NATURE-STUDY

^^v

w

r

FREDERIC

OLT

NATURE -STUDY

A MANUAL FOR TEACHERS AND STUDENTS

Monarch, *
Aiwsia fuxiffm

Red admiral, <f

Mourning cloak, cf

1 ><-. ,,>,fss,, antwfa.

Buckeye. 9

Cabbage butterfly, 9

Tiger swallow-tail, of

l\ifilio glancus tunins.

Great spangled fritillary, cf

slrgyiitiu rybtlf.

Black swallow-tail, cf

Cosmopolitan, 9

/ V»;/«.M r.rrrfi//.

Roadside butterfly,

Red-spotted purple, 9
Kasilarfhia astyanax.

Violet-tip, 9
Polygonia intcrrogationis.

'I-roin specimens arranged liy the Children's Museum, Brooklyn.)

NATURE-STUDY

A MANUAL FOR TEACHERS
AND STUDENTS

BY
FREDERICK L. HOLTZ, A.M.

Head of Department of Nature- Study, Brooklyn Training School for Teachers, New
York City, formerly Head of Department of Biology and Nature-
Study, State Normal School, Mankato, Minn.

ILLUSTRA TED

NEW YORK

CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
1 908 .

VA

Copyright, 1908, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS

PREFACE

THIS book is designed as an aid and guide to the practical
teacher, and as a text-book in methods of nature-study for
normal and training schools.

Part I is/ devoted to a discussion of underlying principles
and methods. A just appreciation of the purpose of nature-
study and a good technique in teaching are as essential as a
knowledge of subject-matter, especially in a subject like this,
which must be taught without text-books.

Part II contains appropriate subject-matter of a biological
nature, and practical hints and suggestions on the collection
and care of material, and the presentation of lessons. I have,
however, avoided working out complete lesson-plans for the
teacher, believing it far better to allow her to adapt the sub-
ject-matter herself to her own conditions, and to give an op-
portunity for originality.

Emphasis is placed on the teaching of life-histories, life-
habits, functions and processes, and not on mere structure
study. Of chief importance also in nature-study are the
adaptations to function and environment, the interrelations
of plants and animals, their economic aspects, and practical
bearing on human life.

Part III consists of a course of nature-study for the eight
grades. It represents a serious effort to organize and im-

238837

vi PREFACE

prove the present-day courses in this subject, and is based
upon an exhaustive, comparative examination of the curricula
at the principal nature-study centres in this country. The
requirements of both city and rural schools are considered,
and enough material is given to permit a rich treatment in
either case.

In the Appendix is a carefully selected, classified, and an-
notated list of reference books and nature readers.

A few illustrations have been kindly loaned, for which
credit is given in each case. Mrs. Henry Parsons, Director
of the Children's Farm School, New York City, furnished
the photograph for figure 97.

I acknowledge my indebtedness and express my gratitude
to all who have assisted or encouraged me in the preparation
of this book, particularly to my wife; to my former colleagues,
Mr. John A. Hancock and Miss Martha V. Collins, of the
State Normal School, Mankato, Minn.; to Dr. Stuart H.
Rowe, of the Training School for Teachers, Brooklyn, N. Y. ;
and to Mr. Geo. P. Englehardt, Children's Museum, Brook-
lyn, N. Y.

FREDERICK L. HOLTZ.

TRAINING SCHOOL FOR TEACHERS, BROOKLYN, N. Y.
Feb. 15, 1908.

CONTENTS

PART I

\PTER PAGE

I. THE MOTIVE IN NATURE-STUDY .... 3

The social motive. Natural interest.

II. THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF NATURE-STUDY . . 8
Discipline of mental functions: observation, comparison,
general reasoning, and imagination. The practical
utility of nature-study.

III.. THE ^ESTHETIC AND ETHICAL VALUE OF NATURE-
STUDY 14

Cultural value. Primitive culture. The nature instinct.
Enjoyment of nature. Developing sympathetic atti-
tude toward nature. The ethical and spiritual value
of nature-study.

IV. STUDYING NATURE IN THE GRADES — How AND WHAT . 21

Informal methods. The scientific method. The devel-
opment method. The teacher's preparation. Giving
the lesson. Rules for questioning.

V. ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 33

Function in the lesson. Kinds of illustrations and their
value: actual objects, models, pictures, diagrams, etc.
The experiment. The museum. Live specimens.
Outdoor observations. The field lesson.

VI. CORRELATION 53

Principles of application — correlation with geography, art
study, and literature.

PART II

VII. ANIMAL STUDY 71

General principles of selection and presentation. Out-
lines for study of animals. Emphasis on life habits,
adaptations, and life histories. Courses of mammal
lessons.

viii CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE

VIII. BIRD STUDY ......... 81

Interest in birds. How to observe. Lessons on birds.
Bird calendar. Bird habits.

IX. BIRDS

Descriptive of structure and habits of birds — nesting, mi-
gration, food and economics.

X. PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF BIRDS . . .132
Natural enemies and dangers, hunting, millinery, etc.
Audubon Society and other protective agencies. Bird
Day. Attracting the birds. Bird houses.

XI. FROGS, TOADS, SALAMANDERS, LIZARDS, TURTLES, ETC. 148
:e and fear for these animals.
Economic value of toads, etc.

Counteracting prejudice and fear for these animals. De-
velopment of frog. Econc

XII. FISHES— AQUARIA 165

Stocking and care of aquaria. Study of fish.

/Kill. TYPICAL INSECTS . . . 175

/ Observing and collecting. Mounting, structure, develop-

ment, habits, and classification of types from the chief
orders: Locust, dragon-fly, bug, beetle, butterfly,
moth, fly, bee.

>XXIV. INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE . . . .211
Mosquito, household pests, garden and field insects,
orchard and forest enemies. Insects and pollination;
adaptations. Parasitic insects. Silk-worm. Common
harmless insects. Butterflies and moths. Protective
form and color, and mimicry.

/XV. SOME LOWER ANIMALS . . •;..,, • • 246
Spiders — their structure, habits, webs. Cray-fish, lob-
sters, etc. Snails and bivalves. Earthworm. Coral.
Sponge.

XVI. THE SCHOOL GARDEN 258

Function as outdoor laboratory. Moral training by
means of gardening. Value in city. Need of practical
agricultural training in the country. How to make a
school garden. Indoor gardening. Horticultural and
gardening hints. Insecticides and fungicides. Plant
lists.

CONTENTS ix

CHAPTER PAGE

XVII. LESSONS WITH PLANTS 299

Germination studies. Root function. Biennials. Stem
structure and function. Tree trunks. Propagation
stems. Buds. Leaves and their functions — transpira-
tion and starch-making. Modified leaves. The flower
and its function. Pollination. Types of flowers. How
to study the whole plant. Movements of plants. Seed
dispersal. Grasses and cereals. Useful plants.

XVIII. TREES .' 358

Growth and life of a tree. Stem structure. Foliage.
Autumn coloration and leaf-fall. Flowers and fruit.
Conditions determining forest distribution. Forest con-
ditions. Influences and uses of forests. Destructive
agencies. Arbor Day — purpose, programmes. Beau-
tification of school-grounds. Tree-planting.

XIX. FLOWERLESS PLANTS 388

Fern, Equisetum, moss, liverwort, lichen, and mushrooms.

PART III

GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 399

APPENDIX

REFERENCE BOOKS AND NATURE READERS . . . .511

INDEX . 539

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Butterflies (Colored) ........ Frontispiece

PAGE

Guinea Pigs 35

School Specimen Cabinet ......... 44

Nature-Study Class on a Field Lesson ...... 50

Brook at Work Removing a Landslide ...... 56

Blue Jay (Pupil's Work) 58

Pupils' Drawing. Tulips ......... 63

Good Comrades . . . . . . . . . .72

Bat with Membranous Wings ........ 74

A Female Rose-Breasted Grosbeak with Young. . . . .82

Wing of Chicken with Quills and Coverts ..... 92

Wing of Chicken Showing Attachment of Quills .... 93

Barn Swallow's Nest .......... 94

Nest of Chipping Sparrow ......... 95

Nest of Wood Thrush 97

Chimney Swift ... 102

Robin's Nest ... no

Oriole's Nest in

Humming-Bird's Nest .... .... 113

Wren Box, Showing Nest and Young . . . . . .114

Young Grosbeaks, just Hatched . . . . . . .116

A Weedy Corn-field, Feeding Ground of Birds . . . . .121

Feeding the Chickens 123

Apple Tree Showing Woodpecker's Work . . . . . -125

Red Owl 128

Hunting Grouse .......... 134

Young Grosbeaks .......... I41

Bird's Drinking Trough 144

Bird Houses and Robin Tray 146

Frog's Eggs i49

Toad's Eggs 15°

Development of Frog . . . IS1

The Toad . . . 157

Protective Coloration of the Toad 158

Aquaria • J66

Aquarium with Sunfish . . . . • • • • .168

The Gill of a Fish 171

Pond for Collecting Aquatic Creatures 178

Decaying Stump Harboring Insects 179

Insect Net 180

xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Cyanide Bottle ........... 180

Mounted Beetle ... ....... 181

Spreading Board ......... . 182

Young and Old Locust ..... ' . . . .184

Compound Eye of Dragon-Fly ....... -185

Mouth Parts of Locust . . ....... 186

Breathing Pore of a Cockroach ....... 187

Dragon-Fly ........... zSg

Dragon-Fly Emerging from Nymph Case ...... 190

Some Aquatic Insects ...... . . .191

Wing of a Bug . .......... 192

Head and Beak of a Bug . ....... 193

Cage of Luna Moths .......... 194

Insect Cage ........... 195

Eggs and Young Caterpillars of Cabbage Butterfly . . . .196

Milkweed Caterpillar on Milkweed Leaf ...... 197

Milkweed Caterpillar Getting Ready to Pupate . . . 197

Chrysalis of Milkweed Butterfly . ...... 198

Milkweed or Monarch Butterfly Just Out of Chrysalis . . .198
Scales on the Wing of a Moth ........ 199

Cecropia Moth Just Out of Cocoon ....... 200

Caterpillar Spinning Cocoon and Finished Cocoon .... 201

A Beetle ...... ...... 202

Head and Mouth Parts of Predaceous Beetle ..... 202

House Fly ............ 203

Honey Bees: Drone, Queen, and Worker ...... 204

Head of Honey Bee .......... 205

Sting and Poison Bladder of Honey Bee ...... 206

Hornet's Nest . . . . ... . . .•* . 208

Brood Comb Inside a Hornet's Nest . . . ..'. . 209

Mosquito, Male and Female . -. . . . . .212

Development of Mosquito . . . .... . '. . 213

Plant-Lice ..... , . . -. . . •: , . 217

Tent of Webworms . . . . . . "..,.:•.... 220

Butterflies and Bumble-Bees on Clover . . -. '. ,; . 225
Sphinx Moth Probing Flower . '. . • 8 .-., . ' . / . 226
Ant Cage . . . . . • . . :i " . ."/>..• • • 231

Cricket . . . . '• . .-'-.'. . . . . 233

Cricket's Sounding Wing . . ' . ...... 234

Ear of Cricket . . . _• v. , . . . . . . . . 234

Katydid ........ .... 235

Cicada ........... . 235

Molted Skin of Cicada . . . . . . . . . 236

Monarch Butterfly Sipping Nectar from Clover . . . .237

Comma Butterfly Just Out of Chrysalis . . . . . -237

Sphinx Moth with Extended Proboscis . ..... 238

Cecropia Caterpillar ...... - . . . . 240

Luna Moth ........... 242

Walking Stick ........... 244

Protective Coloration of Bark Moth . ... . . . 245

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Orb Spider . . . . . . . . . . 247

