su Wmmf Wlpiiiiita Afb#r mm€ Bird iD@^ FOR Frlisi^i April TWpi@@mifc| ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOLS CHARLESTON THOS. C. MILLER, STATE SUPT. lyi IHIUUNL PHIIJIIMUUU.JHWlLliyinrBT ■»T Wl 8!m1^■!^' ID) mmm Day manual I www PF®iFaMi il®i®s mm4 Swii#sii#iis WmmAfM Ap»l THiMTEinTn ISSUED sY yum ospA^fsaiiiT mw sohools OUARLBSTOia T^osa Oa niCLe^^i state supt. Do Of D. ^ ARBOR DAY ANNOUNCEMENT. In the February issue of the West Virginia School Journal the fol- lowing notice appeared in the Official Department : "For Arbor Day this spring I have chosen Friday, April 13th, and I trust that all our schools will prepare to observe it in a manner that will lead to improvement, not only in the school grounds, but that the observance of the day may have an influence upon the home surroundings, and lead to better farming and fruit growing, and to happier home-life because of improved conditions. A Program will be sent out in time for use on this occasion. Where schools close before this date it is suggested that, if the teacher doesi not reside in the community, the older pupils and the patrons of the school take up the matter, so every community may share in this good work." Since the above was published, the matter of Arbor Day observance has been discussed in the newspapers somewhat, and a number of Civic Club® in the State have taken up the question and are urging a general effort for improving and beautifying not only our school grounds and homes, but public and neglected places in our towns and cities as well. With this end in view, let there be a united effort all over the State. I further suggest that on this occasion the subject of bird-study shall also receive attention. Our songsters are fast disappearing, and the youth of the State should be taught to love and protect the birds instead of destroying them. Teachers and Audubon societies have a great opportunity to lead in this work and to aid in implanting in the minds of our youth correct views as to man's true relationship to his animal friends. Trusting that Arbor Day may bring joy to all who take part in its observance and lasting good to future generations, I am, Very respectfully, Thos. C. Millee, Charleston, March 5, 1906. State Supt. of Schools. PEEFACE. A successful Arbor Day must see two ends accomplished. Trees must be planted and sometliing of importance about trees must be learned to make it a practical day^s work. It is not enough to recite pretty poems and bits of sentiment about trees. If we want their cooling and comforting shade about our school house doors and the walks of our cities and villages, we must take mattock and spade in hand and set out the small trees and shrubs that will, in a few years, grow into the handsome trees we admire. But these trees should not remain strangers to us. We should be- come acquainted with them. We should learn about them, how they should be planted, in what kind of soil they flourish, how they should be trimmed, to what plagues they are subject, and the remedy in each case. All this is useful knowledge and will afford us pleasure in the constant care and study which we will have the opportunity to bestow all our lives on the trees we plant, even while we are going to school. Let us make Arbor Day practical by doing some real tree planting and by learning something useful about our friends, the trees and the birds. In addition to the suggestions as to the observance of Arbor and Bird Day there is included in this Manual a number of cuts showing what has been done in many places in the way of improv- ing school grounds and also of bettering the conditions of home and village surroundings. Some cuts also relate to our material development, but our educational progress is so dependent upon our industrial prosperity that it is believed that these pictures will not be considered out of place. Acknowledgment is hereby made to the courtesy of the Youth's Companion, Ginn & Company, Houghton, Mifflin and Co., and to Supt. 0. J. Kern, Rockford, 111., for a number of cuts used in the publication. SUGGESTIVE PEOGEAM FOE AEBOE DAY. Song — The West Virginia Hills. Eesponsive Scripture Eeading — Teacher and School. Beading — The History of Arbor Day. Essay — Benefits of Trees, Flowers and Birds. Essay — The Trees Mbst Common in our County. Essay — Beautified School Grounds. Eeading — Some Historic Trees. Exercises — "What the Trees Teach Us," by fourteen pupils. "Trees in the Seasons/' by four pupils. Quotations and Gems. . Song— "We Love the Trees." Eecitations, poems and extracts, concerning Trees, Birds and Flowers. Brief reports of observations by pupils: (a) Of Nice School Grounds. (b) Of Well-kept Home Grounds. (c) Of Shaded Avenues and Eoads. (d) Of Beautiful Trees. (e) Of Large Forest Areas. Paper — "The Importance of Protecting the Forests of West Vir- ginia." Short address by a speaker chosen for the occasion. Brief remarks by trustees, members of the board and others. Instruction as to planting both in school grounds and at home. Music — "America." Planting and dedication of Trees. Song — "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean." SUGGESTIONS. 1. Provide plenty of good music^ and decorate the school room with pictures of trees, birds and pretty homes. "3. Give especial emphasis to poems, quotations and to reports by the pupils. 3. Select trees and shrubbery for planting before hand, and have the ground made ready in time — a good rich soil. G 4. Have as many patrons as well as pupils as you can possibly arrange for on the program. 5. Encourage the pupils to plant in their home grounds. 6. Be enthusiastic in the work. RESPONSIVE SCRIPTURE READING. And God said : Let the earth bring forth grass, and the herb yield- ing seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his hind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth; and it was so. And out of the ground made the Lord to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food. Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season ; his leaf also shall not wither ; and what- soever he doeth shall prosper. Sing unto the Lord with Thanksgiving : sing praises upon the harp unto our Ood. Who covereth the heaven with clouds, who prepareth rain for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. He sendeth the springs into the valleys which run along the hills. He watereth the hills from His chambers; the earth is satisfied, with the fruit of Thy works. He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle and herb for the service of man; that he may bring forth food out of the earth. For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear. Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not neither do they spin. And yet I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not ar- rayed like one of these. Thou crownest the year with thy goodness, and thy paths drop fat- ness. The glory of the Lord shall endure forever. The Lord shall rejoice in His works. HISTORY OF ARBOR DAY. We are told that the custom of tree planting is an old one among the Germans who, in the rural districts, practice a commendable habit of having each member of the family plant a tree at Whitsun- tide, which comes forty days after Easter. The old Mexican Indians also plant trees on certain days of the year when the moon is full, naming them after their children; and the ancient Aztecs are said to have planted a tree every time a child was born, giving it the name of the child. But to the Hon. J, Sterling Morton, of Nebraska;, secretary of agri- culture in the Cleveland cabinet, belongs the honor of instituting our American Arbor Day. It was at an annual meeting of the Nebraska State Board of Agriculture, held in the City of Lincoln, January 4, 1872, that Mr. Morton introduced the following resolution: Resolved, That Wednesday, the 10th day of April, 1872, be and the same is hereby especially set apart and consecrated for tree plant- ing in the State of Nebraska, and the State Board of Agriculture hereby name it Arbor Day, and to urge upon the people of the State the vital importance of tree planting, hereby offer a special premium of one hundred dollars to the Agricultural Society of that county in Nebraska which shall, upon that day, plant properly the largest num- ber of trees; and a farm library of twenty-five dollars' worth of Looks to that person who, on that day, shall plant properly, in Nebraska, the greatest number of trees." After a little debate as to the name, some preferring Silvan instead of Arbor, the resolution was unanimously adopted. A second resolu- tion was likewise adopted asking the newspapers of the State to keep the matter constantly before the people until the appointed day ; and the result was the planting of over a million trees in Nebraska on April 10, 1872. From this beginning on that western prairie the movement has spread in an ever widening circle whose circumference today sweeps from the Atlantic to the Pacific, while all appreciate the poet's thought : "What does he plant who plants a tree? He plants in sap and leaf and wood, In love of home and loyalty, And far-cast thought of civic good, His blessings of the neighborhood, — Who in the hollow of his hand Holds all the growth of all our land: A Nation's growth from sea to sea Stirs in his heart who plants a tree." HISTORIC TEEES. The "Burgoyne Elm," at Albany, N, Y. This tree was planted on the day the British general, Burgoyne, was brought a prisoner into Albany, the day after he surrendered to our army in the Revolution- ary War. The Weeping Willow in Copp's burying