midst of attractive surroundings.

Many of our rural schools are doing excellent work in teaching
children to beautify the school grounds. Some, of them go farther and
interest their pupils in attacking the problem of improving outside
conditions at home. Every child whose mind is thus turned in the
direction of attractive home grounds has unconsciously taken a step
toward one branch of efficient homemaking. If it were possible to give
pupils the foundation principles of landscape gardening, they might
learn to see with a trained eye the problems they will otherwise
attack blindly.

[Illustration: An example of the newer architecture. An artistic
approach to a school has a daily effect on the mind of the child]

[Illustration: Photograph by Brown Bros.
Rural school with flower bed. Many of the rural schools are doing
excellent work in teaching children to beautify the school grounds]

With the house built and ready for its furniture, the selection of the
latter becomes both part of the scheme of decoration and part also of
the domestic plans for securing comfort and inspiring surroundings.
The same principles of beauty and utility, restfulness, comfort, and
suitability, are called into requisition. The trained housewife will
have an eye toward future dusting and will choose the less ornate
articles. The same person, in her capacity as the mother of citizens,
will see that chairs are comfortable to sit in, that tables and desks
are the right height for work, that book cases and cabinets are
sufficient in number and size to take care of the family treasures.
She will use pictures sparingly and choose them to inspire. Perhaps,