Funnelweb Spider .......... 248

Dewy Web of an Orb Spider ........ 249

Spinneret ............ 250

Crayfish ............ 252

Land Snails 253

Children's Farm School, New York City 259

The Children's School Garden ........ 263

Plan for Border Planting 264

Plan for School Garden 268

Plan of Individual Bed . 271

Bulb-Planting Diagram ......... 280

Plants Growing in a School-Room 285

Grafting 289

Budding ............ 291

Germinators for Observing Seedlings ...... 300

Oak Seedling ...'........ 301

Experiment: Removal of Cotyledon of Bean . . . , . 302

Germinating Corn .......... 303

Fibro.vascular Strands in Plantain Leaf ...... 305

Section of Corn Stalk, Showing Fibrovascular Bundles . . . 306

Trunk of White Elm 307

Trunk of White Birch . .308

Cross-Section of Elm, Showing Annual Rings, Etc. .... 309

Rootstalk of Solomon's Seal . . . . . . . . 310

Development of Buds into Branches . . . . . . .312

Cotton wood and Butternut Twigs with Buds . . . . -313

Transpiration . . . . -315

Diagram of Cross-Section of a Leaf . . . . . . .316

Diagram of Longitudinal Section of a Plant Showing Flow of Sap, etc. 317

Aquatic Plants Giving Off Oxygen . 319

Wake Robin 322

Pasque Flower . 323

Staminate and Pistillate Flowers of Squash 325

Sweet-Pea . - 326

Pollination of Sweet-Pea . -327

Development of Sweet-Pea into Fruit 328

Pistillate and Staminate Flowers of Boxelder 329

Jack-in-the-Pulpit 330

Staminate Catkin of Cotton wood 331

Pistillate Flowers of Cotton wood 332

Pussy-Willows - 333

Sunflower 334

Section through Sunflower, Showing Composite Structure . . . 335

Thistle 336

Squash Seedling . . . . . 339

Plants Turning Toward the Light 34°

Sensitive Plant Closing its Leaves 343

Seed Dispersal in Neglected Corner ....... 344

Pretty Seed Pods of " Butterprint " Weed 345

xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Russian "Thistle" 346

Wing Fruit of Elm 347

Dandelion Gone to Seed 348

Cocklebur 350

Waahoo Bush Displaying Fruit After Leaf- Fall 351

Explosive Fruits 352

Timothy Grass in Flower 354

Grass Flower 355

Indian Corn Plant 355

Staminate Flower of Indian Corn . 356

Ear of Corn or Pistillate Flowers 356

The Forest 359

Trunk of Red Oak 360

White Elm in Flower .......... 364

Cottonwood Trees by a River 365

Shelf Pore-Fungus , 367

Grove of Hard Maples 369

Denuded Hill Showing Erosion . 371

Unshaded School-Grounds ......... 376

Farm Homestead Surrounded by Trees . . . . . -377

A Wounded Tree Healing 382

A Street Beautified by Shade Trees 384

Trees and Vines Improve a House 386

Spore Dots on a Fern Leaf . .- 389

Moss-Covered Boulder -39°

Liverwort Encrusting a Cliff 391

Agaricus Campestris . "... 392

Development of Mushroom . 393

Poisonous Toadstool, Amanita . *; '. 394

Wood-Destroying Toadstool 395

PART I
GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF NATURE-STUDY

A : :/: *"S '*!••••? :NATURE-STUD Y

be in an intelligent relation with man and nature, just
as much as in adult years.

The child wants to know about the social and industrial
life around him, and the origin, working, and use of the
manifold devices and processes on every hand. He not only
wants to know these things for himself, but that he may
explain them to others; to entertain, to be helpful and useful
to others. Later comes the desire to share in the world's
work as a self-supporting member of society.

When studies are presented with this social consideration
the pupils appreciate the motive themselves — perhaps not
fully — but enough to make them feel it worth their while to
study. A real interest is infused into their work, a real
object to be gained is perceived. They feel that they are
studying not merely for the sake of learning, but for the bear-
ing it has upon their own lives.

The reality of the studies and their connection with life
are made very evident when they are drawn from the child's
immediate home, the surrounding fields and hills, the school-
house itself, and the industries of his community. House-
hold articles, the kitchen processes, the hygienic measures
of the school, the plants and animals of the garden, farm, and
forest, the varied occupations of the community, and the in-
numerable machines and processes by which these are carried
on — all claim attention and demand investigation. A study
of the fundamental industries of man, especially in their
primitive form, leading up to their present development,
affords not only an intelligent grasp of the social industries,
but gives an historic insight into their development which
increases the social value of the information. Moreover, a
rational basis is laid for the study of history and geography.

THE MOTIVE 5

Geography proper furnishes many suggestions for nature
lessons and also provides the social motive again. Numerous
topics of human interest referred to in this subject can be
explained by nature-study, and their bearing upon life
emphasized. The two subjects should be closely correlated.

Manual training and domestic science, two other great
socializing studies of the school, are dependent upon nature-
study for many explanations of materials and methods.
There is a need to know the properties of the materials and
the way of making things. The value of nature-study in
this case is apparent. Here the knowledge is recognized
not as an end, but as a means to accomplish something to
be desired. Simple biology, chemistry, and physics, thus
correlated with manual training and domestic economy, are
seen to have much to do with human affairs. The simple
application of nature-study in this way in school leads to an
appreciation of the scientific basis of our sanitary and
economic methods of the home, school, and community, and
our complex industrial life generally. By such a correlation
these "making" subjects are enriched, and their intellectual
content is increased.

Nature-study has a satisfactory raison d'etre for the child,
if presented in the manner suggested. The school life in a
measure reflects the community life and enables him to
live in that community intelligently.

But the child is interested in nature-study in another way.
The social interest is perhaps, the dominant one; but anothei
more purely intellectual impulse prevails. This is the out-
come of curiosity, wonder — and is the complement of the
social interest in bringing him into right relationship with the
world.

6 NATURE-STUDY

The child wonders about the objects and phenomena of
nature r he is curious about them, perhaps for no reason
except that they attract his attention. He feels that he must
know what and why these things are, and this irrespective
of any consideration of the usefulness or applicability of the
knowledge to himself or to society. In much the same way
the adult scientist craves a satisfying explanation of, or insight
into, many facts of nature. I believe this powerful impulse
should not be neglected in education, though it may be
carried too far and lead to mere book learning, with a disre-
gard for the fact that, in general, knowledge should be a means
and not an end in itself. Nevertheless, this knowledge gained
through mere curiosity, though not always practical, affords
much satisfaction and pleasure. It is the basis for our aesthetic
and spiritual view of nature. It creates a certain pleasant
familiarity with nature, and on one's rambles in the park or
in the country makes one feel en rapport with it. Through
this curiosity we learn of many interesting and beautiful
relations in the natural world. We find that a unity pre-
vails and we discern a plan more or less clearly. In short,
this impulse arising from curiosity finally places the indi-
vidual in harmony with the natural world and adds in a
great measure to general culture.

This harmonizing of man and nature is an essential ele-
ment in education. It must not be forgotten, however, that
much of this knowledge gained from curiosity or — to use
another expression — in the search for truth may later be
found to be of great, perhaps the highest, practical value.
Through this everlasting spirit of inquiry many important
facts and principles have been discovered, and the field of
human vision widened.

THE MOTIVE 7

The child should be allowed to investigate freely in nature
whatever his interest suggests. This sympathy with birds,
insects, plants, and even inanimate nature is one of the most
desirable things he can get from nature-study. If nothing
more it ought to make him happier in this wonderful and
beautiful world.

If we utilize as we should these natural interests or innate
impulses of the child, we have enough of stimulus or motive
to vitalize nature-study.

CHAPTER II
THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF NATURE-STUDY

THE child should be given such educational material as
suits his childhood interests and needs. This does not mean
to let him learn simply what he likes and in his own way.
He may like what is not good for him. The experience and
wisdom of his parents and teachers must be used in shaping
his education. The child's and the adult's view of education
need not be incompatible. The child should be so educated
as to live as completely as possible his transient childhood
years, but by the foresight and experience of his elders he
may also receive discipline of mind and character, and be
supplied with the knowledge necessary for adult life as well.

When the mind is applied to the study of natural objects
and phenomena all its powers receive some discipline. In
the first place there is the power of observation, perhaps not
the highest faculty, and yet a very necessary and fundamental
one. For through the power of perception we learn of things
outside of ourselves. An infant devoid of this power could
not develop mentally. But this is the first faculty exercised
by the normal child. He begins in the cradle to observe
things by touching, hearing, seeing, tasting, and smelling
them. This is his first education. It is a well-known fact
that any of these senses can be made keener and more accurate
by practice. Contrariwise it is true that they become dulled

THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF NATURE-STUDY 9

by disuse. Since the senses are the gateway for our knowl-
edge of the outer world, it is necessary to train them well
We must learn to perceive things as they really are. Clear
and truthful perceptions are the basis of sound thinking.

But observation should lead to thought. The mind
should be receptive, should take in the newly observed facts
and connect them with what is already known. That is,
there should be what is pedagogically called apperception,
as well as perception, in order to make intellectual progress,
to increase the sum of individual knowledge.

Now, nature-study is especially suitable for stimulating and
training the power of observation. There are hosts of ani-
mate and inanimate things to be observed and thought about.
In such thinking there is something tangible and concrete.
The object can be seen and handled, perhaps. Children
are not mature enough for much abstract thinking. Hence
object-study is more suitable for them. By a proper selection
of material and proper guidance, the child may be made more
observant of natural things around him, to his lasting benefit
and pleasure.

In the education of our children we seem to neglect the
hint that nature herself has given us. Before school-days
begin education is chiefly through observation. The founders
of the kindergarten taught that this method should be con-
tinued in the school, and not set aside by the use of books,
as is so generally the case. Books have a very great value,
but they give their information at second hand. A book tells
what some one else thinks about something, and no reader
of such a book can get as vivid or perfect a knowledge of
the thing as had the author, who learned the fact first hand.
"Seeing is believing" is a maxim full of truth. We should

io NATURE-STUDY

keep up the spirit of personal observation and investigation.
If this is not done the child is too apt to be satisfied with mere
statements in books or by teachers, and too ready to accept
another's opinion as his own. A little healtfiy scepticism in
studying is a good thing, especially where one can find out
for himself the actual facts. Nature-study aims to keep alive
the inquiring spirit.

It has been said that the child is a young savage. This is
true in several respects. Science tells us that an animal or
a plant in its physical development passes in general through
the stages through which the race to which it belongs has
passed in its development. For example, in the embryology
of the frog there is a stage that is like the fish — the tadpole
stage. Other facts prove the origin of frogs from fish-like
ancestors. Every frog repeats this fish-like stage.

It has become an educational maxim that the mental
evolution of a child corresponds in a measure to the mental
evolution of the race to which he belongs. That is, the child
exhibits mental traits that were once characteristic of his
race when in the primitive state. In pedagogy we hear
this spoken of as the Culture Epoch Theory, and though it is
not fully worked out in its applications, this theory is already
useful in education. We cannot safely change the course
of nature in the development of mind or body. It is better
to take a suggestion from nature and to work with, rather
than against, her.

A young child, though he may not show his savagery in
cruelty, nevertheless shows his interests to be chiefly in ob-
jective things — in people, human activities, and natural
objects. Children are proverbially inquisitive regarding
natural objects. In childhood are formed the attachments

THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF NATURE-STUDY n

to pets. Boys are interested in hunting, fishing, and
outdoor sports, and like to play Indians. Children also
like birds and plants. Their nature-love seems to be in-
stinctive, and is probably an inheritance from their savage,
nature-loving ancestry.

Then let us give the child opportunity to taste nature as
much as possible, and use this inherent interest to teach him
about his natural environment. Repeat the old story.
Teach him the good things he can use and enjoy and the
bad things that he should avoid.

Mathematics gives the mind excellent training in abstract
thinking and familiarizes the mind with logical processes.
But nature-study also trains the reasoning powers. The
reasoning afforded by science in general is not abstract, but
more concrete and more like the reasoning of every-day life.
In nature-study a child observes a number of facts, or a
series of phenomena, and from them makes a generalization
or conclusion. He learns the principle of cause and effect.
He sees that things are not left to chance, but that the rule
of cause and effect governs all action. He learns to apply
this rule in other fields of thought, in literature, history, civics,
politics, and personal conduct. The comparison and classi-
fication of natural objects give an excellent training in
systematic thought. The derivation of laws from experi-
ments or observations affords the best of practice in induc-
tive reasoning, . while deduction is employed in every
application of these laws.

By imagination the facts once learned are recalled and
brought into new relations. In this new relation they com-
bine to form new ideas or to suggest new thoughts. By un-
restricted exercise of the power of imagination mental prod-

12 NATURE-STUDY

ucts can be formed that have no counterpart in reality.
The result may be pure fancy. Although this may be legiti-
mate in literature and art, it has no place in science. In the
search for truth the imagination should be watched lest it
lead astray. In science-study there is abundant opportunity
for the exercise and also, which is important, the control of
the imagination. "Of all the powers of the mind it is cer-
tainly that which is most important in giving originality to
the results of thought," say Hall and Smith.1 "But in pro-
portion to its value and activity is the difficulty of controlling
its operations. The imagination is a good servant but a
bad master. The opportunity which is offered in experi-
mental science to test the results of imagination by com-
parison, again and again renewed, with the concrete materials
with which it has been dealing, furnishes an unrivalled
opportunity to practise and control it." While the above
applies especially to the maturer study of the sciences it also
applies in nature-study. Children love to theorize if given
the chance, and they should be taught to check their imagina-
tion with the facts before them.