ground, near Bunker Hill. This willow was grown from a branch that was taken from the grave of ISTapoleon Bonaparte at St. Helena. The Ash Trees, planted by General' Washington, at Mt. Vernon, Va. These form a beautiful row of immense trees, which everybody ad- mires who visits the home of the Father of His Country. The Gary Tree. This tree was planted by Alice and Phoebe Gary, the poet sisters, who have written so many beautiful poems for chil- dren. It is a beautiful Sycamore in Ohio, near Cincinnati. t-A Old "Liberty Elm.'' This famous tree used to stand on Boston Common, but was blown down in a storm. It was planted by a school- master long before the Revolutionary War, and dedicated to the liberty of the colonies. Washington Elm. Under the shade of this grand old Elm General Washington first took command of the colonial army in 1775, at Cambridge, Mass. The William Penn Tree in Philadelphia. In that city stands a monument which marks the spot where once stood the tree under which William Penn made his famoixs treaty with the Indians. The Charter Oak. It was an old, hollow oak in which the early colonists hid their charter to prevent its being taken from them by the British Governor, Andros. It stood near Hartford, Conn. 9 The giant trees of California. Witliin an area of fifty acres there are about five hundred of these trees, ninety of which are of great size. Among these are the "Washington Tree/' "The Miner's Cabin," a hollow tree, three hundred feet high with an excavation thirty feet in circumference; "The Three Sisters," which spring from one root, and are so interlaced as to appear but one tree ; and "The Riding School," a hollow tree, which has been blown down, and into which a horse may be ridden seventy-five feet, and then turned around. The cedars of Mount Lebanon, some of them over thirty feet in diameter. The Banyan trees of India. One of them in Ceylon throws a shadow at noon over four acres of ground. Shakespeare's mulberry tree, planted at Stratford-on-Avon, by the poet's own hand, and cut down in 1786, "wontonly and brutishly," by the Rev. F. Gastrel. RECITATION. Do you know the trees by name When you see them growing In the fields or in the woods? They are well worth knowing. Watch them in the early spring. When their buds are swelling; Watch each tiny little leaf , Leave its little dwelling. Watch them later, when their leaves Everywhere are showing; Soon you'll know the different trees When you see them growing. — Selected. WHAT THE TREES TEACH US. First Pupil. I am taught by the Oak to be rugged and strong In defense of the right; in defiance of wrong. Second Pupil. I have learned from the Maple, that beauty to win The love of all hearts, must have sweetness within. Third Pupil. The Beech, with its branches wide-spreading and low. Awakes in my heart hospitality's glow. 10 Fourth Pupil. The Pine tells of constancy. In its sweet voice It whispers of hope till sad mortals rejoice. Fifth Pupil. The nut-bearing trees teach us that 'neath manners gruff, May be found as "sweet kernels" as in their caskets rough. Sixth Pupil. The Birch, in its wrappings of silvery gray, Shows that beauty needs not to make gorgeous display. Seventh Pupil. The Ash, having fibers tenacious and strong. Teaches me firm resistance, to battle with wrong. Eighth Pupil. The Aspen tells me with its quivering leaves, To be gentle to every sad creature that grieves. Ninth Pupil. The Lombardy Poplars point upward, In praise, My voice to kind Heaven they teach me to raise. Tenth Pupil. The Elm teaches me to be pliant yet true; Though bowed by rude winds, it still rises anew. Eleventh Pupil. I am taught generosity, boundless and free. By the showers of fruit from the dear Apple tree. Twelfth Pupil. The Cherry tree blushing with fruit crimson red. Tells of God's free abundance that all may be fed. Thirteenth Pupil. In the beautiful Linden, so fair to the sight. This truth I discern: It is inwardly white. Fourteenth Pupil. The firm-rooted Cedars like sentries of old. Show that virtues deep-rooted may also be bold. — Helen 0. Hoyt, in the Teacher's World. ARBOR DAY SONG. (Air: "Hold the Fort") Friends and parents gather with us, In our school today. Thoughts of groves and tangled wildwoods. In our minds hold sway. [chorus.] Spare the trees, oh thoughtless woodman, Hew but what you need, 11 They give balms to vagrant breezes, For their lives we plead. Giant oaks in sunny pastures Cast their pleasant shade. Maples clad in gold and crimson Cheer the darkened glade. Lofty firs and murmuring pine trees Shading mountain's crest. Are the growth of weary ages; For them we protest. Heralded in leafy banners, Seasons four, we greet; Every bough a sacred temple For the song birds sweet. TREES IN THE SEASONS. First Child. I love a tree in spring When the first green leaves come out; And the birds build their nests and carol Their sweet songs round about. Second Child. I love a tree in summer. When in the noon-tide heat, The reapers lie in its shadow On the greensward, cool and sweet. Third Child. I love a tree in autumn, When Frost, the painter old, Has touched with his brush its branches, And left them all crimson and gold. Fourth Child. I love a tree in winter. Mid snow and ice and cloud. Waving its long, bare branches. In the north wind, wailing loud. All. Let us plant a tree by the wayside. Plant it with smiles and with tears, A shade for some weary wanderer, A hope for the coming years. 12 WE LOVE THE TREES. (Tune: "There's Music in the Air.") We love the grand old trees, With the Oak, their royal king, And the Maple, forest queen. We to her our homage bring; And the elm with stately form, Long withstanding wind and storm, Pine, low whispering to the breeze, Oh, we love the grand old trees! We love the grand old trees, The cedar bright above the snow. The poplar straight and tall. And the willow weeping low. Butternut and walnut, too. Hickory so staunch and true, Basswood blooming for the bees, O, we love the grand old trees! We love the grand old trees. The tulip branching broad and high, The beech with shining robe. And the birch so sweet and shy. Aged chestnuts, fair to see. Holly bright with Christmas glee, Laurel crown for victories, O, we love the grand old trees! — Ada 8. Sherxoood, in Journal of Education. AN EASTERN LEGEND There's a tender eastern legend. In a volume old and rare, Of the Christ-child in his garden Walking with the children there. And it tells — this strange, sweet story — (True or false, ah, who shall say?) How a bird with a broken pinion There within the garden lay. And the children, childish cruel, Lifted it by shattered wing. Shouting, "Make us merry music, Sing, you lazy fellow, sing." But the Christ-child bent above it, Took it in his gentle hand, 13 Full of pity for the suffering, He alone could understand. Whispered to it — oh, so softly! Laid his lips upon its throat, And the song-life, swift returning. Sounded out in one glad note. Then away, on wings unwearied, Joyously it sang and soared, And the little children kneeling. Called the Christ-child, "Master- -Lord." -Grace D. Goodwin. GOD WILL SPRINKLE SUNSHINE If you should see a fellow-man with trouble's flag unfurled. An' lookin' like he didn't have a friend in all the world. Go up and slap him on the back, and holler, "How'd you do?" And grasp his hanc^ so warm he'll know he has a friend in you. Then ax him what's a-hurtin' him. an' laugh his cares away. And tell him the darkest night is just before the day. Don't talk in graveyard palaver, but say it right out loud. That God will sprinkle sunshine in the trail of every cloud. This world at best is but a hash of pleasure and of pain; Some days are bright and sunny, and some all sloshed with rain, 14 And that's just how it ought to be, for when the clouds roll by We'll know just how to 'predate the bright and smiling sky. So learn to take it as it comes, and don't sweat at the pores Because the Lord's opinion don't coincide with yours; But always keep rememberin', when cares your path enshroud, That God has lots of sunshine to spill behind the cloud. — James Whitcomb Riley. AN ARBOR DAY TREE Dear little tree that we plant today, What will you be when we're old and gray? "The savings bank of the squirrel and mouse For robin and wren an apartment house, The dressing room of the butterfly's ball. The locust's and katydid's concert hall. The schoolboy's ladder in pleasant June, The schoolgirl's tent in the July noon. And my leaves shall whisper them merrily A tale of the children who planted me." — Youth's Companion. EXERCISE— SELECTED RECITATIONS. First Pupil. To him who in the love of nature holds Communion with her visible forms, she speaks A various language; for his gayer hours She has a voice of gladness, and a smile And eloquence of beauty, and she glides Into his darker musings, with a mild And healing sympathy, that steals away Their sharpness, e'er he is aware. — Bryant. Second Pupil. There is something nobly simple and pure in a taste for the cultivation of forest trees. It argues, I think, a sweet and generous nature to have this strong relish for the beauties of vegetation, and this friendship for the hardy and glorious sons of the forest. He who plants an oak looks forward to future ages, and plants for posterity. Nothing can be less selfish than this. — Washington Irving. Third Pupil. For Nature beats in perfect tune, And rounds with rhyme her every rune. Whether she work in land or sea. Or hide underground her alchemy. Thou can'st not wave thy staff in air Or dip thy paddle in the lake, But it carves the bow of beauty there. 