40 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



hard at work about the bams or in the fields from early morning 

 until late at night. Additional work about the home grounds does 

 not appeal to him. However, there is the younger generation, the 

 boys and girls, who should be trained to take some interest in these 

 things. In many of our larger cities and towns interest is being 

 aroused by the training in gardening the young people are getting 

 in the public schools. I have followed with much interest the work 

 of the school gardens in Amherst and other towns, and the work 

 in home gardens which is being carried on by the Home Culture 

 Club in Northampton. I hope the time may soon come when 

 elementary agriculture may be introduced in more of the public 

 schools in the rural sections, that the boys and girls who are to 

 remain on the farms may receive better instruction in these subjects 

 which touch their lives most closely. 



I wonder if we realize perfectly what our New England hills and 

 valleys would be like were they denuded of nearly every form of 

 vegetation — not a tree or shrub to harbor the birds ; not a flower 

 to enliven the landscape. We owe much to our native plant 

 materials, and to those materials which have come to us from other 

 lands. 



A detailed study of the history of English gardens is intensely 

 interesting. Very little gardening was done in England previous 

 to the sixteenth century. Before this period the country was 

 engaged in wars, the castles and homes were inaccessible places, 

 limited in extent, and surrounded by moats. When men came to 

 dwell together in harmony the homes were built on broader fields, 

 the gardens spread beyond the enclosure of the moat, then developed 

 an interest in gardening. 



The idea of seclusion suggested by the moat is retained in English 

 gardens at the present day. The Englishman's garden is for his 

 private use, and is characterized by neatness and seclusion. In 

 America the tendency is too often for the individual to seek to im- 

 press the outsider with a show of elegance and color in the front 

 yard, while the back yard may.be far from attractive. 



In England the Roman style of gardening prevails. This is 

 characterized by regularity and restraint. External nature is 

 excluded by a square enclosure containing terraces, canals and 

 fountains; the trees and shrubs are planted in rows and squares 