Many people cannot appreciate the value of mental training
merely for the sake of sharpening the wits, and decry all
education that cannot be applied directly to the earning of
dollars and cents. "What is the use of such learning?"
they ask. This is a practical generation, and education
must meet the practical test of every-day life. If any subject
has practical value it is natural science, for through it we
become better acquainted with our environment. Man will
never be free from the natural conditions that now affect his
life. He will always need food, clothing, and shelter; he

i" Teaching of Physics and Chemistry," p. n.

THE EDUCATIONAL VALUE OF NATURE-STUDY 13

will need to make implements and tools to furnish these;
he will want conveniences and pleasures above his animal
needs; he will be subject to disease and physical accidents,
and will need to prevent or remedy them. These stern neces-
sities he can meet only if he knows how to do so. The better
he understands the laws of nature, the better knowledge
he has of the properties and uses of plants and animals
and the products of nature, the better he can distinguish
between the good and the bad natural agencies, so much
better will he be able to live without cold, hunger, pain, and
fear. As long as he acts in accordance with natural laws,
all is well; but he is punished for the slightest transgres-
sions. This is seen most obviously in the matter of hygiene.
More people die through ignorance of the laws of health
than are destroyed in wars.

CHAPTER III
THE ESTHETIC AND ETHICAL VALUE OF NATURE-STUDY

KNOWLEDGE is power. It is also pleasure or affords
pleasure. Many students learn for the mere pleasure of
learning. This is the case of the scientist who discovers the
laws of nature or proves a theory, without a thought of their
practical application. Even a child in the satisfaction of
his curiosity has a similar feeling.

But we can get sweet and helpful pleasure also from
the sensuous enjoyment of the beauty of nature's forms and
colors, the songs of birds and the sound of running waters,
the fragrance of the flowers and the smell of the earth and
sea, the delicious flavor of fruit, the warmth of the genial
sunshine, the touch of our feet on the ground, or the feel of
the earth as we lie upon it. These pleasures of the senses,
though not the higher kind, should not be neglected. With-
out them life would be much more matter-of-fact and un-
interesting. Just as it is right to enjoy sensuously good
music or the lines and coloring of a beautiful work of art,
and as it is right to train the ear for music and the eye to
discriminate beauty in art, just so is it right for us to enjoy
nature through the senses, and to cultivate them so that we
may enjoy more fully and intelligently. These animal sensa-
tions of the charms of nature add immensely to the pleasure
of living, and, directly or indirectly, affect our views of life.

14

ESTHETIC AND ETHICAL VALUE 15

Nature-study has perhaps been the chief factor in the
culture development of the human race. At first man was
the fearful slave of nature, seeking a precarious existence,
struggling blindly with natural forces. Then he became
nature's pupil. By observation of the creatures about him
and by personal experience he learned to adapt himself better
to his environment. The more he learned the better fitted
he became for life, and the more his mind expanded. Simple
inventions of tools, the domestication of animals, and the
cultivation of plants soon made the slave the master, so that
to-day man takes advantage of his environment, utilizes the
resources of nature, and even directs her course very largely
for his own ends.

As children of to-day personify, so primitive man attempted
to explain the wonderful phenomena of nature about him by
personifying the mysterious forces that so powerfully affected
his life. Thus mythology and religion had their origin.
The ideas awakened by, and the pleasures derived from,
nature have had very much to do with the development of
poetry, music, painting, and sculpture.

Our relations with nature are of long standing. The de-
pendence of our forefathers on the forest, the sea, the wild
animals, and the elements has been deeply impressed upon
the human race, so that even many generations of artificial
urban life have not entirely obliterated our nature instinct,—
the impulse that . leads us back to nature. In many this
instinct is very pronounced and needs but little encourage-
ment. In others it is less developed and may entirely disap-
pear from persistent disuse. It should, however, be developed
into the habit of active and discriminating observation and
the correct interpretation of nature.

16 NATURE-STUDY

Children generally display this nature instinct more than
adults, though not as much as many adults. The child
likes the pretty colored insects, leaves, and birds. He
likes to play in the earth, and to frolic with pets and wild
animals. The sympathy for pets and, through them, for other
creatures is one of the finest things we can teach through
nature-study. The child is greatly interested in the animals
of the farm, in their uses and care. He likes flowers and
fruit, and can be readily taught to care for growing plants.
There is an aesthetic and a moral as well as an educational
element in the cultivation of potted plants, trees, gardens,
etc. Children love to roam about in the fields and forests
and enjoy the mystery of their numberless discoveries.
They like to be on the water, or in it. They like to fish, hunt,
and camp. They like to play the primitive life of the Indian
or the pioneer.

Later, as imagination and knowledge develop, comes the
enjoyment of scenery, the landscape, the sea, and sky effects ;
later, also, the appreciation of the beautiful adaptations and
interrelations in nature. Then, too, come the perception
and admiration of natural forces and the laws according to
which they act, and the attempts to see a unity and a guidance
in the universe. Enjoyment of nature becomes more and
more conscious. Personal applications are made of nature's
principles. We try to fit into the world-scheme — and our
religious and philosophical interests develop.

Much may be done to cultivate in children a love for
nature. Bring the child often in contact with nature, and
let her silent influences work. Let him be taken on field
trips to enjoy the beauty of the flowers, the birds, etc. Point
out these things to the children who fail to see for themselves.

.ESTHETIC AND ETHICAL VALUE 17

Call attention to the changing beauty of the landscape.
Let the children tell what they enjoy in it. Point out more,
if they are old enough to appreciate it. Show them the
play of light and shade, the harmony of the colors, the sub-
dued hues, the neutral tints of forest and meadow, of moun-
tain and fading perspectives. The sky, with its varying
cloud effects and changing light and color from sunrise to
sunset, in calm and in storm, should appeal to all. The
teacher should be careful not to go into rhapsodies over these
beautiful phenomena, but should simply seek to remind
the child of them, and to point out those features missed by
the children themselves. It is well to remember in this
appreciation of nature that much depends upon the attitude
and mood of the observer. The teacher should try first to
bring herself and her pupils into the proper receptive or sym-
pathetic attitude.

Poets of all ages have felt the influences of nature, and
have interpreted it for others, or have -sho^n them its gran-
deur, beauty, and mystery. Their works are especially
enjoyed by those who love nature themselves and have had
similar experiences. Others learn from them what to look
for and enjoy.

There is a great wealth of prose and poetry that may be
used judiciously in developing in children an appreciative
spirit toward nature. Thus, occasionally, interest may be
aroused in a nature lesson by first reading some selection
suitable for the occasion. Or, perhaps better, after the nature
lesson such selections used in the reading lesson would
bring out a human aspect, or an aesthetic or spiritual element.
The poems of Wordsworth, Bryant, Longfellow, Celia
Thaxter, and F. D. Sherman, and the prose of Emerson,

i8 NATURE-STUDY

Warner, Burroughs, Torrey, VanDyke, E. T. Seton, W. J.
Long, and many others, if read by the pupils cannot fail to
develop somewhat the appreciation of nature.

The Ethical and Spiritual Side oj Nature-Study

There is an ethical element in nature-study. The search
lor and recognition of truth in nature-study has a definite
moral tendency. All great scientists have a high ideal of
truth. Nature-study, by constantly checking the thought
by the actual facts, tends toward intellectual honesty. Again,
the rule of cause and effect exemplified so concretely in
nature-study, when applied to personal and social relations,
tends strongly toward moral improvement.

It is customary to teach children about animal wisdom,
providence, care and love for the young, etc. These things,
no doubt, are interesting to children as reflecting their own
home life, and some moral benefit is derived therefrom;
but one of the b%st things they get from nature-study is a
sympathy and love for the lower animals. The care for
pets is good nature-study and also good moral training, for
it teaches us to consider the wants of these animals. Chil-
dren, however, should be taught to be kind also to the birds,
the squirrels, frogs and toads, instead of cruel as they so
often are. They should be taught to recognize the right of
all harmless creatures to live. They should be made to feel
that we and the animals are kin.

The raising of plants and the cultivation of a garden also
may teach regularity, watchfulness, patience, and persistence.
Lovers of plants show an almost affectionate interest in their
development. Flower culture develops a gentleness of spirit
in the children who practise it. Many believe a boy cannot

AESTHETIC AND ETHICAL VALUE 19

become a vagabond and criminal if he has been taught
to love the cultivation of plants.

The study of nature has another very important moral
aspect. Ignorance is a kind of immorality, especially where
people ought to, or could, have known better. Through
ignorance and, perhaps, absolute disregard for simple natural
laws there result much loss and trouble.

Farmers try to raise crops and cattle on unsuitable land
and in unsuitable climate, or they fail because of improper or
ignorant treatment. A vast amount of fuel is lost in smoke,
in radiation, and in friction, which should be saved. Through
improvident and ruthless lumbering methods, our country is
being denuded of its forests, and our timber supply is being
exhausted. Through the wanton and cruel destruction of
beneficial birds, insect pests are multiplying to the injury of
our gardens and fields. There is a waste in the household
economy in the choice and the cooking of food. Devastating
fires and appalling accidents occur with great consequent loss
of life and property. In all these cases a proper study of,
and regard for, the laws of nature would do much to prevent
or remedy the evil.

Sanitation and disease are matters of such social concern
that in every enlightened community general laws are passed
respecting them. The individual must submit to society in
these matters, for he may spread disease far and wide. So
we have quarantine and sanitary laws by which contagious
diseases are kept in check. Much disease is caused through
pure ignorance. Bacteria are allowed to develop among filth,
and to contaminate food, to infect persons, and to cause epi-
demic disease. In India pilgrims, some of them diseased, per-
haps with cholera, come to bathe in and drink of the water of

20 NATURE-STUDY

the sacred pools, and then go home carrying with them the
germs of disease to many regions. A scourge of cholera is the
result. And what is the cause of all this ? Pure ignorance.
Such ignorance in an enlightened country is not only wrong,
but immoral. Statutes even make it criminal to violate the
rules of the boards of health. All this goes to show that there
is a great social interest in nature-study that will teach people
how to live a self-supporting, safe, and healthy life. For
people who cannot do this become public charges or menace
the public welfare.

The study of the wonderful things of the world, their
beautiful fitness for their existence and functions, the re-
markable progressive tendency of all organic life, and the
unity that prevails in it create admiration in the beholder and
tend to his spiritual uplifting. He feels a greater reverence
for the wonderful universe and its mysterious forces. He is
compelled to think of the Why and the Wherefore of it all,
and he must think of the Great First Cause.

The contemplation of nature, the works of God, naturally
tends to make one believe in an all-planning and all-guiding
Influence.

The all-pervading and controlling Force in nature is seen
in the star, in the work of the elements, in the pearly nautilus,
in the flower. If we knew the ultimate meaning of all or
each we might have the key to existence. That is what
Tennyson meant when he wrote

Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies; —
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.

CHAPTER IV
STUDYING NATURE IN THE GRADES— HOW AND WHAT

THERE is no hard and fast rule for studying nature in
the grades. It would be better not to have any set lessons
at all, if the formal lessons only tired the children and de-
stroyed their interest. This does not mean that a formal
lesson in nature-study may not be highly interesting and
inspiring in the hands of an able and enthusiastic teacher.
It can, and more lasting results in the way of definite -knowl-
edge and training in thinking can be given by such formal
lessons than by the informal.

A teacher of nature-study should ever be observant of
nature, and should call the attention of the children to such
things as they are prepared to grasp. If a teacher sees the
first robin in spring, let her speak of it in school and ask
the children to be on the watch. If she finds an interesting
flower, a stone, or insect, let her show it to the pupils and
tell them about it. This can often be done at recess or before
or after school, or a few moments may be taken daily or occa-
sionally in the general period for such informal observations of
nature. In this way call attention to the changing pictures
of the seasons, the return of the birds, the spring flowers, the
brook, the insect life, the rain and the snow flake, the eclipse,
the stars, etc. Name for the children the plants and the animals
they see. Let them bring in "specimens " of all kinds and use

22 NATURE-STUDY

them as texts in nature lessons. In these informal lessons let
the pupils talk as much as they can or will about the object.

