The Savannah morning news., 1903-07-19

An eminent German botanist who
visited this country last year was
heard to exclaim Indignantly:
You people are barbarians. You rec
ognize neither the rights of the indi-
vidual owner. nor of the plants and
shrubs
He was referring to the vandalism
| factory towns, where a fruit tree,
J which overhung a much Travelled high
way, was so broken by the passersby
in their effort to obtain the half ripe
cherries that it had to be cut down.
| Amy dweller in the suburbs of the
| large cities, or in the more country
! districts reached by the network of
trolley systems, might be inclined to
| echo his remark. They have had a IA
vorite rosebush uprooted by the clutch
of greedy hands, a wistaria vine torn
from its trellis. or a dogwood tree
broken in the time of it's snowy bloom
ing. In almost every case the destruc-
ton was the work of childish hands
melted more by the desire OF possess
sion than by real love of flowers.
The German botanlst was shocked,
for it is not so abroad. In Germany
the roads are shaded by fruit trees
and not a hand is raised for their
spollation. There the almond trees
bloom unmolested. Who has not heard
of the towering English hedgerows,
and the road banks, gay with the pink
petals of the daisy? The same flow
ers have bloomed in the same spots
for hundreds of years.
In this country 1T is different. In
deed the fear is growing that many of
lAmerica's representative wild flow
ers win disappear. If the children are
trained not only to love flowers, but
to treat them tenderly. According to
flower lovers, children must be taught
to love flowers so that the uprooting
of a plant to obtain a single wild flow
er will appear in their eyes a crime.
This can be done. they hold. by add
ing the practical application of the
rules of Horticulture to the study of
botany in the schools.
Though the idea is new in this coun-
try, 1t is having rapid growth. The
example which Germany and other for
eign lands long set is being followed.
France demands horticultural knowl-
edge of her teachers, and Russia has
arbors in her school yards for botan-
ical study.
Arbor Day was the first development
of this movement. For some time an
effort has been made to make ii a day
of peculiar significance to children. In
most states they are taught to plant
trees with appropriate exercises. In
some places the tree is wreatned and
the children sing as they stand around
1t. In all cases they are taught to Sc
lect trees suitable to the climate and
are told interesting stories regarding
the desrability of the selected species
and the care needed for their preserva-
tion.
The Children's Flower Garden Society
is another practical result Of the idea.
Massa achusetts, New York, Michigan,
Illinois and Minnesota are fostering
this society with gratifying success.
Flower Garden leagues are springing
up all over the country, in fact. Their
organizers have a double object in
view for through the love of flowers
they see a means of getting children
interested in municipal work.
Besides furnishing seeds for mix
ed garden, the boys and girls in some
places are asked to write to the I'm
provement League telling the kinds of
flowers they desire. Asters. pansies,
mignonette and pinks seem favorites,
and after the children get the seeds,
they spend part of the busy hour in
school making little paper boxes ac-
cording to kindergarten methods, in
which to keep them until planting time
comes.
Great preparations are made In the
school grounds when that time arrives.
Usually the boys make beds, If neces-
sary, dig the post holes and plant the
posts. The girls plant the seed and the
children together weed the garden and
tend the plants, watering them and