15 And the ripples in rhymes the oar forsake. The wood is wiser far than thou ; The wood and wave each other know. Not unrelated, unaffied, But to each thought and thing allied, Is perfect Nature's every part. Rooted in the mighty Heart. — Emerson. Fourth Pupil. Keeping up a fit proportion of forests to arable land is the prime condi- tion of human health. If the trees go, men must decay. Whosoever works for the forests works for the happiness and permanence of our civilization. A tree may be an obstruction, but it is never useless. Now is the time to work if we are to be blessed and not cursed by the people of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The nation that neglects its forests is surely destined to ruin. — Hon. Elizur Wright. Fifth Pupil. One impulse from a vernal wood May teach you more of man. Of moral evil and of good, Than all the sages can. — Wordsworth. Sixth Pupil. Faint murmurs from the pine-tops reach my ear, As if a harp-string — touched in some far sphere — Vibrating in the lucid atmosphere. Let the soft south wind waft its music here. —T. B. Aldrich. Seventh Pupil. Old trees in their living state are the only things that money cannot command. Rivers leave their beds, run into cities and traverse mountains for it; obelisks and arches, palaces and temples, amphitheaters and pyra- mids rise up like exhalations at its bidding. Even the free spirit of man, the only thing great on earth, crouches and cowers in its presence. It passes away and vanishes before venerable trees. — Landor. Eighth Pupil. Plant in the springtime the beautiful trees. So that in future each soft summer breeze. Whispering through tree-tops may call to our mind. Days of our childhood then left far behind. WOODMAN, SPARE THAT TREE. By George P. Morris. Woodman, spare that tree! Touch not a single bough! In youth it sheltered me. And I'll protect it now. 16 'Twas my forefather's hand That placed it near his cot: There, woodman, let it stand; Thy ax shall harm it not. That old familiar tree. Whose glory and renown Are spread o'er land and sea, — And wouldst thou hew it down? Woodman, forbear thy stroke; Cut not its earth-bound ties: O, spare that aged oak Now towering to the skies! When but an idle boy I sought its grateful shade; In all their gushing joy Here too my sisters played. My mother kissed me here, My father pressed my hand: Forgive this foolish tear, But let that old oak stand! My heart-strings 'round thee cling, Close as thy bark, old friend! Here shall the wild bird sing. And still thy branches bend. Old tree, the storm still brave! And, woodman, leave the spot: While I've a hand to save. Thy ax shall harm it not. George P. Morris, a popular American song writer and journalist, was born in Philadelphia, October 10, 1802. At an early age he removed to New York, where he began his literary career at the age of 15. As a journalist Morris was sprightly and entertaining, though as a poet, and more particularly as a song writer, he acquired his chief reputation. Among the many fine songs that proceeded from his pen, "Woodman, Spare That Tree," "We Were Boys Together," "My Mother's Bible," "Whippoor- Will," etc., achieved immense popularity, and millions of copies of them have been circulated. He died in New York, July 6, 1864. Mr. Morris, in a letter to a friend, dated New York, February 1, 1837, gave in substance the following account of how the above poem was written : Eiding out of town a few days since, in company with a friend, an old gentleman, he invited me to turn down a little, romantic wood- land pass, not far from Bloomingdale. 'TTour object?" inquired I. School House and Grounds, Set in Young Teees and Shbubbebt, AT Metz, Marion County. A School Yard in Winnebago County, III. The Old School House at Holden, Logan County. The New School Building at Holden. A Pleasant Country Home in West Virginia What Vines and Shrubbery Will Do. / '",>f^ Out-buildings in Illinois Screened With Vines. Courtesy Supt. O. J. Kern. A Reminder of Happy Childhood Hours. About 40 Elm trees have been planted in this Illinois School Yard within the last four aVioH 'T^r^o«■^.^ •wr^ct -iTi if tolrQ o 1i->cor>T1 tVir.i-r.f .'/-.m 9 Culture and Refinement in the Schoolroom. ^^^ A Girls' Garden at Yonkers, New York. A Beai 111- 1 j> i'A.^ioiiAi. rii_i>.\h VViueii yiiuLLu he IvEi'KouucEU Thousands of Times IN Wkst Virginia. Courtesy Youth's Companion, Boston. The public school is the place to which we should turn chief attention in our effort to promote a more beautiful public life in America. A Suggestion for School Gardens. 17 "Merely to look once more at an old tree planted by my grandfather long before I was born, under which I used to play when a boy, and where my sisters played with me. There I often listened to the good advice of my parents. Father, mother, sisters — all are gone; nothing but the old tree remains." And a paleness- overspread his fine counte- nance, and tears came to his eyes. After a moment's pause, he added : ''Don't think me foolish. I don't know how it is; I never ride out but I turn down this lane to look at that old tree. I have a thousand recollections about it, and I always greet it as a familiar and well- remembered friend." These words were scarcely uttered when the old gentleman cried out, "There it is." Kear the tree stood a man with his coat off, sharpening an ax. 'TTou're not going to cut that tree down, surely ?" "Yes, but I am, though," said the woodman. "What for?" inquired the old gentleman, with choked emotion. "What for? I like that! Well, I will tell you; I want the tree for firewood." "What is the tree worth to you for fire^vood?" "Why, when down, about t-en dollars." "Suppose I should give you that sum," said the old gentleman, "would you let it stand ?" "Yes." "You are sure of that?" "Positive !" "Then give me a bond to that effect." We went into the little cottage in which my companion was born, but which is now occupied by the woodman. I drew up the bond. It was signed, and the money paid over. As we left, the young girl, the daughter of the woodman, assured us that while she lived the tree should not be cut. These circumstances made a strong impression on my mind, and furnished me with the materials for the song I send you. QUOTATIONS FOR ROLL CALL. I think no man does anything more visibly useful to posterity than he who plants a tree. — J. R. Lowell. When we plant a tree we are doing what we can to make our planet a more wholesome and happier dwelling place for those who come after us if not for ourselves. — 0. W. Holmes. In those vernal sea^-^ons of the year, when the air is calm and pleas- ant, it were an injury and sullenness against nature not to go out and see her riches, and partake in her rejoicing with heaven and earth. — Milton. Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. — Emerson. Now every field and every tree is in bloom; the woods are now in full leaf, and the year is in its highest beauty. — Virgil. The tree planter and teacher united in one shall be declared the b&^t ,18 benefactor of modern times — the chief provider for posterity. — J . Ster- ling Morton. Our yards, our school house yards, and the resting places of our dead, should not be neglected, but should be adorned with nature's own beautifiers — ^the trees. — Emma F. Bates. 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 un- scarred, 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. — Dr. Henry Van Dyhe. The man who builds does a work which begins to decay as soon as he has done, but the work of the man who plants trees grows better and better, year after year, for generations. To own a bit of ground, to scratch it with a hoe, to plant seeds and watch their renewal of life — ^this is the commonest delight of the raoe^ the most satisfactory thing one can do. — Charles Diidley Warner. There is no spot on earth which may not be made more beautiful by the help of trees and flowers. — Holmes. Whether pluming the mountains, edging the lake^ eye-lashing the stream, roofing the water-fall, sprinkling the meadow, burying the homestead, or darkening leagues of hill, plain and valley, trees have always "haunted me like a passion." — Alfred B. Street. What earnest worker, with hand and brain, for the benefit of his fel- lowmen, could desire a more pleasing recognition of his usefulness than the monument of a tree, ever growing, ever blooming, and ever bearing wholesome fruit? — Irving. With every green tree that surrounds us with its leafage, with every shrub on the roadside where we walk, with every grass-blade that bends to the "breeze in the field through which we pass, we have a natural re- lationship; they are our true compatriots. The birds that leap from twig to twig in our gardens, that sing in bowers, are part of ourselves, — Goethe. A man does not plant a tree for himself ; he plants it for posterity ; and sitting idly in the sunshine, I think at times of the unborn people who will to some extent be indebted to me. Remember me kindly, ye future men and women. — Alexander Smith. What conqueror' in any part of life's battle could desire a more beau- tiful, a more noble, or a more patriotic monument than a tree planted by the hands of pure and joyous children, as a memorial to his achieve- ments? — B. J. Lossing. For many years I have felt a deep interest in the preservation of 19, our forests and the planting of trees. The wealth, beauty, fertility and healthfulness of the country largely depend upon it. My indig- nation is yearly aroused by the needless sacrifice of some noble oak or elm and especially of the white