In the primary grades the nature material is chiefly studied
from a different motive than in the higher. Here its main
purpose is to develop expression and to cultivate the observ-
ing powers. Oral and written language and art are largely
taught with it. The informational side is mainly iden-
tification and getting introduced to nature. Structural
details and functions should be minimized, though not en-
tirely omitted. For these reasons the method of presenting
nature lessons in these grades is much more informal than in
upper grades. It is more conversational, and more sponta-
neous or unsolicited expression is expected from the children.
Let them tell in their own way what they see or know about
the object. Habits and uses appeal more to the little children
than descriptions of structure and appearance. And, yet,
enough for identification should be done with these.

As the children are allowed more freedom to express them-
selves, the plan of a lesson should not be so systematically
carried out as would be the case in higher grades. The
teacher will have to be governed largely by the turn taken
by the interests of the children. Still, there can be consider-
able guidance in the observations, by asking questions or
showing points. As the children get older more system can
be demanded. Frequently things need not be studied with
any formality whatever. Children gain a good deal by just
looking at a fish in an aquarium, or a butterfly on a flower,
without any directions or questions from the teacher. Many
things on a field-trip may thus be observed in this very in-
formal manner. Perhaps this is especially good where the
beauty of nature is the chief item of interest. Sometimes

STUDYING NATURE IN THE GRADES 23

an object may simply be shown to the children, and a
story, anecdote, or poem read or told by the teacher about
it. Such informal methods are interesting variations of
the usual method of presentation. In general, however,
the half informal, conversational development method is better
— the pupil as well as the teacher asking questions. As the
children grow stronger the teacher should tell less and ask
more. She should direct observation along more definite lines,
and see more to the relations and the unity of the lesson.

A definite course of instruction, however, requires a little
more system and formality, and so does the usual drill work.
Hence, where the time can be afforded, and it should be
everywhere, daily, semi-weekly, or weekly formal lessons
should be given on nature subjects.1

In the regular lessons the development plan is generally
followed. This method is the application of the rule:
" Don't tell a child what he can find out for himself." A lesson
should stimulate thought. The teacher by skilful question-
ing directs the attention of the child to the facts he can easily
observe and then asks him to make his own conclusion.
This method, known as the Development Method, is espe-
cially suitable for nature-study. In this we have, or should
have, the actual object or phenomenon before the pupil.
It is true that too many nature lessons, or so-called object
lessons, are given without the object present.

The scientific method of study is : Do not take things for
granted, but find out for yourself. This method trains
pupils to think for themselves. Too much talking by the
teacher allows the pupils' minds to lie idle and passive.
Exercise strengthens them.

1 See page 397 for course of study.

24 NATURE-STUDY

As a general rule pupils need not be told beforehand
what a certain nature lesson is to be about, for it is gener-
ally studied in class and *not before. The recitation is
really a study period, and all the children should partake
in the work. All should get the facts brought out. This
will require more or less drill and summarizing, as in other
lessons. Occasionally pupils may be asked to make certain
preliminary observations which are to be utilized in the suc-
ceeding development lesson.

Nature-study requires no text-book for the pupils except
the great book of nature herself. The lessons in school
may, however, be supplemented with outside reading.

The Development Lesson

THE PREPARATION OF THE TEACHER FOR THE LESSON. It

is not well to rely entirely on the inspiration of the moment in
teaching nature lessons, any more than in any other subject,
such as geography and arithmetic. Of course the teacher
should possess adaptability and be able to change her plan of
recitation quickly and easily if the occasion so requires. But
a nature lesson requires preparation, just as the above-men-
tioned subjects. One chief reason for the failure of so much
nature-study is the lack of thorough preparation by the
teacher.

We will assume that the subject of the lesson is well chosen,
that it is not some trivial matter, but is adapted to the
grade for which it is intended, and that there is some definite
purpose in presenting it. The subject being decided upon,
the teacher must then think of what she wishes to teach about
it — whether it is to be merely a description of the qualities
of the object, its classification, or a discussion of its uses, etc.

STUDYING NATURE IN THE GRADES 25

She must plan this out more or less fully. Beginners had
better write out such descriptions, or the steps of a classifica-
tion, or whatever the matter of the lesson is to be. This
matter must be logically arranged and not thrown together
without any connection. More proficient teachers may be
satisfied with simply thinking out the matter and jotting
down an outline memorandum of it.

It is well also to put into this lesson plan or guide such
points on the method of presenting the matter as will seem
useful, special forms of questions, hints on the best explana-
tions, and reference to the use of the illustrative material.

The subject-matter should be neither too trivial nor too
abstruse for the class. The previous knowledge that the chil-
dren may have of the thing to be studied should also be taken
into account in making out the plan of the lesson. Again,
the amount of matter or the number of points to be brought
out should be proportioned to the length of the period for
the lesson. If there is too little matter, time will be wasted
in useless repetition, and if there is too much matter the whole
of it cannot be completed, or all or parts of it must be slighted,
and the lesson is not well fixed. Another point should be
remembered in teaching nature-study: Do not think you
are teaching nature-study when the lesson is simply about
scientific definitions, such as veins, midrib, petiole, dentate,
crenate, etc. That is simply word-study, not nature-study.
Teach facts, not words.

A very necessary part of the teacher's preparation is the
selection and getting together of the illustrative material for
the lesson, such as the object itself, or parts of it, pictures, ex-
periments, and stories. They should be chosen with reference
to their fitness to illustrate the lesson. The matter should be

26 NATURE-STUDY

planned as if derived from a study of the illustrative material,
for that is what the children must do in the recitation.

GIVING THE DEVELOPMENT LESSON. The teacher is fore-
armed with a well thought out lesson plan. If the lesson is not
particularly related to preceding ones, it may be introduced
by a few bright remarks about the object to be studied, to
awaken the interest and direct the attention of the children.
Perhaps it may be well to refer to some experiences of the
pupils with the object. It is always well to form a basis of
previous knowledge for the new facts to be acquired. If
this is done, and the new knowledge properly related or
connected with the old, it is more apt to stay with the learners.
If there have been previous related lessons, then quickly and
briefly call to mind some of the essential facts of those lessons,
such as are to be made use of in the new lesson or are needed
as a basis. The basis having been established, the new lesson
is then presented.

In the development method this is done by showing the ob-
ject or other illustrations, and by means of questions directing
the observation of the pupils in such a way that they see for
themselves, or reason out for themselves from these observa-
tions, all the points the teacher had planned to bring out.

This questioning is an art. Hit or miss questions without
any definite order will leave the knowledge gained by the pupil
in a chaotic state, from which he cannot see many relations
or make the generalizations he should. Therefore, follow the
outline of the lesson plan and thus ask the questions and
direct the observations in an orderly fashion, and then from
their logical order the pupils can easily make the inferences
required.

Of course the information could be imparted more quickly

STUDYING NATURE IN THE GRADES 27

and easily by the lecture method. But a nature lesson should
be a mental discipline. In a lecture the listener is more or less
passive mentally, and often fails to absorb fully and to retain
the facts heard. But facts acquired through personal effort
are apt to be remembered longer, chiefly because they are
better understood. Furthermore, the practice simply in
observing, comparing, and reasoning out laws and classifica-
tions is a good thing.

If the development method is properly applied it stimulates
individual mental effort in the pupils and tends to accurate
observation and logical reasoning. But there is a danger in
using this method of instruction that it may be so mechani-
cally applied that it sets the pupils' minds going only for a
thought or so, and then they sit and wait for another mental
jog in the form of a question from the teacher. Do not destroy
in the children the power of initiative in thought. Counteract,
if necessary, by requiring more extended description or more
extended reasoning from the pupils without prompting
questions, and also by varying the method -of presenta-
tion; for it need by no means always be the development
method.

Frequently in nature lessons it is necessary to classify
objects. The comparison of different objects, and the finding
of likenesses and differences by means of which the -objects
are grouped is excellent mental practice for the children.
This comparison may be made at the close of the study of
the new object, or it may be made all along during the pres-
entation, point for point. The first method better empha-
sizes the comparison and tends to make the classification
more effective.

Even primary children should do more or less of this.

28 NATURE-STUDY

They can easily see that the fox is like the dog, both in struct-
ure and in habits, and they will naturally group them to-
gether. But have them also note the essential differences
that make one animal a dog and the other a fox. The more
common type, the dog, should be studied first. Then, in
studying the fox, compare his head with that of the dog;
then the teeth, the feet, and the habits, as these points are
brought out in the developed description of the fox. Or
wait until the fox description is finished and then compare.
Sometimes a superficial resemblance of two objects resolves
itself after comparison into wide differences. For instance,
most people call the chimney-swift a swallow. But a careful
comparison shows that the birds belong to different groups.
The comparison of physical phenomena, such as conduction
and convection, is good practice and leads to clearer reason-
ing. Comparison is. a necessary step where classification is
desired. ,

Sometimes all the facts developed in a nature lesson are
considered together, and some generalization is derived from
them. Comparison of several objects or facts leads to classi-
fication, a kind of generalization. But sometimes a general
principle is involved in a number of illustrations or experi-
ments, and this the children are to think out. Thus, a
number of experiments in heat may all lead to the conclusion
that heat causes expansion.

When such generalizations have been made, the pupils
should be required to think of applications of the principle
in new cases. Thus, after deriving the principle of expansion
by heat, let the pupils apply this principle to such cases as
the setting of wagon tires, the gap between the rails, the
thermometer, etc. This fixes the principle better in the

STUDYING NATURE IN THE GRADES 29

pupils' minds and shows the practical bearing of the sub-
ject.

The permanency of the knowledge acquired depends
partly upon the interest in the subject, and also upon the
repetition of the act of learning — that is, upon drill. This is
as true of nature-study as it is of the multiplication table.
And a nature lesson is not thoroughly finished when the facts
have been brought out only once. It is necessary to drill on
the separate facts of the lesson as they are developed, and
there should be a summary at the close of the lesson. The
summary is often very necessary, to fit together in a unified
whole the facts that were acquired in an isolated order.
This summary of what was learned in the lesson should
generally be made by the pupils themselves, if they are old
enough, and with only enough guidance to make it orderly.
A black-board outline is useful in summarizing. This may
be copied by the older pupils and used as a basis of a home
task or written account of the lesson.

The pupils' answers should receive some attention. Do
not accept careless, abbreviated, and ungrammatical answers.
It would be pedantic to require complete statements in all
answers, but, wherever proper, demand more complete ex-
pression. Pupils and teachers alike should avoid all book-
ishness and technicality in language. Such simple scientific
words as calyx, corolla, stamen, pistil, pollen, etc., are short
and have been popularized and should be used.

Rules for Questioning

In theory the development lesson strengthens the mind of
the child, for he must by his own energies discover facts,
make comparisons, and deduce principles. In practice,

30 NATURE-STUDY

however, a development lesson often becomes a sort of mental
prop that weakens the child because he is not incited to
spontaneous effort. For a teacher may by suggestive, alterna-
tive, and direct questions herself give the whole matter of the
lesson to the pupils without their exerting themselves in the
least. The lesson becomes simply a lecture in the interroga-
tive form. Such teaching is wholly bad.

Questions serve as a means to reveal defects in knowledge,
or to sound the extent of knowledge, or, incidentally, to secure
wandering attention. But there is still another and most
important use of the question, and that is to encourage and
direct thought, as in the process of eliciting in a development
lesson. Much of the success of the lesson depends upon the
way in which these questions are worded. The following
rules should be observed in nature-study, as in any develop-
ment lesson:

1. QUESTIONS SHOULD BE CLEAR AND CONCISE. A vague
and lengthy question cannot be understood or followed by
the pupils. This question was taken from a pupil teacher's
lesson plan in a nature lesson: "On a coral island in the
Pacific Ocean there are a few flowers and some trees. How
did they get here, since this island has only recently reached
above the water after having been so long submerged?"
Such a question would only bewilder the children.

2. QUESTIONS SHOULD BE DEFINITE, ADMITTING OF BUT
ONE ANSWER. "Why is the lamp burning?" "What are
we always doing?" are questions that may be answered
correctly several times before the desired answer is ob-
tained.

