74 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



great forest trees, and in the hospitable halls of this home, many 

 a generation of Normal pupils have had their merrymakings 

 springtime maple-sugar parties and autumnal fruit festivals and 

 corn-roasts the hearty participation of the master and mistress 

 of the place making all feel at home. This home with its evi- 

 dence that refinement and simple but generous hospitality can be 



ISAAC B. POUCHER. 



maintained without wealth or extravagance ; that gentle, winning 

 manners and a cheerful heart are not incompatible with serious 

 character and heavy burdens has been the finest object lesson at 

 Oswego. 



Thirty years have passed since the tender shoot was planted 

 that has grown into this stately tree : its fruits have dropped all 

 over our land ; some of the seeds have fallen on stony ground and 

 withered away after a superficial growth ; others have been choked 

 by the growth of purely selfish ambitions and brought forth little 

 fruit ; but some have fallen on good soil and brought forth an 

 hundredfold. Much has been done for education in our land dur- 

 ing these thirty years, but a thousandfold more remains to be done 

 to make the public schools what they must become to merit confi- 