pine, the grandest tree in our woods, which I would not exchange for the oriental palm. My thanks are due to the public school which is to plant a group of trees in your Eden Park in my honor. — John 0. Whittier, to the school children of Cincinnati, He who plants a tree Plants a hope. — Lucy Larcom. Among the beautiful pictures That hang on memory's wall. Is one of a dim old forest That seemeth best of all. — Alice Gary. And Nature, the old nurse, took The child upon her knee, Saying: "Here is a story-book Thy Father has written for thee." "Come wander with me," she said, "Into regions yet untrod; And read what is still unread In the manuscripts of God." — Longfellow. There is no unbelief. Whoever plants a seed beneath the sod And waits to see it push away the clod Trusts in Grod. — Bulwer-Lytton. A light broke in upon my soul — It was the carol of a bird; It ceased — and then it came again The sweetest song ear ever heard. — Byron. And see — the sun himself! on wings Of glory up the east he springs. — Moore. Now is the time for those who wisdom love, Who love to walk in virtue's flowery road, 20 Along the lovely paths of spring to rove, And follow Iviature up to Nature's God. — Bruce. Oh birds, that warble to the morning sky, Oh birds, that warble as the day goes by, — Tennyson. O, velvet bee, you're a dusty fellow, You've powdered your legs with gold! O, brave marsh marybuds rich and yeuow. Give me your money to hold! — Jean Ingelow. Heigh ho! daisies and buttercups, Fair yellow daffodils, stately and tall! When the wind wakes how they rock in the grasses. And dance with the cuckoo-buds slender and small! — Jemi Ingelow. There was never mystery But 'tis figured in the flowers; Was never secret history But birds tell it in the bowers. — Emerson. They'll come again to the apple tree Robin and all the rest; And the prettiest thing in the world will be The building of the nest. — Margaret Songster. Flower in the crannied wall, I pluck you out of the crannies; I hold you here, root and all, in my hand, Little flower — but if I could understand What you are, root and all, and all in all, I should know what God and man is. — Tennyson. In freedom's air we plant the tree, Our land of hope, America; Beneath the blue sky, freedom's dome. Within the green earth, freedom's home, We plant the tree for years to come, And pray, Goa bless America. — HezeTciah Butterworth. Your voiceless lips, O flowers, are living preachers, Each cup a pulpit, every leaf a book, Supplying to my fancy numerous teachers From loneliest nook. 21 Were I, O God, in churchless lands remaining, Far from all voice of teachers or divines. My soul would find in flowers of thy ordaining Priests, sermons, shrines. — Horace Smith. Teach me half the gladness That thy brain must know, Such harmonious madness From my lips would flow. The world should listen then, as I am listening now. — Shelley. O thrush, your song is passing sweet, But never a song that you have sung Is half as sweet as thrushes sang When my dear love and I were young. — Wm. Morris. Crocus heard a tapping, tapping. As of some one gently rapping. And she raised her head to see Who her visitor might be. Robin stood there singing, singing, Of the joys the hours were bringing, Crocus called to him "Good day," Said she hoped he'd come to stay. Overhead a drumming, drumming, Said that spring was surely coming, So Crocus cried, "Come, birdies, for You'll find me waiting by my door." — Primary Teacher. And the hyacinth purple, and white, and blue. Which flung from its bells a sweet peal anew Of music so delicate, soft, and intense. It was felt like an odour within the sense. — Shelley. The rose is fairest when 'tis budding new. And hope is brighest when it dawns from fears; The rose is sweetest wash'd with morning dew. And loveliest when embalm'd in tears. —Scott. The robin, the forerunner of the spring. The blue-bird with his jocund caroling. The restless swallows building in the eaves. The golden buttercups, the grass, the leaves, The lilacs tossing in the winds of May, All welcome this majestic holiday. — Longfellow. 22 Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let each new temple, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast. Till thou at length are free. Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea! — Holmes. SKETCH OF Pl-TiNTINO SUGGESTIONS FOR PLANTING By L. H. Bailey. Director College of Agriculture, Cornell University. The kinds of plants to use, — One great principle will simplify the matter: the main planting should be for foliage effects. That is, think first of giving the yard a heavy bordermass. Flowers are mere decorations. 23 Select those trees and shrubs which are the commonest, because they are cheapest, hardiest and most likely to grow. There is no dis- trict so poor and bare that enough plants cannot be secured, without money, for the school yard. You will find them in the woods, in old yards, along the fences. It is little matter if no one knows their names. WTiat is handsomer than a tangled fence-row ? Scatter in a few trees along the fence and about the buildings. Maples, basswood, elms, ashes, buttonwood, pepperidge, oaks, beeches, birches, hickories, poplars, a few trees of pine or spruce or hemlock — any of these are excellent. If the country is bleak, a rather heavy planting of evergreens about the border, in the place of so much shrub- bery, is excellent. For shrubs, use the common things to be found in the woods and ewales, together with roots which can be had in every old yard. Wil- lows, osiers, witch-hazel, dogwood, wild roses, thorn apples, haws, elders, sumac, wild honeysuckles — these and others can be found in every school district. From the farm yards can be secured snowballs, spireas, lilacs, forsythias, mock oranges, roses, snowberries, barberries, flowering currants, honeysuckles and the like. Vines can be used to excellent purpose on the outbuildings or on the school house itself. The common wild Virginia creeper is the most serviceable. On brick or stone school houses the Boston ivy or Japanese ampelopsis may be used, unless the location is very bleak. Honeysuckles, clematis and bitter-sweet are also attractive. Bowers are always interesting to children; and actinidia (to be had at nur- series) is best for this purpose. Kinds of plants for decoration. — Against these heavy borders and in the angles about the building many kinds of flowering plants can be grown. The flowers are much more easily cared for in such positions than they are in the middle of the lawn, and they also show off better. Only those flowers should be used which are very easy to grow and which have the habit of taking care of themselves. They should also be such as bloom in spring or fall, when the school is in session. Per- ennial plants — those which live from year to year — are excellent. Of these, day lilies, bleeding hearts, pinks, bluebells, hollyhocks, perennial phlox and hibiscus are always useful. Nothing is better than the common wild asters and goldenrods. They will grow almost any- where, and they improve when grown in rich ground and given plenty of room; and they bloom in the fall. Many kinds of bulbs are useful, especially as so many of them 24 bloom very early in spring. Think of a school yard with crocuses, daffodils and tulips in it! Annual flowers may be grown along the bonders, out of the way of the playgrounds. China asters, petunias and California poppies are very attractive, and they are easy to grow. They bloom in the fall. Phlox, sweet peas, alyssum and many others are also useful. While the main planting should be made up of common trees and shrubs, a rare or strange plant may be introduced now and then from the nurseries, if there is any money with which to buy such things. Plant it at some conspicuous point just in front of the border, where it will show off well, be out of the way and have some relation to the rest of the planting. Two or three purple-leaved or variagated-leaved bushes will add much spirit and verve to the place, but many of them make the place look fussy and overdone. NOTES AND SUGGESTIONS. Do not fail to put out some vines and climbing roses about porches, walls and old tree trunks. A hedge of pine trees makes a good protection for out-buildings and acts as a screen also. Do your pupik keep a bird record and note the arrival of our feathered friends from the South? It is interesting also to observe the first indications of spring, as the croaking of frogs, the iirst fire- fly, the earliest flower, etc. Study carefully the cut on page twenty-one, which shows liow out- buildings may be screened and made more respectable in every way. It is probably ungracious to say it, but the condition of some of these houses in West Virginia is a disgrace to a civilized people. Boards of Education should see to this matter more attentively. As heretofore suggested, shrubs, annuals and bulbous plants may be put out to a decided advantage in school grounds, while vines and climbing roses are no more out of place in the school yard than they are in the home grounds. The Ladies' Home Journal, in a recent issue, used a number of cuts showing very unsightly and unsanitary conditions in an important city 25 in Pennsylvania. Should the photographer determine to visit some towns in West Virginia, I fear the outcome. Have you a honeysuckle on the porch? Do you remember Sweet Cicely's experience in one of these vine-clad bowers? Probably, too, you may have had an experience there yourself. Of course you will include the Rhododendron, our State Flower, in the list of shrubs