3. DO NOT, AS A RULE, ASK DIRECT QUESTIONS, ANSWER-
ABLE BY YES OR NO. The pupil should study out for him-

STUDYING NATURE IN THE GRADES 31

self the point referred to. "Is the heron's bill short?"
"Does this animal have thick fur to keep it warm?" are
questions that require little if any original thought. Often,
however, direct questions are permissible when employed
simply to call attention to some obvious fact of which further
use is then made in the development. "Can the dog climb
a tree?" "Why not?" (Referring to the nature of the
claws.) To avoid the direct question here would be pedantic
and beating about the bush.

4. DO NOT ASK ALTERNATIVE QUESTIONS THAT ADMIT OF

BUT TWO ANSWERS. "Is this bird's bill long or short?"
"Has this plant entire or serrate leaves?" Such questions
are easy to answer correctly perhaps the first time, certainly
the second.

5. DO NOT ASK QUESTIONS THAT ENCOURAGE GUESSING

MERELY. Children are apt to theorize about things in nature-
study. Hold them to the facts.

6. AN ELLIPSIS at the end of a sentence to be filled out by
the pupils is a form of question sometimes used to save time,
to drill, or to make the work easy. It is legitimate to use
this occasionally for the first two reasons, but the ellipsis
should be carefully treated. It should still require effort
from the pupil. "The motion of the earth on its axis causes
day and - " and "Molecules are held together by the
force of co — " are bad ellipses and simply prompt the
pupil.

7. NATURE-STUDY teachers frequently fail in attempting
to bring out comparisons by using direct and suggestive
questions. "Are the hoofs of the cow like those of the horse ? "
"Does the hen have webbed feet like the duck?" are wrong
forms of questions to bring out correspondence and differ-

32 NATURE-STUDY

ences. Instead, ask the pupils directly to "compare the
hoofs of the horse and the cow," and "tell how the feet of
the hen differ from those of the duck." Ask them how
— and - - compare, and how they are alike or un-
like, etc., and then the pupil must work out the comparison
for himself.

CHAPTER V
ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL

ONE of the chief functions of nature-study is to cultivate
the power and the habit of observation. This is possible
only when there is something to observe. The object or thing
studied should be actually present before the children if
possible. If it is not, then the lesson is not an object lesson,
and as a lesson on nature it will lose much of its effectiveness.
If there is no illustrative material for the lesson there can be
no real perceptions of the thing. Reference can only be
made to the pupil's previous knowledge of, or experience
with, the object, and that may be vague, little, or nothing.
The reasoning based upon such facts will necessarily be
imaginative, and conclusions cannot be immediately tested
and verified. We very properly decry the old-fashioned
text-book method, pure and simple, in teaching physics and
geology, without experiments, specimens, and field observa-
tions. And yet many teachers attempt to give nature
lessons in this unscientific and unpedagogical way. This
is because they fail to realize that the illustrations are the
very foundation of the lesson, and not merely an entertaining
and ornamental feature.

It is customary to teach nature-study by the development
method — the method of individual observation and reasoning
from the object before the pupils. Thus is seen the great

33

34 NATURE-STUDY

usefulness and purpose of the illustrations. They are the
starting point, the basis of the lesson.

The teacher should, therefore, make every effort to secure
ample and suitable objects and experiments to bring out the
facts of the lesson. Small insects, minerals, plants, etc.,
should be collected in quantity, so as to provide each pupil
with a specimen, that he may be able to examine it carefully.
I recall one teacher who gave a lesson on the fish. She had
some small boys go out the day before and catch a lot of min-
nows. These she put into a number of fruit iars which she
placed on the pupils' desks, so that they could easily see the
structure of the fish, the breathing, the use of fins and tail, etc.
The lesson was vastly more successful than if she had had
only a single fish in a jar in front of the class, or had passed
it around among the pupils. A single small specimen held
up before a class cannot be accurately seen, and it takes ex-
tra time and repetition of directions to pass it around. This,
however, must be done if only a limited number of specimens
can be obtained. If the illustration is large enough it may
be placed in front of the class, but in an elevated position and
in good light. The other senses besides that of sight should
be employed by the pupils in making their observations,
where anything is to be gained thereby.

Sometimes the teacher forgets to use her illustrations,
though she has prepared them and has them in class, because
she gets so interested in the subject-matter of the lesson.
Sometimes the illustrations are used only in a perfunctory
and superficial way. The object might just as well be absent,
as far as its being the basis df the lesson is concerned. The
teacher should not forget that the lesson is to be developed
by means of the illustrations.

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL

35

Since so much depends upon them, it behooves the
teacher to select and prepare good and sufficient illustra-
tions. Nothing shows more the diligence and ability of a
nature-study teacher than the material prepared for illustrat-
ing the matter of the lesson. It is an index of the teacher.
Fitting and enough illustrations show forethought and under-
standing; scanty or poorly adapted material or the entire
lack of it indicate shiftlessness, want of providence, or an
uninventive mind.

Various kinds of illus-
trations should be used
in nature lessons. The
ideal way to teach nature-
study would be to take
the class out into the
meadows and woods, to
the brook or the lake, to
the orchard or the flower FlG- '• Guinea pigs'

garden, or to the farm fields, and there study nature un-
adulterated and under natural conditions. Field lessons will
be referred to in a later chapter. The point emphasized
at present is that the natural object under natural conditions
is generally the ideal illustration for a nature lesson. School-
room lessons should be illustrated by the actual object when-
ever possible or desirable. A living, growing plant, a live
squirrel or a live toad, a cage-ful of live ants, etc., all these are
possible and desirable. In case the object cannot be brought
into the school, let the scholars go to it. Where the live animal
cannot be got, then killed and preserved specimens must do.
Stuffed birds, mounted insects, specimens in alcohol or forma-
lin, herbaria, etc., come under this head. Parts of the plants or

36 NATURE-STUDY

animals, natural or manufactured products of plants, animals,
or minerals, geological specimens, astronomical and meteoro-
logical phenomena and experiments are all included in this
class of illustrations — the actual thing. They are the most real.
Of less value than actual objects, but still of great value,
are the following representative illustrations.

Models, Pictures, and Diagrams

MODELS of sand, clay, or other plastic material are very
useful in geography. Anatomical casts are excellent in the
study of physiology. The dissectible kind are especially
instructive and give an idea of internal anatomy. Models of
geological sections to illustrate the strata of the crust of the
earth are very good. Again, a properly constructed working
model of a machine or other physical apparatus adds to
the interest in the lesson and helps to explain.

PICTURES may be used in lieu of other illustrations and, if
well selected, may be very effective. In this day of wonderful
reproductive processes by photograph, half-tone, and color
photography, pictures furnish excellent illustrations in nature-
study. Children naturally love them and are interested
in their every detail. Pictures leave for a long time a definite
image in the visional memory. The nature-study teacher
may secure them from many sources. Animal pictures are
to be found in natural histories, zoologies, and animal readers;
and plant pictures are found in botanies, garden books, etc.
The teacher should make a nature-study picture scrap-book,
by cutting out illustrations from old geographies, zoologies,
botanies, and other text-books, and from magazines and
papers. Let the children also do this. Colored pictures
are the best, providing the colors are true to nature, which

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 37

is not always the case. There are now procurable color
charts of birds, butterflies, mammals, plants, and many books
illustrated by the three-color process which are excellent.
Every school ought to have them in its library. There are
also large printed wall charts of plants and animals, which
are useful in the lower grades. Some of these are published
by the primary education journals.

Pictures often add a great deal even where the actual ob-
ject or parts of. it are present. Thus, a lesson on the pine
tree, though well illustrated with twigs and needles, cones,
cross, and longitudinal sections of the stem, bark, etc., is im-
proved and made more interesting by introducing pictures
of a pine forest, a pine tree with a man near it, for comparison
of height, a logging scene, a saw-mill, etc. Pictures may
show new features of the object or its natural surroundings.

DIAGRAMS: Lecturers frequently illustrate their remarks
by crayon sketches while they talk. Such lectures are some-
times called "chalk talks" and are generally very popular.
The teacher should talk with her crayon if she has the least
ability to draw. Frequently she can talk to better effect
with her crayon than with words. Board drawings simplify
explanations which, without them, would be long and labored.
Sometimes the word-description calls up in the minds of
pupils an erroneous image, or none at all, while the idea
could have been conveyed more clearly and correctly by a
black-board sketch. For example, if the teacher should at-
tempt to describe to pupils not familiar with it the construc-
tion and operation of the common lifting pump by saying:
"In the common water pump there is a barrel or cylinder
within about thirty feet of the water; in this cylinder there
is a piston which is moved up and down by the piston rod

38 NATURE-STUDY

which is connected with the pump handle; in the piston is
a valve opening upward, and there is another valve at the top
of the pipe leading from the cylinder to the water, and this
also opens upward, etc."; probably long before reaching
this point the listeners would have given up as hopeless the
attempt to imagine the appearance of the pump. How much
better it would be to make a simple rough sketch or diagram
of the parts referred to, as the oral description progressed.
Through the aid of the eye some sort of image would be
formed, which would come a great deal nearer the reality
than that derived from the oral description alone.

There are several other advantages to be gained by such
sketches. Children like to see the teacher draw the object
studied, and they become more interested in the study of it.
Again, by shortening a lengthy description we make it more
effective, so that it does not need so much repetition. Thus
time is saved, another important item.

Nearly every lesson in nature-study affords opportunity for
the use of black-board drawings. These may be either dia-
grams and sketches, or more elaborate drawings. The latter
require more care and time, and should be drawn before the class
period. But sketch outlines and diagrams should as a rule
be drawn during the recitation, when they are needed. They
lose much of their effectiveness and usefulness if drawn
before. This applies especially to pictures intended to show
construction (of apparatus), development (of a plant), or
gradual formation (in geology or geography).

Diagrams, though more symbolical than pictures, are
highly useful, especially with the older pupils. The picture
shows the external appearance of a thing as the eye sees it.
The diagram shows what the mind sees in it. Diagrams

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 39

are used to simplify complex structure, by representing the
essentials only, or by emphasizing the important features.
Diagrams show internal structure and sectional views not
visible from without. By a diagram or sketch we can quickly
show the construction of the steam engine, the structure of
the ear, or of a flower, the cross section of a plant, the
growth of a seedling, the formation of sedimentary strata,
etc. If colored crayons are used the effectiveness of diagrams
is greatly increased.1

STORIES AND ANECDOTES : These are much used in nature-
study to illustrate the qualities or the character of an ob-
ject, the conditions under which it is found, etc. Let the
pupils relate personal experiences with the object studied.
Let the teacher tell hers. Read from nature readers and
other books, to bring out further facts or to confirm those
brought out in the lesson. These stories add to the interest
in the lesson, especially in the lower grades. We should,
however, be careful that the sources from which these stories
come are reliable. Unfortunately this is not the case with
many of our so-called nature readers. Sometimes a poem
or a prose selection can be very properly used in the nature
lesson to reinforce or to apply what was learned in the
lesson, with the additional value that a new interpretation, a
higher meaning, the aesthetic or the spiritual element of the
facts learned may be brought out.2

The Experiment

To experiment is to place things under various conditions
to see what will happen, and to see how the things will

1 See Chapter VI for pupils' drawings, etc.

2 In Chapter VI, myths and fairy tales are discussed in regard to their
application in nature-study.

40 NATURE-STUDY

behave. If a thing always acts the same way under similar
conditions, we say so and tell how it acts. That is, we state
its law oj action. Or, perhaps, the experiments bring out
certain qualities that the objects possess, and we may then
be able to classify the thing where it belongs. In general,
in an experiment, we look for certain phenomena or certain
qualities. These we make use of as the basis of our general-
izations, which may either be in the form of a law of action, or
a classification of facts or objects in their proper categories.
The experiment is the scientist's great test for truth. It is
the basis of practically all science.

Many phenomena in nature-study demand experiments to
produce or to illustrate them. There are many simple ex-
periments that would delight the children, give them useful
information, and at the same time afford excellent practice
in inductive reasoning. Touching a sensitive plant to see it
fold its leaflets, softening a bone in acid to show the need
of mineral matter to strengthen them, placing some leaves
under a bell-glass to see the evaporation of water from the
pores, testing a suspended magnet to see that it points north
and south, balancing a heavy weight by means of a small one
on a lever, rearing a caterpillar into a butterfly, — all these
and hosts of others are fit experiments for the grades.

