12 
PARK AND CEMETERY 
shrubbery and other planting is by private efifort in 
conjunction with the children. Ample land is fur- 
nished for decorative playground purposes, and most 
exemplary results have followed. The influence of the 
children has completely changed the public lethargy 
so common in such lines of work, and the improve- 
ment on many streets and about the schools is most 
marked. Certain associations have begun the penny 
distribution of seeds, the newspapers have co-operated 
most liberally, and the nurserymen and seedsmen have 
been generous in their disposition to encourage the 
children in the cultivation of the garden and in other 
phases of the work. 
St. Louis has made some splendid advances, both in 
the work of outside improvement of school grounds 
and in school gardening proper. The new school 
grounds are quite attractive and in special instances 
exceptionally so. Many of the clubs and associations 
have joined in promoting the work, and in 1904 the 
school board itself assisted the movement throughout 
the city. In that year individual plats, or grade gar- 
dens, were started by a number of schools on vacant 
lots near-by. In 1903 the sale of seeds was begun by 
the Engelmann Botanical Club under promising condi- 
tions, but four seedsmen stopped this work by a claim 
before the school board that it interfered with their 
business. This is the only instance of such a claim 
recorded in the country, and proclaims the caliber of 
the men ; school garden work must of necessity help 
trade. The Civic Improvement League has been privi- 
leged to use some land of the Missouri Botanical Gar- 
den, and a regular school garden work has been in- 
augurated. ' 
The most far-reaching of the many efforts at school 
garden instruction thus far established is that now 
carried on at Hartford, Conn., under the title of the 
School of Horticulture and conducted by Mr. H. D. 
Hemenway, who has become an authority on the sub- 
ject. This school offers to children and teachers a 
practical course in horticulture and agriculture. Two 
hours daily are given to the course, of which one-half 
is spent in the class room and the remainder in the 
practical work of greenhouse and garden. The work 
begins indoors in February and in May land is assigned 
to all the classes for practical study. All the details 
of this school, the arrangement of the courses, the 
opportunities offered to both teachers and pupils for a 
thorough general knowledge of the work, are worthy 
of investigation. Its influence is quite apparent in 
Hartford, and few teachers anywhere have such splen- 
did opportunities to prepare themselves for this educa- 
tional movement as those of this city. The school 
has already attained an enviable reputation. 
In this brief review of the status of the school 
garden situation over the country, not a fraction has 
been told. Not only in well-known centers, but in 
remoter localities the movement is taking root, and 
this suggests a satisfactory outcome, the result of 
which will be not only the higher culture of our future 
citizens, for there is nothing like an understanding and 
appreciation of nature to impart this culture, but it 
may also lead to a better distribution of our popula- 
tion. Once impart to the child a love of flowers and 
fields, and the city can not hold him unless it can give 
him a garden spot. A turning to the garden promises 
more mental and physical development, more virtue, 
and a more rationally distributed prosperity to our 
people. 
Floorer SHows and Btilb Culture in Cleveland Public Scbools 
By Miss Louise Klein Miller. 
Curator of School Gardens^ Clevelafid Public Schools. 
A Flower Show suggests to people in general long 
tables upon which are arranged fine specimen plants, 
individual flowers, or bunches of flowers arranged in 
vases, all properly labeled with common and scientific 
name, wise looking judges going about with score 
cards, scoring flowers as they would cattle or poultry 
and awarding the red and blue “First Prize” and “Sec- 
ond Prize.” 
Not so are the Autumn Flower Shows in the Public 
Schools of Cleveland, O., — they are the loving bring- 
ing together by the children, the choice products from 
fifty thousand home gardens, the results of the two 
hundred and fifty thousand penny packages of seeds 
sold by the Home Gardening Association to the chil- 
dren of the Public Schools of Cleveland last Spring. 
To stimulate gardening, for several years illustrated 
lectures have been given in the Public Schools under 
the auspices of the Home Gardening Association, show- 
ing what had been accomplished and suggesting future 
possibilities. In a Russian Jew district last winter 
the principal of the school told the writer not to be 
disturbed if there was an undertone during the lec- 
ture, because the parents could not understand a word 
of English and the children would interpret the lec- 
ture to them as it was being given. The murmur, far 
from being an annoyance, was a stimulus, and an in- 
spiration to carry the gospel of beauty to those who 
would otherwise be unable to receive it. 
Envelopes with a lisl of seeds and directions for 
planting were sent to the schools in April ; the chil- 
dren made their selections and the packages were ready 
for distribution the first of May. Besides the seeds, 
thirty thousand Gladioli conns were ordered and 
bloomed in the home gardens last summer. Thirteen 