you plant both in the school grounds and at your home. Doubtless many will go to the nursery for their young trees and plants, but in many places our woods will furnish an abundance of the very best material. The oak, maple, walnut, poplar, elm and many otlier varieties, make fine shade and do well even under unfavor- able conditions. If it is only a rose bush or a grape vine plant it out on Arbor Day. It will soon bring joy and pleasure to yourself and others. See that the soil is made ready for your tree-planting. Plants and trees need food as well animals. If a very dry season follows your planting have arrangements for watering your trees and shrubbery. But if the weather is favorable no artificial supply of water will be needed. What a convenience the trolley line is, carrying one as it does to his own door. Suburban homes are multiplying because of it, and the joy of country life is being emphasized. There is urgent need in West Virginia of a Forestry Agent to look after our great wooded areas that are being destroyed by fire and the carelessness of the lumber companies. How independent is the man who owns a few score of fine cattle that graze on the slopes near his home! We are glad to see such numbers of Herefords, Holsteins, Jerseys and Angus breeds on West Virginia farms. Many of our school houses need painting. Not only would this improve their appearance, but it would be a means of preserving them. Boards of Education should act in this matter. The Rhododendron', Our State Flower. 37 Although zinnias, marigolds and sunflowers ai-e prettier than rag- weed, jimson and Spanish needles, still we think asters, gladiolii and lilies are preferable to the flowers first named, and the latter can be grown about as easily as the more common kind. What a blessing it is to a young man to have a country home to which he can return for vacation ! The work on the farm brings bodily strength and vigor and puts him in touch with the most help- ful influences of nature. There is room for much improvement around many churches throughout the State, as well as around school houses. Fences are in bad condition, weeds are as high as one's head, and general neglect apparent all around. If Spanish needles, burdock and iron weed will grow around a church, why not lilies, hydrangeas and clematis? This neglect is not conflned to country places alone, because around a $.35,000.00 city church we have observed these unfavorable condi- tions. We are neither architect nor landscape gardener, but we have ob- served that there is a very essential relation between the building and its environment. Many houses are erected that are not at all suited to their location. A fine colonial mansion surrounded with trees and shrubbery and with spacious grounds about it appears well, but such a building on a busy crowded street seems out of place. More atten- tion should be given to symmetry and harmony in building opera- tions. Do you have the fine royal purple clematis, the Jackmani, at your front porch? It blooms early and there is nothing prettier. Then, a little later, you will have the paniculata with its feathery wreathe of white which last well into the autumn. After all, however, there is nothing prettier than the old-fashioned climbing honeysuckle with its fragrance and pleasant memories of days gone by. Give your boy a chance to do a little farming for himself. Let him clean up some odd half acre and plant and manage it all himself. He will surprise you by the interest he takes in this work, and he will pro- duce enough to get himself a new suit this fall and have some pocket money left over. Try this plan. Several new books on elementary agriculture have recently ap- 28 peared which shows a growing interest in this subject. Some of these books are very well suited for use in our public schools. It would be a good plan for teachers to keep in touch with some of these new pub- lications, as they deal with the practical problems of farm life and contain much in the way of helpful suggestions. In many yards this spring will be seen beautiful beds of tulips and hyacinths, and we will hear the remark, "Well, I'm going to plant some of that kind of flowers early next spring." Many persons do not seem to know that these fine flowers are the result of work done last fall, and that the bulbs have been in the ground all winter. If boys and girls are to remain pure and clean in body and mind they must have environments that conduce to this end. Good farmers would not keep their stock in such filthy places as surround some of the school houses in West Virginia. Citizens of our rising young Commonwealth, let us have an educational awakening and see that the youth of the State are provided with better school facilities, longer school terms, better accommodations and pleasant and healthful sur- roundings. In a number of towns and cities in the State Civic Improvement Leagues have been organized. The object of these societies is to cul- tivate a taste for the better things of a higher social life. The influ- ence of such a movement shows itself in clean streets, the ornamentation of grounds, the establishing of parks, the furnishing of a pure water supply, and more careful attention to general sanitary conditions. A further effect is seen in the improvement of home surroundings, such as neat front yards, with flowers, shrubbery, etc., properly cared for. Let such agencies be multiplied all over the State. On several occasions I have referred to the possibilities for improv- ing and beautifying the banks of the streams running through a number of the towns and cities of the State. Morgantown, Fairmont and Clarksburg have exceptional opportunities in this respect for or- namenting the banks of the streams that meander through their bor- oughs. Instead of using those banks as a dumping ground for paper, tin cans and all other sorts of filth, let them be planted in trees, vines and shrubbery, attractive to the eye and beneficial to health. Since the writer is in a reminiscent mood, he may add that about 29 thirty years ago, as he was going home from school one evening, he picked up a few canes that had been cut from a grape vine that day. They were stuck down in the garden on the "old home-place" and to- day one of those vines is as large as a man's wrist, and it is not an over estimate to say that it has produced more than a ton of fruit. So when a few years ago we had the pleasure of seeing the original Con- cord gTape vine in Mr. Bull's yard at Concord, we had a very pleasaut remembrance of our own experience in planting grapes. Speaking of tree-planting, we sometimes hear the remark, "0, I will never get the benefit of this work !" But even should there be no return during one's lifetime, another generation will enjoy the fruitage, and it is a duty we owe humanity to contribute to its enjoy- ment. However, it is a mistaken idea that nothing can be realized for so long a time. Not only do most fruit trees come into bearing within a few years, but even nut and other trees oftentimes have a commercial value within two decades. The sugar maple is of slow growth, yet trees of this variety set out by the writer and his brother in 1870 have been "tapped" for the last four years, and just recently they pro- duced some real "home made" sugar and molasses, as Ave can testify oy gastronomical experience. Usually it is the poorer parts of our towns and cities where it is supposed that the work of the Civic Improvement League is mast needed. This is not always the case, however, because just across the street from one of the finest hotels in the State is a garbage lot that is very unsightly, and the smoke and offensive fumes from burning rub- bish are very annoying not only to gniests at the hotel, but to all the passers-by. It would seem that something should be done to abate this nuisance. Then, again, last summer we saw in a yard surrounding a beautiful church, Spanish needles as liigh as a man's head, and bur- dock, jimson and other noxious weeds in abundance. There are many such places all over West Virginia thus giving the Improvement League plenty to do this spring and summer. BIRD STUDY. In connection with the observance of Arbor Day there should be a more careful study of birds and their relation to human interests, both ethical and material. The protection of our feathered friends is a subject that demands more attention than it has been receiving in this State. Many of our sweetest singers have been well nigh ex- 30 terminated in some parts of the State, the huntsman and feather seek- ers having ruthlessly slain them by the thousands. In other places the bluebird is scarcely seen any more, while the oriole and brown thrush are becoming scarcer each year. To awaken an interest in bird study and especially in the protec- tion of birds, teachers are requested to give attention to the subject by studying the nature and habits of birds common in their section, and to show of what value birds are to the farmer and the fruit grower. It is true that the robin and the cat bird get a few raspber- ries and cherries, but the amount of fruit they save by the destruction of injurious insects is immeasurably greater than the amount eaten by them. In fact careful examination will show that birds will choose the fruit that is affected by worms in preference to the perfect fruit, — a good fat worm being a dainty morsel for his birdship. Akin to this subject we append the following statement recently issued from the Department of Agriculture, Washington: GREAT WORK OF BOB WHITES The ornithologists of the