5. Improved selection and care of shrubbery, hedges, and flower beds. Removal of unnatural or grotesque shapes.
6. Improvements in walks, trellises, fences, and gates to make them more suitable for house and grounds.
A teacher in a vocational school in North Dakota reports as follows:
One of the most valuable evidences of improved practices that I see from our art work is the girls' appreciation of things that are beautiful and their desire to acquire a few truly beautiful things for their own rooms and homes.
An itinerant teacher trainer describes a lesson in related art which she observed. It is given here for its very practical suggestion of a means for measuring results of teaching:
The day before my visit the teacher had taken all the girls of her class to a city about 18 miles away to purchase Christmas gifts for their mothers. The girls had limited themselves as to possible types of gifts within their limited means and at the same time suitable for their mothers. Only one gift cost more than $1 and that was the joint gift of two sisters to their mother. The class had agreed that each gift should be of such nature that the application of art principles studied would be involved in making a choice. They had practically confined themselves to pictures, beads, book ends, or vases.
All of the gifts had been brought to the home-economics rooms for storage until the Christmas tea when they would be presented to the mothers.
The girls brought out all their purchases and all entered into the judging without false modesty. In some cases the purchasers were able to suggest improvements in future purchases.
The entire group showed unusual poise, self-confidence, and good judgment, as well as tact, in making suggestions.
The new problem arising from this lesson of designing an invitation to the annual Christmas tea for the mothers was a very real one to the girls. The principles of balance were taught and applied, and the girls decided on a design for the invitation.