SCHOOL GARDENS. 445 



mind he must never " lose his head " save in the rest of normal 

 sleep. 



No great work was ever accomplished under the influence of 

 drugs or stimulants. The great thoughts and great works which 

 have moved the world came from men who have lived pure, sober 

 lives. These were men whose nervous systems were truthful as the 

 stars, and the great truths of the universe they could carry over into 

 action. 



What is true of man is true of animals, and true of nations as 

 well; for a nation is an aggregation of many men as a man is a 

 coalition of many cells. In the life of a nation, Lowell tells us, 

 " three roots bear up Dominion Knowledge, Will, the third Obedi- 

 ence, the great tap-root of all." This corresponds to the nervous 

 sequence in the individual. And as in general the ills of humanity 

 are due to untruthfulness in thought and action, so are the collective 

 ills of nations due to national folly, vacillation, and disobedience. 

 The laws of national greatness are extensions of the laws which 

 govern the growth of the single cell. 



SCHOOL GARDENS. 



By HENRY LINCOLN CLAPP. 



IN cities where Nature study has been introduced, it has become 

 evident that the required number of plants suitable for the pur- 

 pose of instruction in the elements of botany is obtained often with 

 considerable difficulty. A school in the suburbs, with woods and 

 fields near, and a free range for its pupils, in a few years finds the 

 open places occupied with houses and notices to trespassers, and the 

 sources of material for observation work cut off. In the public 

 parks are posted notices forbidding the plucking of a leaf or the 

 breaking of a twig. There is plant material enough for study every- 

 where, even in a city, but it is not available for schools. 



School grounds are generally given up to play or gymnastic exer- 

 cises. Only a few educators in this country have thought of them as 

 sources for obtaining plant material for observation work. In many 

 places in Europe school grounds are very much better managed than 

 in this country. Not only do school authorities there aim to supply 

 materials for study in the schoolroom, but they mean to impart clear 

 ideas of horticulture and related occupations by various uses of land 

 connected with the schools. They appreciate the training which re- 

 sults from pruning, budding, and grafting trees, plowing, hoeing, and 

 fertilizing land, hiving bees, and raising silkworms. 