Department of Agriculture have been making an investigation of the economic value of the bob white, as a result of which it is now announced that that bird is "probably the most useful abundant species on the farms." Field observations, ex- periments, and examinations show that it consumes large quantities of weed seeds and destroys many of the worst insect pests with which farmers contend, and yet it does not injure grain, fruit, or any other crop. It is figured that from September 1 to April 30 annually in Virginia alone the total consumption of weed seed by bob whites amounts to 573 tons. Some of the pests which it habitually destroys, the report says, are the Mexican cotton boll weevil, which damages the cotton crop upwards of $15,000,000 a year; the potato beetle, which cuts off $10,- 000,000 from the value of the potato crop; the cotton worms, which have been known to cause $30,000,000 loss in a year ; the chinch bug, and the Kocky Mountain locust, scourges which leave desolation in their path and have caused losses to the extent of $100,000,000 in some years. The report urges measures to secure the preservation of the bob whites in this country. What is true of bob white or the partridge is equally true of a number of our common birds. If the destruction of our birds con- tinues the farmer and the fruit grower will have a more difficult battle 31 each year with insect life, and finally their inroad will be so great that it will be almost impossible to overcome it. Teachers can emphasize the subject of bird study by having their pupils read and study carefully the "Birds' Petition" given herewith. In writing this beautiful petition Senator Hoar has done a service to his country of as much importance as some of his acts of statesman- ship that have been so highly commended. See also the beautiful cut foimd on another page which was executed by Miss Ellen Hale to illumine the Petition. It is suggested that teachers can interest their pupils in this benefi- cent cause by placing pictures of birds on the walls of the schoolroom. Besides the feature of ornamentation, a great deal of valuable instruc- tion can be imparted in this manner. For this purpose the beautiful colored plates published by A. W. Mumford, Chicago, or the Bird chart issued by the Bird-Lore Company, Harrisburg, Pa., will be found very helpful. THE PETITION OF THE BIRDS — WRITTEN BY SENATOR HOAR To the Great and General Court of Massachusetts: We, the song birds of Massachusetts and their playfellows, make this our humble petition: We know more about you than you think we do. We know that you are good. We have hopped about the roofs and looked in at windows of the houses you have built for poor and sick and hungry people and little lame and deaf and blind children. We have built our nests in the trees and sung many songs as we flew about the gardens and parks you have made so beautiful for your own chil- dren, especially your poor children^ to play in. Every year we fly a great way over the country, keeping all the time where the sun is bright and warm; and we know that whenever you do anything, other people all over the great land between the seas and the great lakes find it out, and pretty soon will try to do the same thing. We know; we know. We are Americans just as you are. Some of us, like some of you, come from across the great sea, but most of the birds like us have lived here a long while; and birds like us welcomed your fathers when they came here many years ago. Our fathers and mothers have always done their best to please your fathers and mothers. Now we have a sad story to tell you. Thoughtless or bad people are trying to destroy us. They kill us because our feathers are beautiful. Even pretty and sweet girls, who we should think would 33 be our best friends, kill our brothers and children so that they may wear their plumage on their hats. Sometimes people kill us from mere wantonness. Cruel boys destroy our nests and steal our eggs and our young ones. People with guns and snares lie in wait to kill us, as if the place for a bird were not in the sky, alive, but in a shop window, or under a glass case. If this goes on much longer, all your song birds will be gone. Already, we are told, in some other countries that used to be full of birds, they are almost gone. Even the nightingales are being killed in Italy. Now we humbly pray that you will stop all of this, and will save us from this sad fate. You have already made a law that no one shall kill a harmless song bird or destroy our nests or our eggs. Will you please to make another that no one shall wear our feathers, so that no one will kill us to get them ? We want them all ourselves. Your pretty girls are pretty enough without them. We are told that it is as easy for you to do it as for Blackbird to whistle. If you will, we know how to pay you a hundred times over. We will teach your children to keep themselves clean and neat. We will show them how to live together in peace and love, and to agree as we do in our nests. We will build pretty houses which you will like to see. We will play about your gardens and flower beds, — ourselves like flowers on wings, — without any cost to you. We will destroy the wicked insects and worms that spoil your cherries and currants and plums and apples and roses. We will give you our best songs and make the spring more beautiful and the summer sweeter to you. Every June Morning when you go out into the field. Oriole and Blackbird and Bobolink will fly after you and make the day more delightful to you; and when you go home tired at sundown, Vesper Sparrow will tell you how grateful we are. When you sit down on the porch after dark, Fife Bird and Hermit Thrush and Wood Thrush will sing to you and even Whip-poor-will will cheer up a little. We know where we are safe. In a little while all the birds will come to live in Massachusetts again, and everybody who loves music will like to make a summer home with you. SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS ON WEST VIRGINIA BIEDS. BY REV. EARLE A. BROOKS West Virginia is a splendid field for ornithological research. Its elevation ranges from about 500 feet above sea level to 4,700 feet. It has great forests, both deciduous and evergreen ; meadow and pasture The Bibds' Petition. .--^^w- §n/>aA4^ ITV^''^ 'i^^^ '^txnAMf J- -T^?:" *^'-- -.^^'^i Sh MY$y^ A Row OF Trees Makes the Place Attractive. Tioael Suggestions for the Planting of a Schoolyard Upon Four Cornebs. From "Suggestions With Plants." 36 VALUE OF BIEDS. Investigation of food supply of birds in recent years has been carried on by the United States government and by many careful observers in many states, and yet the work is far from complete, but enough has been ascertained to prove that our wild birds are very important factors in insect control. The food of many birds consists of seeds, worms, buds and animal matter, especially the latter, and nearly all species of birds feast upon larvae of insects, as it is suitable food for their young. These insectivorous birds have two or more broods of young a year, thereby spending the greater part of their time in feeding their young. Other injurious insects pass most of the year in the egg state, and some birds feed largely on the eggs. But possibly the most useful bird to crops is the Bob White, the common partridge. The agricultural reports of the southern states, especially Virginia, show that annually several hundred tons of per- nicious weed seeds are destroyed by Bob White alone. In addition to that he protects the cotton crops, in some instances, from almost total destruction by the cotton boll weevil, thereby saving the planters millions of dollars annually. He destroys also the potato beetle, the chinch-bug and the Rocky Mountain Locust. Take the crow for example. To the farmer he has long appeared a great menace to corn crops. You must not judge the crow until you have first investigated his conduct. True enough, he goes! into the farmers low land and "plucks his young corn", but he goes there be- cause he well knows the favorite haunt of the cut-worm, and while he is destroying a few stalks of corn he destroys a whole host of these crop-pests. What is true of the Ctow and Bob White is true of scores of our other wild birds, and if they are not protected the farmer must suffer the penalty which will be very heavy indeed. A FEIEND OF THE BIRDS. The Audubon society is rejoicing in the energy of Mrs. Julius L. Brown, of Atlanta, Ga., who, unaided, has secured pledges from over 2,000 Georgia women that in future they will use on their hats no wings or other plumage of wild birds, says the New York Commercial Advertiser. Twenty-five hundred school children have through her influence subscribed to a pledge not to harm wild birds or rob their nests. ' ' 37 TWO BROWN THEUSH STORIES. An old gentleman of our acquaintance who loves birds, trees, flow- ers and other nice things, trimmed up Ms trees last spring and there- by made a number of brush heaps around through his orchard. Some time after, when planning to burn one of these piles of brush, his at- tention was directed to the movements and distress cries of a brown thrush, which seemed to have a very special interest in that brush heap. Upon looking carefully he found her nest hidden securely and in it four pretty eggs. The remainder of the story is that the brush pile was not destroyed for some time, and that four thrushes have been added to the number of songsters that make glad the surround- ings of a pretty country home. One day recently, while talking with an old colored