"■V.:., 



August 30, 1906. 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



923 



On the Lawn at the Dayton Fair-Grounds August 24. 



the chair so ably, so originally, and so 

 acceptably as W. F, Kasting. We always 

 knew he was a bright boy, but think 

 now he will soon be mayor of the great 

 city of Buffalo. 



H. M. Altick had a grand lot of prizes 

 for the shooters and a most picturesque 

 place to hold the shoot, but the absence 

 of the Philadelphia competitors made it 

 tame. We were obliged to win a hunt- 

 ing coat, and partook of the hospitality 

 of a lot of good fellows of the local 

 club. 



The local club was most hospitable. 

 Everybody in the town worked hard. 

 Dayton is a busy little city. Its street- 

 car service is difficult to understand, but 

 its climate is easily appreciated. 



The eloquence of Robert Craig never 

 wanes. 



The fatherly and friendly appearance 

 of Mr. Hallock is comforting at all 

 times. 



The little adjournments and im- 

 promptu meetings of the society, as 

 usual, were the enjoyable features of 

 the convention. One held by Mr. 

 Matthews, of the local club, was par- 

 ticularly sparkling. 



A meeting was held to fill up the 

 Beatty cup won by the Philadelphia 

 club. The writer was not present, but 

 we learn that some great good was done. 

 An absent friend was thought of, and 

 the widow and orphans of a much re- 

 spected florist were substantially remem- 

 bered. 



In conclusion, the convention was a 

 great success except the atmosphere. 

 Never in our brief abode on this sphere 

 have we experienced anything like it. 

 From Tuesday until Friday night it was 

 a Turkish bath, continuous without in- 

 termission, and may the Lord have 

 mercy on those who have to live there 

 all the time. It has made us more addle- 

 headed than we were before. 



William Scott. 



Nashville, Tenn. — A fine conserva- 

 tory is to be built in Centennial park. 



HORTICULTURE IN SCHOOLS. 



[The report by E. V. Hallock, Queens, N. Y., 

 for the X^ommlttee on Teaching Horticulture In 

 the Public Schools, appointed at Washington last 

 year.] 



After careful research and study of 

 reports and methods now in vogue, we 

 wish particularly to call your attention 

 to two matters — first, the absence of 

 text-books in all the present methods of 

 teaching horticulture, and second, the 

 lack of concerted action among the dif- 

 ferent associations conducting that work, 

 be they civic, philanthropic or educa- 

 tional. 



This state of affairs we consider for- 

 tunate. The first because it does not 

 require any great preparation and makes 

 possible the starting of an S. A. F. 

 method sooner than it could otherwise be 

 started, since no elaborate system of 

 text-books is essential. The second, in- 

 asmuch as individual persons and organ- 

 izations have accomplished so much and 

 demonstrated so thoroughly that the in- 

 terest of the people is already all that 

 could be desired, that we feel confident 

 if this work can be placed upon a meth- 

 odical, systematic, concerted plan — in 

 other words, if the entire school system 

 of horticulture can be standardized suit- 

 ably for each grade of school, suggested 

 by the S. A. F. and adopted by the dif- 

 ferent boards of education — we see no 

 reason why this' teaching of horticulture 

 should not cover the entire land in a few 

 years. 



Text-books. 



In all the methods of teaching by the 

 different organizations at present, we 

 find no text-books are given to the pu- 

 pils. Leaflets are compiled and issued 

 to the teachers and also to pupils, in 

 some cases by the boards of education, 

 for the guidance and help of each. 



These leaflets of instruction for the 

 use of teachers should emanate from a 

 committee of the S. A. F. They should 

 be placed in the hands of the state 

 boards of education, which will attend to 

 distributing the diflferent grades of leaf- 



lets to the diflferent grades of schools; 

 namely, the rural common schools, the 

 union and high schools, and the primary 

 and grammar grades, compiled with spe- 

 cial reference to the conditions prevail- 

 ing in each grade. 



We also suggest, for schools that have 

 become somewhat advanced in garden 

 work, and for pupils that have shown 

 interest, that leaflets and small, simple 

 pamphlets be prepared, containing plain 

 illustrations tf flowers, giving the botan- 

 ical parts, also botanical names of the 

 common trees, plants and flowers, and 

 others giving simple explanations of 

 what is meant by annuals, biennial, 

 hardy, perennial, and other matters that 

 are met with in everyday life. Even 

 these simple leaflets and pamphlets are 

 not to be given out to the pupils until 

 they show sufficient interest in their 

 work. This plan can be elaborated as 

 conditions seem to require. 



Need of Standardizing. 



On careful perusal of all documents 

 and reports that we could obtain we find 

 no two schools or organizations conduct- 

 ing their garden work on the same lines, 

 but each pursuing their work according 

 to their own ideas and as seems best to 

 them. Great good has undoubtedly come 

 from these disunited eflforts, but greater 

 good will undoubtedly come from con- 

 certed action, emanating from some cen- 

 tral authority, thoroughly standardizing 

 their work. 



We have suggested dividing the 

 schools into three classes, so that we 

 can better meet the conditions and en- 

 vironment known to exist in schools of 

 each class. In this case we should issue 

 three series of leaflets of instructions, 

 diagrams and routine work. The latter 

 could be taken largely from the methods 

 now in force in the various school 

 gardens. 



Instructions to Teachers. 



Besides placing the leaflets and pam- 

 phlets in the hands of the diflferent 

 teachers we suggest that one of the 



