378 NATURE-STUDY 



upon by the patrons at a district meeting. Competent men 

 should be employed to prepare the ground and to select 

 and plant the trees, for the teacher and pupils are gen- 

 erally not good tree planters. The teacher should take an 

 active interest in all this. She may be of great influence in 

 the community, and by tactful suggestions she may get the 

 people of the district to assist her in the work of improve- 

 ment. If all cannot be aroused, perhaps a few may be. 

 These could bring their teams, with ploughs and scrapers, 

 some Friday afternoon or Saturday, and with the help of the 

 children could prepare the grounds fairly well. 



The tree planting should not be done in a haphazard or 

 promiscuous way, but should be well thought out. The 

 kinds of trees to be planted should be well chosen, not 

 with a view to rapid growth alone, but to the beauty and 

 suitabihty of the tree in after years. Too many school- 

 grounds have short-lived, undesirable soft maples, boxelders, 

 and cottonwoods planted upon them simply because they 

 grow fast. In general, trees should not be planted upon the 

 playground proper, where they would interfere with the games 

 of the children, but should be placed along the boundaries 

 of the school-grounds and around the unsightly outbuildings. 

 On the prairie, where the winds of winter and spring are 

 strong and penetrating, there should be thick belts of trees 

 on the windward sides. These will act as windbreaks. 

 Here the trees should be planted in several rows. In plant- 

 ing trees on the edges of the grounds, spaces or gaps should 

 be left for viewing the landscape beyond, especially on the 

 lee sides. The trees may be planted in straight rows, or 

 arranged irregularly in clumps, to give a more natural effect. 

 The latter is best on large grounds. The front of the grounds 