man, who had often seen and heard the mocking bird in the South, we pointed to a brotvn thrush that was singing cheerily on the topmost branch of a tree near by. "An' you call dat de brown trush do ye?" said he. "I allez calls him de 'Sandy mocker !' " Is not that a pretty good description after all ? VILLAGE IMPROVEMENT. SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS. Whatever is the most characteristic element in the scenery of a place should stand first in the scheme of recreative open spaces. If there is a river, let there be an esplanade, a terrace, a promenade, or a drive, treated either formally or in naturalistic style, as circum- stances may suggest. If there is a lake, let there be a lakeside pleas- ure-ground. If the region is a rolling country, let a charming valley scene be secured, with care to include some sightly point of view. If a town is spread upon the flat prairie, as so many hundreds are in the Middle West, let its people not despair of opportunity to vary what may seem a hopeless monotony in environment. The prairie itself may be made the motive for a charming landscape. A spacious ex- panse of level verdure may be inclosed in bosky margins, like a bay with sylvan shores ; on the far side a vista may open out into the wide rural country, with horizon even, low, and remote, and as restful as the ocean in its sense of breadth and peace. If it is a factory town with water-power, then above the dam the stream will have a consid- erable reach of slack water that invites boating and other aquatic pleasuring. As a rule, the banks of such a piece of water can readily 38 be cleared of the ugly intrusions that are apt to possess a neighbor- hood of the sort; they can easily be made to clothe themselves with vegetation, and soon resume a natural appearance. A delightful pop- ular pleasure-ground may thus be created, — Sylvester Baxter in the May Century. The railroads also are planting trees, although it cannot be said that they do so with any special reference to Arbor Day. A New Eng- land company is setting out ten thousand catalpas and some chestnut and black walnut saplings upon its vacant lands. A Western company is about to plant more than a hundred thousand catalpas. Years hence these trees will supply timber for ties, posts and other purposes, and the railroads are taking the long look ahead. The country would be richer in the future if the rest of us would exercise some such fore- thought, even if we were to plant only one tree for every hundred trees that we cut down. SCHOOL GARDENS. A "school garden" is a garden in connection with a school. The idea is not a new one. For centuries it has been in practice in the countries of Europe, notably in France. The movement in this country is of more recent origin, dating back not more than thirty- five or forty years. At first the movement was confined to the cities, especially of the east. More recently it has been taken up by the progressive agricul- tural sections, especially of the middle west. In the cities and towns the work has been taken up principally for its ethical influences and for supplying a means of giving the pupils more fresh air and health- ful exercise. In the country the utilitarian side of the work is more prominent, as there is a natural desire among the agricultural classes to give their children the advantage of a scientific knowledge of farming, the business in which their lives are to be spent. School gardens may be either flower gardens or vegetable gardens, or as is generally the case, a combination of both. In either case land is owned or rented by the school board and parceled out among the pupils by the teachers. Seeds are supplied and the pupils become the gardeners under the direction of the teachers. This affords a means for the study of seeds, soils, germination, cultivation, moisture, heat and light and also the means of a botanical study of the plants or flowers. There is no real school garden in West Virginia, though several 39 schools have something approaching a garden. How long will it be before this statement cannot be made? True, our five months terms afford scant opportunity for such work, but five month terms are becoming rare and better things are in sight. Our teachers want to know about all the best things even if they cannot have all of them just yet. Shall we not cultivate a few flower beds about our school houses and freshen our minds with at least an occasional visit with mother nature and the beautiful flowers and trees which she gives us? THE WEST VIEGINIA SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT LEAGUE. President — Waitman Barbe. Secretary — Ethel Carle. Executive Committee — Thos. C. Miller, B. L. Butcher, J. O. Thompson, Wright Denny, Peter H. Steenbergen. (Note by the State Superintendent.) The West Virginia School Improvement League has become a very help- ful agency in the movement for better material conditions for our schools, and I gladly give a place in this program to the contributions from the four officers of the league, whose articles follow. The introduction is by Waitman Barbe, president of the league, Morgantown. The officers and members of the School Improvement League great- ly appreciate the courtesy and co-operation of the State Superintend- ent in devoting some of the pages of this Manual to the work and purposes of the League. Below will be found articles by the State Secretary and two members of the Executive Committee. I desire only to emphasize the fact that the effective work of the League is (1) all voluntary and (2) all individual. Any teacher, pupil, trustee or patron who devotes as much as a day each year towards improving a school-house, beautifying school-grounds, or establishing or adding to a school library is thereby a member of the League whether his name appears on any list or not. Every teacher knows whether his school- house is clean and attractive without and within; every teacher knows whether there are trees and grass and shrubs in his school- yard, and whether the children and patrons have good books to read or not. If these things do not exist, see that they are brought about. Use your own way, and select your own time ; but remember that the most that any good cause needs in any community is an enthusiastic and untiring leader. m all of the counties where the League has county secretaries these secretaries will be expected to read reports, at the next County 40 Institute, of the work done in their respective counties during the year. County superintendents are earnestly requested to call the attention of county secretaries to this important matter. County secretaries should make these reports as complete as possible, giving credit where credit is due. Every county should organize at tht^ coming institutes by electing a county secretary; the county superintendent being the county presi- dent of the League. All persons taking part in the election of the secretary thereby pledge themselves to do as much as a day's work during the following year towards promoting one or more of the three purposes of the League. This is all of the "machinery" neces- sary in the organization. Any teacher who will write to me for a pamphlet on improving school-grounds will receive it free. Already a great work has been done by members of the League in all parts of the State, but the work has only been commenced. Will not every sincere friend of the public schools in West Virginia help it on? Waitman Barbe. Morgantown. IMPROVING THE INTERIOR OF SCHOOL BUILDINGS. BY ETHEL CARLE^ STATE SECRETARY OF THE LEAGUE. Dr. Barbe has asked me to contribute my "mite" to this discussion of the work of our Improvement League, in the way of a few sugges- tions for improving the inside of school buildings, keeping in mind especially rural and small village schools. I have received letters from teachers in a number of such schools this year, some of which show great enthusiasm for the work of the League. Much has evidently been accomplished in the way of school improve- ment by these teachers. In most rural schools the first thing toward which the teacher needs to direct his attention is the matter of cleanliness. This is one of the many hard problems with which the rural teacher must wrestle, and absolute cleanliness, such as is possible in a city school, cannot, of course, be attained. But, at least, children may be taught to clean their shoes thoroughly before coming into the building and adequate means should be provided for that purpose. A waste basket should also be provided, and not a scrap of paper should be allowed to re- main on the floor for a moment. If a piece of paper does accidentally A Suggestion in Planting. Unimpboved. Impeoved. 