuable trees, and have been planted almost to the exclusion of 

 other native trees of great merit. Though the elm and the 