Consider the principle of expansion by heat. To show
this it is necessary to perform some simple experiments in
which this phenomenon appears. Perform the usual ex-
periments, such as the ball and ring experiment; heat some
water in a bottle with a narrow neck and note the rising of
the liquid on warming; repeat with the school-room ther-
mometer. Show also that a bottle filled with air expands
when heated. In all these experiments the phenomenon of

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 41

expansion appears. Be sure that the children see it and
note the cause. Then there will be no question of their con-
cluding that heat causes expansion.

Why not let it go with one experiment ? Because just one
case is not sufficient warrant for a broad generalization.
Several experiments, all agreeing and showing the same
thing, will be more convincing than only one. To be actually
positive that heat causes expansion would require us to with-
hold judgment until we had made an infinite number of ex-
periments or observations on all the cases that were possible.
But we are satisfied to make a fair number of tests, and then
to reason by analogy and apply the law to all cases. In the
above case — expansion caused by heat — if the pupil is led
far enough in his studies, he will discover some anomalous
cases or exceptions to the general rule. He finds, for ex-
ample, that water near its freezing point actually contracts
on being warmed, and expands on being cooled. So it will
be well to preserve an attitude of open-mindedness in science,
as in all other things, for our preconceived notions may not
be quite right.

After the general principle of a series of experiments has
been reasoned out, the pupils should then find applications
in common life. Besides being an excellent drill in the
principle studied, this will connect the school-room lesson
with things of daily life.

Experiments require unusual care in their preparation
and must be well chosen. The teacher ought never to try an
experiment in class which she has not done before, as it may
not "work," and she will then lay herself open to criticism
from her pupils, who will rightly judge her as either careless in
preparation or as ignorant of her subject. The omission

42 NATURE-STUDY

of some slight detail will often spoil an experiment. If the
teacher does the experiment before class-time, she will see
difficulties both for herself and her pupils and can prepare
for them. Experiments in nature-study require no elaborate
apparatus. Any ingenious teacher, aided by bright pupils,
can construct and invent simple and efficient "home-made"
apparatus. The boys will like to make models of machines
and other mechanical apparatus. The school stove, radia-
tor, oil-lamp, or alcohol-stove will do for a source of heat.
Glasses, cups, and bottles will replace test-tubes and beakers.
Spools make good pulleys. Old files or knitting-needles
make excellent magnets when stroked on a magnet. Many
other pieces of apparatus may be devised, that for nature-
study will do as well as those which are factory-made. If
there is a manual training department in the school, it
should be utilized as much as possible in the making of
apparatus.

The high school science teacher will generally be found
ready with suggestions and assistance, if the nature-study
teacher appeals to him. Apparatus and material may often
be secured through him. He may be willing to give the
children experimental exhibitions or talks on nature sub-
jects. Often he has valuable lantern slides that he can show
the grade children. For instance, get him to give an illus-
trated talk on birds, insects, plants, etc. The children would
be delighted to hear these talks. He may also give experi-
ments with the air-pump, the static electric machine, etc.
Similarly, college professors may often be got to aid the grade
teacher. Again, physicians and others interested in scien-
tific lines are often willing to lend apparatus, specimens,
pictures, etc., and to give elementary talks on their special

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 43

subjects. Different grades or schools may be combined for
these purposes.

The Museum

Museums are places where objects of art, history, or nature
are collected and preserved, not merely for their own sake,
but for the pleasure and instruction of the people who come
to look at them. They have so important a purpose that
in large cities museums have been opened to the public on
the Sabbath, that the working classes may have a chance to
see them. If a museum is properly classified and labelled,
its educational value may be very great.

Museums of natural history are very popular, and are much
visited by old and young. Here not only the common native
types may be seen, but also many rare and foreign ones.

Universities have their natural history collections, their
mineral collections, their herbaria, etc. High schools have,
or should have, similar small collections, if they expect to
do efficient work in the sciences; and there ought to be
something of the sort in connection with every common
school. In Europe, notably in Germany, there are collections
of natural history, minerals, plants, etc., in the common
schools. Every school where nature-study is attempted
should have at least a cabinet collection of specimens. These
should be collected by the teacher and pupils, or donated by
friends and patrons.

Making a collection is interesting work, a work in which
the pupils can be easily enlisted. Ask them to bring "speci-
mens" of all kinds suitable for preservation, and you will
probably have an embarrassment of riches. The teacher
on her travels, or in her vacation, should remember the

44

NATURE-STUDY

school cabinet. People who have collections of curios can
often be prevailed upon to give them to the school.

FIG. 2. School Specimen Cabinet.

Place in the collection such things as these: Herbaria;
plant products, such as flax, hemp, cotton, coffee, sugar;

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL

45

mounted insects and insects in alcohol; other specimens in
preservatives; shells; animal products like furs, wool, ivory,
leather; articles in different stages of preparation, such as
a shoe partly put together; fabrics indifferent stages; sections
of different kinds of woods; illustrations of seed dispersal;
minerals, etc., etc. All these things can be had for the asking
or the picking up. It is a good rule to take a specimen when
you find it and not to leave it till the next time you come along,
for most likely it will be forgotten. If every teacher added
something to the school collection, it would in a few years
amount to something. If no collection has been started, the
next teacher should begin one.

To be of any use a collection should be properly classified
and labelled. A poorly arranged and unlabelled collection is
often worse than useless. Put the insects on one shelf, the
minerals on another, the shells by themselves, and the plants
in another place. Put neat labels on the specimens, telling
their names, where they were found, who presented them,
and interesting remarks about the properties and usefulness
of the specimens. In this way the collection will be of in-
terest and value to those who see it.

Stuffed birds and other animals are always an inter-
esting feature of a natural history collection. These are
more difficult to get, but there generally is somebody in the
community who does taxidermic work and who will be willing
to mount a few animals for the school. Or, perhaps, the older
boys, with the aid of a manual of taxidermy, could prepare a
few specimens. The various game birds and mammals
would do very well for this purpose, and the harmless and
beneficial animals could be spared.

Incidentally it may be added here that objects of geo-

46 NATURE-STUDY

graphical, historical or archeological, and literary interest
should be likewise collected and put into the school cabinet,
as useful aids in other subjects than nature-study.

After a museum or collection has been established, let it
not be forgotten and left to disuse. An unused, dust-covered
collection of specimens represents only so much wasted time
and energy.

If larger museums or collections are accessible, visit them
with your classes. Take the children to botanical and
zoological gardens and to the menagerie.

Live Specimens

Since a live creature is much more interesting than a dead
one, try to secure the former for nature-study illustrations.
Have the children bring to school their pet birds, squirrels,
rabbits, etc. Keep them in the school for a time, and let the
children make observations upon their life-habits. Have the
pupils bring live insects, toads, frogs, turtles, fishes, and
other aquatic animals and keep them in cages or aquaria.
The metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly, the de-
velopment of a tadpole into a frog, the hibernation of a toad,
the emergence of a dragon-fly from its nymph case, and
many other interesting and instructive things can be seen
by observing these school-room animals. It is a pleasure to
see aquaria with gold or other fish, and other aquatic animals
and pretty fresh-water plants in a school-room. They not
only vary the ordinary school-room interests, but have a
decorative value. Similarly, potted plants in the windows
are at the same time beautiful and furnish material for
many nature lessons. A canary-bird in the room is sure to
add a touch of cheerfulness.

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 47

Let it be the children's duty to provide and care for these
school-room animals and plants. Teach them the needs of
the creatures and see that these are satisfied. A good deal
can be learned about the feeding and other habits of these
creatures in the school-room. They should be looked upon
not simply as decorative objects but as nature-study material.

Do not let an animal or plant thirst .or starve to death if
you can help it. Do not put a moisture-loving creature in
a dry cage, or vice-versa. Try to make the conditions as
natural for the caged animal or a plant as possible. This
will require an intelligent study of the needs of each, and
thus give a very good chance for nature-study.

Incidental Outdoor Observations

School-room study of nature should be supplemented with
outdoor observations. Get the children in the habit of see-
ing the things about them. Have them report on what they
see on their way to the school or on a visit to the country.
After studying an object in the school-room, ask the children
to observe it outdoors and to note its surroundings or its
outdoor habits. Sometimes have them make preliminary
observations outdoors for a future indoor lesson. Thus, in
preparation for the lesson on winter birds, have the children
on the lookout for winter birds for a week or so before, and
let them report on their observations. These may then be
summarized, and conclusions drawn from them in the indoor
lesson. Similarly, preliminary observations should be made
in the daily weather study.

Teach the children how to observe wild animals. If you
suddenly come upon a rabbit, a squirrel, a butterfly, or a
bird, stand still for a while and make no noise. Wild creat-

48 NATURE-STUDY

ures will generally not flee then, but will go on feeding
or with their other occupations. But sound and sudden
motions startle them. If you do not frighten the animal
away at once on your approach, it may remain for some time
while you are making your observations on it. You may
even approach quite near if you do it quietly and slowly.
Some of the most interesting and valuable observations are
made in this incidental and accidental way.

It is sometimes a good plan, with the older pupils, to
assign to the whole class or to individuals certain animals
or plants for continued observation, and to require memo-
randa to be made of these observations. In this way the
pupils may get some of that love for, and knowledge of, out-
door things that the naturalist possesses.

Field Lessons

The naturalist goes into the fields and woods, by the lakes
and brooks, and observes and studies sympathetically the
birds, the mammals, the flowers, or the rocks of the earth.
It is a real pleasure for him to be out among these in-
teresting things. He sees nature under the most natural
conditions. He sees the natural setting of things, how they
are adapted to the conditions under which they live, and
how animals and plants affect each other or live together.
He has a broader view of nature, a truer view than he who
studies these things indoors, under the artificial conditions
of the laboratory or the school-room. This is true nature-
study. The indoor study of things that naturally belong
outdoors, among other outdoor things, can never show their
true aspect. Moulded heaps of sand are a pitiable apology
for real hills and mountains, "the glory of our earth and

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 49

the culminating points of scenic beauty and grandeur." A
plant in the school-room does not show the natural mode
of growth, and an animal in captivity or dead is not the
creature of the forest.

Field lessons will do much to correct this abnormal, par-
tial, and indoor view of nature. This is the ideal way to study
natural history and earth features. This is the only way to
imbue the child to a certain extent with that happy spirit and
love for nature so peculiar to the naturalist.

Boys and girls brought up in the country have a greater
stock of nature lore and field and woodcraft than the
average city child. To very many children in our large
cities the country, with its woods and birds and flowers, is a
foreign land. To them an excursion into the country would
be a rare treat, and an occasion that would open the eyes
to many wonderful and beautiful things. But field lessons
would be profitable also to children in our smaller towns.
Even the country child has much to learn about the wild life
around him.

To make field lessons a success the teacher must have a
definite object in the trip. Aimless wandering about with a
class accomplishes nothing. Let the pupils understand that
the trip is not for a romp and a frolic, but a lesson. Tell
them what they are going out to study. A good teacher will
be able to conduct a class of twenty-five or thirty pupils on a
field trip, but this number is too great for the best results.
Large classes had better be divided. Sometimes older pupils
may act as assistants. There is no need of formality and
military order on these occasions, but let this be understood
by all : that the class must not scatter widely, and that every
child must come immediately at the teacher's call, when she

50 NATURE-STUDY

has something she wishes all to see. The field study of the
object may in general follow the development method; that
is, the pupils are to make the observations themselves and
to use these in their reasoning. If the lesson is difficult and
much has to be developed in the field, it should be reviewed
and summarized in the school-room afterwards. Older

FIG. 3. Nature-Study Class on a Field Lesson.

pupils may be directed to make notes on the trip, and also
sketches, to use later in writing an account of the studies made.
A field lesson requires preparation just as any other. The
teacher should previously look over the ground and find a
suitable locality for the lesson, else much valuable time might
be lost with the class in hunting about for the object of
study. Moreover, the teacher will have a chance to ex-
amine the object and thus prepare for emergencies that may
come up in the lesson.

ILLUSTRATIVE MATERIAL 51

If school officers and patrons object to these field lessons
in school hours, they may be given out of school hours and
at recess. The teacher who gives successful and instructive
field lessons under such conditions will soon be able to con-
vert those who object to them.

Pupils should be taken out for collecting plants, animals,
minerals, and the like. These trips may be made much
more than mere collecting trips, for the environment and the
habits of the animals caught may be studied at the same
time. The school cabinet can be supplied on such trips.

Some teachers have the idea that one has to go far to give
a field lesson. This is a mistake. The school doorstep, the
school ground, the street or road in front of the school, a
vacant lot or a neighboring field, a city park, a flower gar-
den, a roadcut, a hill nearby furnish suggestions for field
lessons not far from the school.