43 find its way to the floor, a look from the teacher should be sufficient to cause the child nearest it to pick it up. Scraps of this kind should be kept in the desks until evening, when the waste basket should be passed for them, and they should then be burned. The stove should be kept black and shining and free from ashes, and the boy who replenishes the fire must be taught not to drop any small pieces of coal on the floor. Instead of the usual water bucket, a small galvanized tank should be provided, (a good one would not cost more than two dollars), and the bucket should be used for waste water. The children should not be permitted to crowd promiscuously around the water tank at the close of recess or the noon hour, but should go to it one at a time in an orderly manner and should not be permitted to spill any water on the floor. These are very homely details, I know, but they are all suggested to my mind, by visions of the rural school which I attended in my childhood days and I believe these things should be looked after first. Another article of furniture which every school should possess is a small book case or cabinet with a lock and key. If there is any at- tempt to start a library this should be provided before a single book is bought. It is needed anyhow, library or no library, as a place of safety for the teacher's books, spelling tablets, writing books, ink bot- tles, chalk boxes, and various articles which otherwise collect in various comers of the room. Perhaps the cheapest way to get one would be to have a local carpenter build one in a corner of the room. If a com- plete cabinet could not be secured, at least a set of corner shelves could be provided, for which the teacher, if "he" happens to be a woman, could make a pretty dark colored curtain; or if he is unfor- tunate enough to be a man, he might get one of the older girls to make it. The next thing to need attention will probably be the walls of the room. In most cases a fresh coat of paint on the walls would add wonderfully to the attractiveness of the room. The expense connected with the things I have mentioned, so far would not be very great. It would vary somewhat with the locality and with the ingenuity and resourcefulness of the teacher. I believe that many boards of education, if approached in the right way, would provide these things. If not, the school might raise the money by some kind of an entertainment or something might be done by pri- vate subscription. If a local School Improvement League were or- ganized among the pupils and patrons of the school something along 43 this line could be done, I am sure. The important thing is to get the people of the neighborhood interested, and awake to the need for these things. In the matter of decoration, I would say "Go slowly." A very few really good pictures, a few flowers in their season, a pretty white "center-piece" or cover for the teacher's table — these are sufficient, except for special days, when special decoration may be used. Flags should not be used promiscuously for decoration, except on such patriotic days as Washington's and Lincoln's birthdays. Every teacher should read Burrage and Bailey's "School Sanitation and Decoration", one of the books in the Teachers' Eeading Course for this year. It gives some most helpful suggestions on this subject. The five and ten-cent pictures, issued by the Perry Pictures Company, Maiden, Mass., are the best inexpensive pictures that I know of for school room walls. But I would finish this article as I began it — the first and most im- portant objects to be sought in "School Improvement" are cleanliness, neatness, and order. Mannington, W. Va. THE WOEK OF THE LEAGUE. BY WRIGHT DENNY, CHARLES TOWN. 1. The work of the League should be to develop higher ideals. Too many homes have unattractive surroundings. Children grow up to live as they spend their earlier days. If they do not have ele- vating scenes they will never know better. We gain our ideals by influence, association, and imitation. If clean, attractive, wholesome ideals are placed before the children they will acquire them. 2. The work of the League should be to bring the home and the school nearer to each other. It is said that wherever a League has been organized, there you will find the teacher, the parent and the pupil acting together for the improvement of school conditions. A better understanding follows. 3. Leagues develop a sense of responsibility. Boys and girls must be taught to feel that they are co-workers. Nothing brings a pupil to a right state of mind more effectively than to feel responsibility. It leads pupils to accomplish things through their own efforts. 4. Leagues ought to transform bare, unattractive places of drudg- ery into rooms with homelike conditions. A bright, comfortably fur- nished room is certainly more conducive to study than a bare one. 44 Pupils readily take an interest in the furnishings, and are themselves brighter and happier when surrounded with flowers, pictures, and tinted walls. The rooms ought to be curtained. Children feel more interest in these things when they help furnish them. Leagues ought to improve school grounds. I recently heard t^vo towns compared. One had flower gardens, shrubbery, and attractive grounds. The League was there and the pupils kept up these grounds. No breaking of windows occurred, no marking of crayon on the build- ings, fences. Everything was in perfect order. The other town was about the same size. The Board attempted to keep everything in order, but the windows were targets for the boys, the walls, fences, grounds were disfigured, and even trees and flowers were pulled up. The boys felt no real interest. I do not think too much ought to be attempted at first. Take a few things, determine to accomplish these well, and add to them in the future. Libraries are essential to a good school, and should early be taken up for consideration and work. There are many furnishings the Board ought to give; such as, flags, clocks, maps, charts, window shades, and school apparatus, but if the Boards axe indifferent, then the Leagues ought to arouse them. The Leagues have been much helped by the Youth's Companion. This publication has sent to teachers valuable aids; such as, plans, "How to Set out Trees and Shrubbery", and has given valuable pictures. Members of Leagues would do well to correspond with Perry Mason and Co., Boston. I ishall mention another province of the League. It should try to encourage the preserving of things already provided. Too many young people will deface school furniture. It is the plain duty of teachers to prevent these things, but they too often fail in this. It is hoped that the teachers of the State will take an active interest in this great movement, and use the opportunity to improve conditions. WHAT HAS BEEN DONE AND WHAT IS TO BE DONE. BY PETER H. STEENBERGEN, POINT PLEASANT. Great has been the development of our State during the past few years in all of its natural resources. Eailroads have opened hitherto inaccessible sections, and have made an outlet for coal and timber; pipe lines have carried oil and gas far from the producing well to aid in building up our manufacturing interests; slack water navigation has lent its aid to cheapen transportation; hill and mountain side, 45 but lately stripped of their leafy covering and washed bare of soil, have again become pleasing to the eye with productive and valuable orchards of small fruit, peach, and apple trees. On every hand the eye beholds new evidences of an effort to develop and improve our material resources. Hand in hand with this material progress, though lagging some- what behind as yet, is 'our educational work. A brief survey of school conditions in West Virginia during the last ten or fifteen years shows a steady, though at times slow, progressive movement towards better work and more pleasant surroundings. State and county superin- tendents, educational associations, boards of education, and individual teachers have co-operated somewhat with the legislatures in bringing about these changes. But the efforts have been scattered and spasmodic and the onward movement has not yet been felt by the greater portion of the people who are vitally concerned in every thing tending to improve our schools. Knowing this, and realizing that the work will be harder and the results more meager unless that great mass of our citizenship, whose children are to receive the benefit of these improved conditions, are stirred to realization of their need of more sanitary and commodious school buildings, and more pleasant surroundings, those who have been leaders in educational thought have looked forward to the time when parents as well as pupils could be brought to co-operate with teacher, trustees, and board of education to secure the best possible school advantages. When our people awaken fully to their educational needs, what amazing changes may we not expect ? Who then will be satisfied with the '^arge box provided with a door, a few windows and a roof", or with the slightly improved building located on the top or side of a bare and rocky hill with not sufficient ground about it to serve for the sport of even the youngest pupils? What parents will want their children shut in by four walls guiltless of paint or scrub-brush, bare — dingy — cheerless ? What community will then be willing to forego the pleasure and profit of a carefully selected library of well-made books? When our people awaken to the fact that artistic, sanitary school houses, attrac- tive grounds, and useful libraries properly cared for, cost in the end as little as the present rough-looking cheerless houses with neither shade nor sod about them; when they realize the educative value of good books ; and when they can say with a recent writer, "I believe in 46 the curse of ignorance, in the efficacy of schools, in the dignity of teaching, and in the joy of serving others. * * * j believe in beauty in the school room, in the home, in the daily life, and in out of doors. I believe in the present and its opportunities, in the future and its promises and in the divine joy of living." — when they are in accord with these thoughts, then, — and not till then will we see these long desired changes. A Glimpse of the University Grounds. Si^j^^SSl.-jS^^'tj;/ "1 pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic tor which it stands: One Nation indivisible, with Liberty ami lustioe fur