THE STUDV OF HOirnCTLTrKE I\ ITHLIC SCHOOLS. 135 



such ohihlrt'U, whoii grown to mature years, would not V)e apt to 

 run aw'ay with the funds of saviugs banks, or other trusts ; for 

 tliey would see God in everything and be impressed always with 

 the thought, "Thou God seest me," and would not dare to sin. 



Mr. Clapp said that he had been interested in all the preceding 

 discussion, but was far .more interested in the work of educating 

 the people in horticulture ; that one stroke of work in that direction 

 was worth nvore than all the expressions of theory that could be 

 uttered. The saying that this Society is not a charitable institu- 

 tion may he true, but it is an educational organization, and he 

 would suggest that if the Society should spend a thousand dollars 

 in establishing scliool gardens it would do more to promote the 

 objects for which it was founded than could be accomplished in any 

 other way. 



Dr. Rounds held u}) two small books published in Paris, costing 

 to import, one thirty cents, the other forty cents. One, a first-book 

 of agriculture and horticulture, " Le Petit Agronome," was a text- 

 book for the elementary school. It treats of soils and their man- 

 agement, of plants and the modes of cultivation, of domestic 

 animals, their hygienic treatment and their diseases, and of 

 various other matters of great importance to the farmer. The 

 other book was a story of country life, showing the sure reward 

 which comes to the boy who by industry and frugality makes the 

 most of his opportunity on the farm, and the miserable loss which 

 attends the opposite course. One of the characters in the story, 

 M. Barron, after accumulating a fortune in business in Paris, 

 attempts the rdle of gentleman farmer, and wastes his capital in 

 experiments which a practical knowledge of farming would have 

 prevented. His wife and daughters scorn the duties of the new 

 position, and persist in continuing in the country the employments 

 and the styles of Paris. The inevitable result, financial ruin, 

 speedily follows. This little book is illustrated with a hundred 

 and sixty engravings, and weaves into the interesting story of life 

 on the farm a systematic treatment of rural economy, and presents 

 a course of illustrated object lessons on the plants, insects, and 

 animals which the farmer needs to know. He knew of no books 

 within the reach of our schools of the character of these, or 

 approximating to them. There is nothing in our common schools 

 adapted to give a love for country life or such knowledge as the 

 farmer needs. On the contrarv, our teaching tends almost exclu- 