The following are some suggestions for field lessons:

ZOOLOGY: Ant-hill. Bee-hive. Collecting insects. Ob-
serving insects pollinating flowers, destroying crops, foli-
age, etc. Birds, nests, and habits. Lake or stream for
aquatic animals, such as mollusks, crayfish, insects, fish,
frogs, etc. Seashore for marine life. Visit to a menagerie
or a zoological garden. Museum. Visit to a farmyard.

BOTANY: Buds. Tree study. Visit to a park; to a
forest. Collecting autumn leaves. Collecting fruits and
seeds and noting means for dispersal. Nutting expedition.
Collecting and studying spring flowers. Same with flower-
less plants. Visit to a flower garden and noting relation of
plants and insects. Work in the school garden. Visit to a
farm.

EARTH STUDY : Drainage of the school-yard on a rainy day.

52 NATURE-STUDY

A brook. The river. Ravine. Waterfall. Cave. Swamp.
Hill. Mountain. Bluff. Roadcut (stratification). Quarry
(strata, fossils). Mine. Spring. Artesian well. Weather-
ing and soil formation. Glacial drift. Glacial markings.
Collecting soils, sand, pebbles, rocks, minerals, fossils. School
excursion to some rugged and romantic spot.

CHAPTER VI
CORRELATION

'Twould be endless to tell you the things that he knew,
All separate facts, undeniably true,
But with him or each other they'd nothing to do,
No power of combining, arranging, discerning,
Digested the masses he learned into learning.

— Fable for Critics, LOWELL.

A FACT in history may be studied in an isolated way.
But when the student sees how it is related to others,
how it had important historical bearings and consequences,
then it is better understood than when simply studied by
itself. The study of a fact in association with other facts
leads to a better knowledge of the fact itself and to the dis-
covery of a wider truth. The more associations we can
connect with a fact to be acquired, the better it will be
fixed in the memory. This may be done by looking at it
from different points of view, or approaching it along differ-
ent lines of thought. For example, coal may be studied in
the nature lesson as to formation and composition. Jf the
State of Pennsylvania were studied at the same time, it would
greatly enhance the nature lesson if the coal mines and the
coal industry of that state were also studied. On the other
hand, the geography lesson would not lose anything in in-
terest or effectiveness because of the nature lesson on coal.

53

54 NATURE-STUDY

Thus one subject can be made to help another by forming
new associations about the things studied. Again, the sub-
ject of respiration can be made clearer and more interesting
by some experiments on the properties of oxygen, CO2, ni-
trogen and water vapor in the air. The usefulness of the lesson
in chemistry will become apparent to the pupils in the fol-
lowing lesson in physiology.

These illustrations show in a general way what is meant by
correlation in education. To correlate subjects is to bring out
useful connections between them, to explain one lesson by
another, to add interest to the facts in one lesson by showing
their relation to facts learned in another. In this way associa-
tions are formed that help the pupil's memory.

Nature-study lends itself very easily to correlation with
other subjects, especially with the formal or expression
studies, such as reading, language, writing, drawing. It is
very profitable to pursue nature-study and geography to-
gether. It is a good plan to study in the nature lessons the
animals, plants, minerals, and natural phenomena referred
to in geography.

There must be something upon which to practise language,
writing, drawing, etc. The nature lessons may afford suit-
able matter for many lessons in these subjects. The thing
studied in the nature lesson may be the subject of the read-
ing lesson, and may often be used as the object in a drawing
lesson. In this way there is a saving of time and energy on
the part of pupils and teachers.

Nature-Study and Geography

Geography includes more or less all of the natural sciences,
and if correlation is ever desirable it certainly is in the case

CORRELATION 55

of this subject and nature-study. In fact, much of the geog-
raphy would be unintelligible or vague without a study of
the underlying phenomena and the animals, plants, and other
natural objects referred to. Many teachers do make a study
of these things in geography, but that amounts only to
the introduction of nature-study into geography. More
would be gained by studying these natural objects and
phenomena in a separate nature-study period, when they
could be discussed more in detail. They should be still
used as explanatory of the geography lesson.

Sometimes it is difficult to decide whether a certain lesson
should be called geography or nature-study. The fact is
that much of geography is pure nature-study and might very
properly be called so. This is especially so with the phys-
ical part of the subject. Of course, political and com-
mercial geography bring in more of the human element, and
yet even here there is almost constant need of the aid of
nature lessons. A few illustrations of correlation between
geography and nature-study will be in place.

The child's introduction to formal geography should be
through nature lessons on the surroundings of his own home.
In field lessons he should learn to recognize the simpler earth
features and note their causes as far as he is able, and also to
note the present operation of the earth-shaping forces. This
might be called Earth-Study. Then he should study a little
about the effects of heat and cold, atmospheric moisture,
clouds, rain, snow, dew, ice, and wind. He should learn the
points of the compass, the use of the weather-vane and the
thermometer. This might be called Weather-Study. A few
simple astronomical facts appropriate to such young minds
should be studied, such as the most obvious facts- about the

56 NATURE-STUDY

sun, moon, and stars, under the name of Sky-Study. The
occupations of man, especially those depending more directly
upon natural resources, and the plants, animals, and common
minerals that man makes use of, should be studied. All

FIG. 4. Brook at Work Removing a Landslide.

this is geographical material. In this way the study of
geography is opened up gradually and interestingly.

When formal geography is taken up, there is still use for
an accompanying course of nature-study. The complicated
subject of the winds, including the trades, can never be well
understood without some lessons in the physics of the mat-
ter. The study of the local weather in nature-study helps
the children to understand better the climatic conditions in
other regions. The composition of the air should be studied

CORRELATION 57

in connection with the subject of the atmosphere in geog-
raphy, as should also atmospheric pressure and the barom-
eter. Coal, marble, iron, and other ores, natural gas, oil,
and other mineral products, — the nature, adaptation, and
uses of plants and animals in different countries, also their
distribution, are things that can be studied better in nature-
study than in geography. Geological features, such as the
coral islands, mountains, stream action, rock strata, glaciers,
glacial drift, etc., should be considered in nature-study as
well as in geography. In geography the physical basis for
the distribution of peoples, limiting of countries, location of
cities, spread of immigration, and establishment of certain
industries in certain regions should be well noted.

A course in geography with a correlated course in nature-
study is a great deal richer, more interesting, and valuable
on account of this correlation.

Nature-Study and Art Study

Flowers, butterflies, and birds are so beautiful and rich in
color that they appeal to the artistic sensibility of every
child. Nothing better can be found as subjects for lessons
in painting and drawing than the forms and colors of nature.
Because of their objectiveness, striking colors, and beauty of
form, the objects used in the nature lesson may again be used
in the drawing or painting lesson. This does not necessarily
mean the prolongation of the nature lesson under the guise
of an art lesson, for the object need not be considered from
the scientific point of view at all, but purely from the artistic
side — beauty of color, form, grace, proportion, artistic group-
ing, etc. In this way the material for both lessons may be
secured at the same time, and a saving of energy be effected

NATURE-STUDY

for the busy teacher. And the fact that the object has been
observed more or less closely in the nature lesson as to its
structural details, colors, etc., can only be of service to the
art lesson. The changing seasons, with their variety of life
and inanimate scenes, add an additional interest and charm
to the art study.

The nature-study material is especially useful in the art

work in the pri-
mary grades,
since the chil-
dren are still ac-
customed chief-
ly to objective
thinking, and
their imagina-
tive and crea-
tive powers are
not highly de-
veloped. There-
fore the art
work must be

mainly based upon the observation and representation of
what the children can see, that is, actual things.

The children's aesthetic appreciation of nature can be greatly
developed through the artistic study of natural objects and
scenes. To paint a bit of landscape in different seasons or in
different lights, to observe the less obvious, though no less pleas-
ing, subtleties of harmony of colors, subdued hues, and pictu-
resque details can only increase the power of seeing the beauti-
ful in the landscape. Similarly, the representation of birds, in-
sects, flowers, etc., makes them more significant and interesting.

FIG. 5. Blue Jay.

(From a painting by a pupil of the fourth grade.)

CORRELATION 59

There is also a reflex benefit from the art lesson upon the
nature lesson, if the two have been correlated as suggested.
A child that has drawn carelessly the margin and shape of a
leaf, and has his attention called to his inaccuracy, will have
his scientific understanding of the leaf made clearer and more
definite. The visual image left by the drawing lesson will
assist the nature-study. A child who has carefully and
accurately drawn a hard and a soft maple leaf must have the
similarity and also the difference of these two leaves im-
pressed upon him all the more deeply. The correct painting
or drawing of a natural object clarifies and makes more
definite the mental image the child may have got from the
object in the nature lesson.

When the children have become more proficient in draw-
ing, etc., they should be required more and more frequently
to represent the objects of the nature lessons with the
scientific aspect in mind. Require them to illustrate their
nature work with correct and carefully drawn illustrations
showing form, color, proportions, details of structure, rela-
tionship of parts, diagrams, development of growing things,
principles of experiments, interrelations of plants and ani-
mals, structure and action of simple machines, plans of con-
struction, plans. of the garden, etc. These drawings are
avowedly from the nature-study point of view, but the prin-
ciples of art may be applied to them nevertheless. Many of
these illustrations may be made first purely from the art side
and afterwards applied to the nature work, such as written
work, records, essays, charts, booklets, herbaria, portfolios, etc.

I would urge the use of diagrams in the upper grades.
This requires a certain amount of maturity, an ability to
represent what the mind sees, often in disregard of actual

60 NATURE-STUDY

form, color, and details. But they are very useful in show-
ing relationship, sequence, simplified plan of structure, etc.
Maps and construction plans are thus diagrammatic and
symbolic, and the same practice should be extended to the
representation of physical apparatus, physiological structure,
geological formations, flower plans, insect structure, etc., in
elementary science. Such drawings often show relations
better than do the more artistic and complete pictures.
Black-board drawing should be required more than is usually
the case. Let the children tell on the board what they see.
This is especially good for rapid and diagrammatic sketches.
I do not propose to say much in regard to the methods and
media to be employed in the art work, for that would be
infringing too much upon the artist's domain, and they differ
greatly in different schools. But it may be said in a gen-
eral way that color seems to be the best and easiest mode of
expression in the lowest grades, and should be the first and
chief medium used. Wash drawings in ink are also very
successful, especially silhouettes in the lowest classes. Crayon
and pencil work are more difficult, but when once acquired
with some proficiency they are excellent for pictorial rep-
resentation of detailed structure study, action, illustrated
stories, rapid sketches, etc. In higher grades, drawing is
perhaps the best method for developing accuracy in line and
proportion. Charcoal is also a very successful medium, es-
pecially in study of scenery, trees, fruit, etc. Cut-outs of
paper, made freehand and mounted, are easy and interesting
for the little ones, and are suitable for compositions of animal
scenes, child life, etc. Modelling may be applied to the rep-
resentation of simple animals, flowers, fruit, vegetables, etc.,
and finds a limited application in nature-study. Modelling of

CORRELATION 61

earth features in sand, etc., may perhaps be referred to here.
Design draws heavily upon the nature-study for motives and
patterns. The most usual decorative forms of design are
derived from nature. Numerous applications of this study
may be made in nature-study itself, as in the decoration of
written work, essay and booklet covers, charts, portfolios,
note-books, record-books, etc.; and, of course, the field is
unlimited in manual work, textiles, basketry, pottery, and in
art study.

Suggestions for color studies and combinations may be
found in the colors of flowers, autumn foliage, insects,
bird plumage, and the tints of the water and sky. We
generally begin color study with one of the most beautiful
phenomena of nature, the spectrum.

We can learn a great deal in this country about the artistic
arrangement of cut flowers. A spray of blossoms may lose
half its beauty from a poor arrangement in the vase. The
Japanese are able to teach us much in this respect.

One function of the art work in connection with nature-
study should be the observation of the beauty in common
things. Old gnarled trees, a neglected corner, the common
weeds, etc., have a beauty to those who can see it.

Somewhat allied to art study is the artistic planning of
flower-beds, borders, the school or home garden, and tree
arrangement on the lawn. In the higher grades the ele-
ments of landscape gardening may be successfully taught.
We should, however, begin in the lower grades to cultivate an
appreciation for beautiful school grounds, home grounds, bou-
levards, and parks, and develop the civic improvement idea.

