pines, spruces, some of the willows, some of the poplars, the tulip tree, horse-chestnut, catalpa, laburnum, and oak.

The shrubs which seem best adapted to ornamentation are the deutzia, hydrangea, spirea, weigela, privet, arbor vitæ, flowering cherry, flowering plum, and hawthorn.

Among our best and hardiest vines are the clematis, the bitter sweet, wistaria, trumpet vine, honeysuckle, morning glory, Virginia creeper, and ampelopsis veitchii.

The best plants for bedding purposes seem to be pansies, verbenas, geranium, coleuses, centaurea, and hybrid roses.

Beautiful beds may be formed by planting seeds of the portulaca, pansies, verbenas, zinnias, asters, dahlias, petunias, chrysanthemums, nasturtiums, balsams, phlox, sweet William, and seeds of other well-known plants.

SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT

From Idaho Arbor Day Manual

THE improvement and care of the school grounds by the pupils well illustrates the force of custom in creating an appreciation of the beautiful and in developing a disposition to respect public property. What is done by the organizer of the school in

creating this public sentiment can, in a measure at least, be accomplished by any teacher or superintendent who really desires to beautify the school grounds under his care. Do we not as teachers greatly underestimate our influence in nurturing the sometimes almost extinguished æsthetic and nature loving instincts of our pupils? Do we fully realize how much it means to the coming citizen to early inculcate a high regard for public property · how much it means for character to create, even during the kindergarten years, the disposition so often expressed by both boys and girls when asked about some improvement on the school premises, 'Oh! please may I help?"

THE SCHOOL GARDEN

BY L. C. CORBETT

A SCHOOL garden should be considered as a laboratory in which the different steps in the life of a plant are to be illustrated. The nature of the soil, the importance of the fertilization, and the conditions essential to germination, as well as the conditions conducive to growth, can all be illustrated in a logical and impressive manner in the school garden. Field excursions may be the ideal way of conducting nature study work with reasoning minds, but with minds that are being trained to a logical system and in a consecutive and systematic fashion the

school garden affords facilities not to be approached in field excursions. Field excursions offer disconnected fragments of the history of natural objects, while the school garden furnishes opportunities for observing plants from seed time to harvest.

A PLEA

BY HENRY VAN DYKE

Do NOT rob or mar a tree, unless you really need what it has to give you. Let it stand and grow in virgin majesty, ungirdled and unscarred, while the trunk becomes a firm pillar of the forest temple, and the branches spread abroad a refuge of bright green leaves for the birds of the air.

IMPROVEMENT OF SCHOOL GROUNDS

BY PROF. L. H. BAILEY

ONE's training for the work of life is begun in the home and fostered in the school. This training is the result of a direct and conscious effort on the part of the parent and teacher, combined with the indirect result of the surroundings in which the child is placed. The surroundings are more potent than we think, and they are usually neglected. It is probable that the antipathy to farm life is often formed before

the child is able to reason on the subject. An attractive playground will do more than a profitable wheat crop to keep the child on the farm.

Begin with the Fundamentals, not with the Details -If an artist is to make a portrait, he first draws a few bold strokes, representing the general outline. He "blocks out" the picture. With the general plan well in mind, he gradually works in the incidentals and the details the nose, eyes, beard.

Most persons reverse this natural order when they plant their grounds. They first ask about the kind of roses, the soil for snowballs, how far apart hollyhocks shall be planted. It is as if the artist first asked about the color of the eyes and the fashion of the necktie; or as if the architect first chose the color or paint and then planned his building. The result of this type of planting is that there is no plan, and the yard means nothing when it is done. Begin with the plan, not with the plants.

The Place should mean something - The home ground should be homelike, retired, and cozy. The school ground should be set off from the bare fields, and should be open enough to allow of playgrounds. It should be hollow well planted on the side, open in the interior. The side next the highway should contain little planting. The place should be a picture, not a mere collection of trees and bushes. Keep the Center of the Place scatter the trees over the place.

Open - Do not
They will be in

the way. The boys will break them down. Moreover, they do not look well when scattered over the whole area. When an artist makes a picture with many people in it, he does not place the persons one by one all over his canvas; he masses them. Thereby he secures a stronger effect. He focuses attention rather than distributes it.

Next comes the planting. Let it be irregular and natural. First of all, cover up the outhouses. Then plant heavily on the side, or in the direction of the prevailing wind. Leave openings in your plan wherever there are views to be had of fine old trees, attractive farm homes, a brook, or a beautiful hill or field. Throw a handful of shrubs into the corners by the steps and about the bare corners of the building. Give room for the children to play, and make the place a picture at the same time. Three or four trees may be planted near the building to shade it, but the heaviest planting should be on the sides.

One

The Kinds of Plants for the Main Planting great principle will simplify the matter; the main planting should be for foliage effects. That is, think first of giving the place a heavy border mass. Flowers are mere decorations.

Select those trees and shrubs which are the commonest, because they are the cheapest, hardiest, and most likely to grow. There is no district so poor and bare that enough plants cannot be secured, without