1334 



Canadian Forestry Journal, October, 1917 





A corner of the British Columbia Provincial Tree Nursery. 



The Schoolground's Need For Trees 



Giant Buildings and Barren Surroundings the Rule. 

 How British Columbia is Helping the Children. 



In common with the lack of in- 

 terest in shade trees on the part of 

 most municipal councils, one en- 

 counters throughout the Dominion 

 an equal lack of interest on the part 

 of school boards and departments of 

 education in the encouragement of 

 tree planting about school grounds. 

 This, of course, is an invitation to 

 propagandist work which would well 

 repay the effort. Within the know- 

 ledge of most readers of the Can- 

 adian Forestry Journal are beautiful 

 school buildings, erected with every 

 regard for internal completeness, yet 

 displaying in the school grounds the 

 barren ugliness of a sand dune. Nearly 

 all schools are surrounded by plenty 

 of ground, capable of growing beauti- 

 ful trees at trifling cost, yet there 

 would seem a remarkable lack of 

 initiative in leaving such grounds for 



ten and twenty years without sign 

 of a tree. 



British Columbia has been con- 

 ducting tree planting work on school 

 grounds in such a way as to com- 

 mend itself to other provinces. The 

 following article by J. W. Gibson, 

 M.A., Director of Elementary Agri- 

 cultural Education at Victoria, B.C. 

 will be found instructive: 



"In 1914 the Department of Edu- 

 cation for British Columbia adopted 

 a policy whereby school boards wish- 

 ing to undertake a scheme of school 

 grounds improvment would receive 

 financial assistance as well as free 

 advice and a supply of ornamental 

 trees and shrubs. For several years 

 the Provincial Government had been 

 supplying ornamentals for the beauti- 

 fying of its own public grounds in 

 various parts of the province, and 



