481 
PA.RK AND CEME-TERY 
desirable are elm, ash, beech, birch, maple, poplar, 
pines and spruces ; and these shrubs are surely com- 
mon enough, — sumac, elder, dogwood, barberry, 
witch hazel, laurel, rhododendron, the ferns, golden 
rod, aster, daisy, milkweed, sunflower, and the attract- 
ive bittersweet, clematis, wild cucumber, and Virginia 
creeper. Pictures of good landscape gardening will 
suggest what can be accomplished in a school yard. 
Two women in a New England town became inter- 
ested in improvement of school grounds. They called 
at the High School, and invited all the students who 
were willing to assist in beautifying their school 
grounds to attend an illustrated lecture on Landscape 
and School Gardening, to be given at a private house 
for their benefit. Each student was requested to bring 
a plan of the school ground. The women were de- 
lighted to have every member of the school respond. 
After the pictures were shown the students took their 
plans, and suggestions were made as to the best ar- 
rangements for planting trees and shrubs. The next 
morning the school was organized and committees ap- 
pointed for specific parts of the work, — a general com- 
mittee, one to secure the trees, another the shrubs, and 
another the vines, etc. Native trees and shrubs were 
generally used, as they were easily accessible in the 
woods nearby. The work was well started, and the 
students were deeply interested. 
In a village an attempt was made to improve the 
rather dreary school grounds. Committees were ap- 
pointed from the Village Improvement Association to 
visit the schools and endeavor to enlist the support 
and co-operation of the teachers and pupils. The 
children responded and worked well, but the results 
showed they were not educated up to an appreciation 
of the eternal fitness of things. As is generally the 
case, familiarity bred contempt, and instead of being 
alive to their opportunities, and taking advantage of 
the material near at hand, they destroyed or disre- 
garded the ‘‘wild things,” and planted seeds that came 
in paper packages. 
One school was surrounded by a field of the most 
fascinating moss grown and lichen covered glacial 
boulders. The teacher said she could not do much, as 
her place was “full of rocks.” In nearby meadows 
were masses of berberis vulgaris, several varieties of 
cornus, wild roses, black alder, and the fences were 
covered with bittersweet, Virginia creeper, and wild 
clematis which could have been transplanted, produc- 
ing artistic results. Instead, the children laboriously 
carried some of the smaller boulders, put them into a 
pile, covered them with earth, and planted nasturtiums, 
marigolds, and balsams. The effort deserves credit, 
but the results might have been better and more per- 
manent. 
Another school was visited. The teacher was most 
enthusiastic and anxious to improve her school 
grounds, — a most attractive spot, surrounded by the 
beautiful, undulating hills so characteristic of glacial 
New England. She said she was ready to begin, but 
would like to have a man to help dig the roots out 
of the yard. The back yard had been “burned over” 
to destroy the weeds, — sweet fern, sumach, asters, 
and golden-rod. She had cut down a clump of white 
birches. Oh, the mangled trunks of the once graceful 
trees ! She did not appreciate her blessings. In one 
corner a “rockery” had been, and a few weak nas- 
turtium cotyledons were struggling to the light. 
The school was revisited in the autumn. The road- 
side for severa:! miles approaching it formed a suc- 
cession of brilliant pictures. The gorgeous colors of 
the sumach with the deep red velvety fruit, the ring- 
ing tones of the golden-rod, the more subdued notes 
of the asters, the vine-covered stone fences, were glori- 
fied by the autumn haze. A bend in the road sud- 
denly brought the school yard into view. The con- 
trast ! Once it had been part of a harmonious whole, 
but it had been “tidied up” in the spring ready to be 
improved, and all that remained were a few limp nas- 
turtium vines. 
Another teacher had taught the same school for 
twenty-two years, and very little had been done to 
improve the school surroundings. Within two weeks 
after the school had been visited, under the direction 
of the teacher, nineteen trees were transplanted, a fern 
garden made, shrubs and wild flowers planted, and a 
screen made. The children were industrious, and are 
making plans for next year’s work. The school took 
the prize for the best work, given by one of the most 
beautifully illustrated papers in the country, showing 
examples of good gardening. Success in this work 
can only be secured by a process of education. 
Conditions similar to those described exist the 
length and breadth of the land. 
To think, to talk, or to write will not suffice. Who 
is to put the spade into the ground ? 
Louise Klein Miller. 
Lowthorpe, Groton, Mass. 
‘‘A love of Flowers is the natural foundation on which to build all 
gardens, whether formal or informal!’ — ^Rose Standish Jhichols. 
