SOME LAST THINGS 



should be given sometimes, even if there be no 

 insistence upon the children's following the sugges- 

 tions. Whether they do, or not, will depend in 

 some measure upon the class of children and their 

 homes. A single flower in a bottle may be more 

 beautiful than a tight bunch in a vase. Again, 

 the lesson in hygiene may be taught, not from the 

 standpoint of how cut flowers must be cared for, 

 to prevent the slime and bad smell of decaying stem 

 leafage, but from the desire to have the precious 

 flowers keep fresh as long as possible, and the 

 knowledge that clean-stripped stems will help 

 to this end. 



The illustrations opposite pages 265, 187 and 

 273 show what children can do in the way of 

 harvesting and making exhibits. The first 

 gives a group of about 70 boys, or a little 

 less than a fourth of the lads in that particular 

 garden. The girls are not included because the 

 photograph was taken before 1909, at which time 

 the garden was doubled in size and the same num- 

 ber of girls admitted. The second illustration 

 shows flowers, while the one opposite this page 

 shows the vegetables raised by boys and girls in 

 a number of school yards, small vacant lots and 

 home grounds. 



The exhibits at the Annual Exhibition of Chil- 

 dren's Gardens given in Boston by the Massa- 

 chusetts Horticultural Society prove that the sum 

 of 1 1 50 yearly distributed in prizes is well earned by 

 the school children of the Bay State. The western 



273 



