8th March, A. D. 1900. 



ESSAY 



BY 



HOMER P. LEWIS, Principal English High School, 



Worcester. 



Theme: — Horticulture and Education. 



The world has never before been so keenly interested in edu- 

 cation. All classes and conditions of people are coming to see 

 the importance of it. Today we are accomplishing two things ; 

 we are giving a wider education than ever before, and we are 

 getting a larger proportion of the children into the schools. It 

 is certain that, as time goes on, a greater and greater number 

 of years in childhood will be devoted to gaining an education. 



In Worcester today about 20 percent, of all the children that 

 enter school continue through the entire course. President 

 William J. Tucker of Dartmouth college recently prophesied 

 that the time would come when every child would remain in 

 school until he was 20 years of age ; and this prophecy is likely 

 to be fulfilled. 



As education becomes more general, the average length of 

 the term of life is increasing. Statistics show also that as the 

 time spent in schools increases, the number of criminals tends to 

 decrease. It seems probable that more education will make 

 wars less frequent. Altogether, education is an investment 

 that pays well. The amount of money spent by the United 

 States annually in pensions would pay several times over for 

 public schooling. So that an education that prevented wars 

 would soon more than pay for itself. 



The cost of education will surely increase largely, as more 

 pupils are brought into the schools and for a longer period. 



