

RURAL SCHOOL GARDENING 205 



Woodbine is a very satisfactory perennial vine; so is 

 the white clematis, and the matrimony vine. A woodbine 

 may be set out to climb over a building and morning- 

 glories planted at the foot of this. The latter will climb 

 up the woodbine making a very pretty effect. 



A few shrubs should be found in every country school 

 ground. These should be arranged in clumps in one or 

 two corners of the yard, or near the corner of the buildings. 

 They should be set out close enough together to form a 

 mass of foliage by the time they are four or five years old. 

 A strip two feet wide at the base of a clump of shrubs may 

 be used for bulbs or for annual-flowering plants. 



Some satisfactory shrubs are: flowering quince, snow- 

 ball, common dogwood, syringa, spiraea or bridal wreath, 

 and elder. 



All the work should be so planned that the children 

 will feel a sense of ownership and take a keen interest in 

 keeping the grounds beautiful. 



If the school grounds are large enough, a plot ten by 

 twenty feet may be set apart for experimental work in 

 agriculture and horticulture. This should be a sort of 

 miniature experimental station where some simple prob- 

 lems relating to the crops 9f the districts may be worked 

 out. Different varieties of oats may be planted one 

 year, and the yields estimated; or different kinds of 

 wheat, to see which seems best adapted to the soil con- 

 ditions. Different varieties of corn could be tried from 

 year to year. 



A very small plot of ground might well be used for 

 industrial plants in order that the children may become 

 acquainted with plants that give them various useful arti- 



