Pumpkin for every room in the school. The second graders 
plant the Barley because Robinson Crusoe raised barley, etc. 
There is space in this article for little more than mention of 
the activities at the school building. On Thursday of the first 
school week in September occurs the annual exhibit of flowers, 
fruit and vegetables. During the second week in October, 
usually at the height of autumn coloration, occurs the Festival 
of the Falling Leaf, an informal pageant held in the forest 
setting of the school, where sprays of wild Aster and Witch- 
hazel blossoms are borne in vases in the procession. The king 
and queen of the festival are enthroned and each child lays a 
spray of leaves or other autumn offering at the feet of their 
sovereigns. At this time the awards for the exhibit previously 
mentioned are announced and the prizes distributed : potted 
plants (Chrysanthemums, Primulas, Peppers, etc - .), vases, flower 
baskets, bags of bulbs, garden implements, etc. Special reference 
is made to flowers and vegetables raised from plants started at 
school and to fruit from bushes or trees originally distributed 
at the school. 
In April Zinnias, Asters and Marigolds are started in flats 
and sheltered in cold frames. The plants are reset once in flats 
and then given away the first week in June. Arbor Day in 
April is observed in a practical way. For several years we have 
had a sale of fruit trees, shrubs and vines in April, the stock 
being purchased at wholesale and sold at cost. There are Peach, 
Pear, Plum and Apple trees now bearing that were sent out from 
the school. We introduced the everbearing Strawberry into many 
homes and a common display at our autumn exhibit is of Straw- 
berry plants bearing ripe fruit and blossoms at the same time. 
Several groups have made hardwood cuttings in February, 
Willow, Red-Osier Dogwood, highbush Cranberry, etc., and 
stored them for outdoor planting later on. The cultivated 
Currant has been successfully propagated in this way. One- 
February a sixth grade group bought a bundle of stock and 
scions of Apple trees from a nursery and each child provided 
with grafting wax and cord grafted two or more trees. The 
outcome was only partly successful but we repeated the experi- 
ment this year in March and hope for better results. 
A few lessons in dormant spraying have been given, this 
being a field we hope to develop. We have given various groups 
lessons in tree pruning and the treatment of cut surfaces. All 
of this we think worth while and significant in results. 
Jesse Lowe Smith. 
Dr. Sargent has set aside a portion of the Arboretum for the Arnold 
cultivation of native plants. The announcement of his plan will Arboretum 
be made at the May exhibition of the Massachusetts Horticultural 
Society. 
277 
