302 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Norcross, M. J. Dwyer, and others interested in seeing the experi- 

 ment of school garden work tried in Medford. 



The educational value of such work is beyond question, and in 

 some European countries is considered of sufficient importance to 

 justify legal enactments establishing and providing for it as a 

 necessary part of a school's equipment. 



Not only do these gardens beautify school grounds and make 

 the schools more attractive to the children, but they serve the 

 purpose of supplying, close at hand, material for nature study of 

 a diversified character. The plants and flowers attract a variety 

 of birds and insects, so that the children, under the guidance of 

 an intelligent teacher, may receive object lessons in natural history 

 that they can get in no other way without great difficulty. 



The success which has attended the George Putnam and Robert 

 G. Shaw school gardens in Boston and this new garden in Med- 

 ford should be an incentive for other schools to emulate the 

 example thus set before them, and it is to be hoped that school 

 committees will encourage their development and support wher- 

 ever possible. 



I resigned from the Medford School Committee last September, 

 but I am not without hopes that the Committee will be able 

 another year to continue the work so successfully begun. 



The following list of the native plants set out is appended for 

 future reference and comparison : 



Ccitalpa speciosa. Azalea viscosd. 



Cladrastis tinctoria. Viburnum lantanoides. 



Liriodendron tulipifera. Rhododendron maximum. 



Magnolia glauca. Cornus Florida var. rubra. 



Kalmia latifolia. Aquilegia Canadensis. 



Culluna vxdgaris. " chrysantha. 



Asclepias tuberosa. " ccerulea. 



Aster Novce-Aiiglioe. Arisoema triphyllum. 



" " var. Claytonia Virginica. 



roseus. Hepatica triloba. 



Geranium Robertianum. Sanguinaria Canadensis. 



" maculatum. Cypripedixim pubescens. 



Trillium grandijlorum. " parvijlorum. 



" erectum. " spectabile. 



Tiarella cordifolia. Viola Canadensis. 



Opuntia vulgaris. " pedata. 



Azalea nudijlora. " blanda. 



31 species and 2 varieties recorded. 