The following is a suggestion of a few art topics chosen
from the nature course. It may be adapted to the artistic

62 NATURE-STUDY

principles and the special media taught in the different
grades. Numerous suggestions for art lessons are suggested
in the course of study, chapter XX.

SUBJECTS FOR PAINTING IN COLOR: The landscape (forest,
meadow, fields, water) at different seasons and in different
lights. Keep a monthly record of a bit of scenery, showing
seasonal changes. Grass and sky, clouds, trees, and bits of
water. Summer greens, autumn foliage, late autumn browns,
snow scenes. Bare trees and forests, and evergreens in the
snow. Fruit trees in blossom. The return of the leaves.
Gorgeous sunsets and sunrise. Cloudy days and twilight
effects. Sun and moonlight reflections in the water. Char-
acteristic forms of trees in foliage. Trees with fruit. Nut-
ting scenes. The wind and the falling leaves. Farm scenes,
grain fields, the harvest, cornfields and pumpkins, the farm-
yard. Fruit studies, nuts, vegetables, ears of corn, heads of
grain. Store scenes with products of the farm or orchard.
Ferns and mosses, toadstools, shelf fungi, decaying trees and
logs. Grasses, sedges, cattails. The winds of March with
kites, windmills, and sailboats. Bonfire. Candle. Storms.
Rainbow. A brook with trees. Lakeshore. Dunes. Mead-
ows. Marsh. Hills and ravines. Sliding and skating.
Child sports with nature backgrounds. Illustrations of
nature stories and nature myths. Brightly colored birds,
nests, and eggs. Butterflies, moths, and other insects. Gold-
fish in aquarium. The flowers of the seasons. Flowers
and butterflies, bees, etc. Common weeds. Potted plants
and window-box plants. Bulbs, tulips, etc. Gardening
scenes — spading, raking, sowing, weeding, watering. Squir-
rel, fox, wolf, cat, dog, horse, cow, sheep, and other animals,
or illustrated stories about them.

CORRELATION

SUBJECTS FOR WASHES IN INK: Many of the above sub-
jects may be represented in values in this medium. Silhou-
ettes of domestic animals,
birds, fruit, vegetables,
seed-pods, seeds, grasses,
child sports, illustrated
animal stories, leaf forms,
trees. Weather scenes,
those above, wind, snow,
snow and ice sports.
Twilight and cloudy day
scenes are especially well
represented in ink.

CHARCOAL is an excel-
lent medium for shading
of fruit, vegetables, etc.,
for landscapes, foliage,
sky and weather scenes.

DRAWINGS — CRAYON,
PENCIL, AND INK : Many
of the topics under color.
Fruits, nuts, vegetables,
grass, grain, sedges, seed-
pods, seeds, seed disper-
sal, leaf forms, trees bare
to show branching, trees
in foliage, flower parts,
seed study, seedlings, stages of growth, opening of buds, in-
sect development, growth of tadpoles, landscape sketching,
plans for construction, apparatus and experiments, plant and
animal structure in detail, rapid sketching and diagrams.

FIG. 6. Pupil's Drawing. Tulip.

64 NATURE-STUDY

MODELLING: Fruit, vegetables, simple animal forms,
flower-pots, etc. Geographical modelling.

DESIGN: Leaves, flowers, seed-pods, seeds, fruits, birds,
simple mammal forms, butterflies, moths, dragon-flies, fish,
etc., applied with or without conventionalizing to show rep-
etition, alternation, rhythm, and balance in borders, panels,
and surfaces. Apply to useful articles.

CONSTRUCTION: Models of houses, stores, gardens, farm
scenes, transportation, primitive life and industry, Indian
life, etc. Making bird-houses, windmills, scientific toys,
mechanical models, etc.

Nature-Study and Literature

There is a great abundance of "Nature Readers." Many
of them are of questionable value, being non-adapted, un-
scientific, sensational, or trivial. Some are written in a
simple narrative style and are designed to impart in-
formation. Such are often of much use to the pupil
and the teacher. This kind should be found in every
school library. Give the pupils books on natural history,
hunting, invention, discovery, and travel. Let them read
these in the nature lesson, and at home, or in vacant
periods.

Nature books for the lowest grades are written usually in a
style supposed to be more pleasing to the little ones. The
facts are stated in child language, from the child's point of
view, and with surroundings that appeal to the child's tastes
and sympathies.

One style especially is commonly employed in primary
readers, namely, that of personification. All kinds of natural
objects are given the power of speech and are made to relate

CORRELATION 65

the story of their lives or to describe themselves. It is no
doubt true that children like this style. It puts them on a
friendly and sympathetic footing with these natural objects.
And so long as the essential qualities of the thing are pre-
served there can be no objection to the occasional use of
such literature.

But when it conies to the use of myths and fairy tales as
nature-study material that is used for teaching about natural
things, a strong protest should be raised. Their subject-
matter is admittedly not based upon fact. The mere fact
that the characters in them are often animals, plants, and
other natural objects is no reason why they should be used
in nature-study. They were not intended to teach about
nature. Their purpose is merely to entertain, or to teach
some moral truth, and in literature, not nature-study, they
find their proper place. To a certain extent the same ob-
jection holds for other allegorical or figurative representations
of nature. We find much of this in our best writers, Shake-
speare, Milton, Wordsworth, Bryant, and others. We enjoy
the nature literature of these writers, not because they teach
us anything about the natural objects referred to, but rather
because they reveal to us some moral, aesthetic, or spiritual
aspect of nature, and because they help to place us in the
proper attitude to appreciate it. That is, these writers
bring out the human element or interest in nature rather
than teach botany, zoology, or any other science. The proper
place for this kind of literature is not in science.

There is no particular objection to the introducing or
closing a lesson with some literary gem, a bit of personifica-
tion, or a fairy tale, in order to place the children in a sym-
pathetic and attentive attitude toward their work, or to give

66 NATURE-STUDY

them the poets' interpfetation of the relation between man
and nature. But to attempt to use such literature as informa-
tion material is wrong, and a perversion of the proper use of
literature. The best way to study nature is not to read some
fine lines about it, but to take the actual things themselves
and observe and study them. The excessive use of all
this figurative literature and fairy lore in nature-study is to
develop gushing, rhapsodizing, and sentimentalizing, which
may reveal some enthusiasm but little nature knowledge.
It is a wrong notion that a six-year-old child cannot un-
derstand, and does not like, good, simple, straightforward
language; that he cannot grasp a fact unless half -hidden
under metaphors; that he has a natural distaste for the plain,
unvarnished truth; and that the only way to give him a
knowledge of nature is to smuggle it in under the guise of a
myth or a fairy tale. Conscious effort in study is a good
thing. It develops mental strength and self-reliance in
learning.

Science, whether studied in the high school or in the primary
grades, demands that the minds of the pupils shall follow the
laws of logical reasoning, that the imagination be controlled,
and that the physical qualities of the things studied, and not
the creations of the imagination, shall be the basis of the
reasoning. As soon as imagination, unchecked by the facts
in the case, comes in, nature is no longer seen in its true
aspects.

In general, it seems best that nature stories and nature
literature should be read after the nature lesson has been de-
veloped in the legitimate way. Then the child has a correct
idea of the object. If he now reads a figurative poem, a fable,
or a fairy tale in which the object of the lesson appears

CORRELATION 67

as a character, the child can see the application of the per-
sonification, he gets the point of the story, and there is not
so much danger that he will accept as true any assertion
which is purely fanciful.

PART II
SPECIAL METHODS IN BIOLOGY

CHAPTER VII
ANIMAL STUDY

PRIMITIVE, savage man subsisted chiefly upon game and
fish. The old hunting instinct is not dead yet, but is latent
in nearly every boy and man to-day. The pastoral stage,
when man succeeded in domesticating and herding sheep and
cattle, was of great importance in raising him in civilization.
His existence no longer depended solely upon chance and
skill in the chase. He became more provident, and also
more settled nomadic, instead of ranging far and wide for
game. A still greater progress was made when he succeeded
in domesticating the horse, and used it and the ox as beasts of
burden. Now he was able to use greater forces than his own,
and he made great strides in commerce and in agriculture.
The races that never domesticated beasts of burden remained
in a backward state. The American Indians had not learned
to use any strong, serviceable animal for carrying or dragging
loads. Along with food and work animals, primitive man
domesticated a few other animals, such as the cat and the
dog, more for pleasure than for service.

Thus we see that man has in the past had a very great and
practical interest in the animals. The horse, the cow, sheep,
poultry, and pets are just as necessary to us as they were to
our ancestors. Therefore animal study is very proper for

the schools.

71

NATURE-STUDY

A large element in the life of a child is the companionship of
a dog, a cat, or some other pet. The care of pets and the play-
ing with them make a very practical form of nature-study.
The same is true of the treatment of farm animals.

The wild animals are even more interesting than the more
familiar, though more important, domesticated animals.
Their very rareness and shyness make them interesting.

The most mat-
ter-of-fact, the
most unimagina-
tive persons will
stop to look at a
deer, at a squir-
rel, an eagle, a
humming-bird,
a strange beetle,
or a beautiful
butterfly. Chil-
dren greatly en-
joy the study of
wild animal life.
What are they

interested in? They want to know what the creatures do,
how they live, what they feed upon, what good or harm they
do. Let this be a guide in animal study. The structure
does not generally interest children as much as the activities
of the animals. Especially is this the case when structure
is studied simply in itself, without relation to its functions or
to the mode of life of the creature.

And yet, if properly presented, this study of structure is as
essential and useful as the study of the habits. When we

FIG. 7. Good Comrades.

ANIMAL STUDY 73

teach the children why a cat can climb a tree or lick a bone
clean; why water rolls off the duck's back; why the duck
is such a good swimmer; how the toad seizes its prey; why the
rabbit cannot be easily seen; how a squirrel opens a nut; why
you can pull an angleworm forward but not backward
from its hole; how a fish breathes; how and why a cow chews
the cud; when we teach about these habits of the animals
we must also teach structure. The structure helps to explain
the habits and vice versa, and must, of course, be studied for
purposes of identification and classification.

Mere structure study, details of anatomy, unconnected with
functions and mode of life are very uninteresting. But when the
beautiful adaptations or fitness of organs for their use, the gen-
eral adaptation of form, covering, color, etc., the surrounding
habitat, or the mode of life of the animal are made clear, then
structure study is intensely interesting as well as instructive.

What kinds of animals shall be studied ? Animals of many
classes. The mammals and birds, also lower forms, such as
insects, mollusks, coral, sponges— all appeal to the child and
he can learn something about them all. The little ones like to
study about their pets, the domesticated animals, and the
commoner wild forms. The older children prefer the less
familiar. Old and young like to study about the animals of
distant lands. The lion, the elephant, the eagle, the strange
creatures of the sea appeal to their admiration or imagination.
By all means include bears, wolves, Kons, tigers, whales,
seals, etc., in nature-study. Let children study the Big Game.

Outline of the Study of an Animal

\
What should be taught about an animal depends partly

upon the age of the pupil, the general purpose of the lesson,

74

NATURE-STUDY

and the animal itself. But for a general descriptive lesson
the following are points to consider.

Primary pupils should pay more attention to the habits and
doings of the animals than to their structure, though this
should not be entirely neglected. Older children should go
more into details of structure, should reason out the adap-
tations, and attempt more comparison and classification.
Primary pupils can see many adaptations to function and

mode of life, and
they can also make
simple grouping or
classification.

In the lower
grades it is a good
plan to take up
first the habits of
an animal, then its
structure. This is
more interesting; but occasionally the structure should first
be studied, particularly when an animal is studied as a type
of its class.

In the higher grades it is better to begin more frequently
with the structure, and from this infer points in habit or mode
of life, even as to habitat and food. At any rate the habits
will be better understood if the structure has been first studied.
Note only such details of structure as are necessary for identi-
fying the animal, or for its classification, if that is desired.
This then amounts simply to a study of the gross anatomy.
Study the general appearance as a whole, including covering
and coloration. Follow some orderly method of studying
the chief parts of the body and its appendages. Do not with-

FIG. 8. Bat with Membrane Wings.

ANIMAL STUDY 75

out good reason skip about from head to feet and back to
head. Not all the parts will require notice, only such as are
characteristic of the animal. Bring out well the protective
character of the covering, as to color, texture, warmth, etc.,
and the fitness of the different organs for their uses. This
may be done when the habitat and the mode of life are con-
sidered.

As for internal structure, we need very little of that in
nature-study. It is necessary to refer to the gills of fish, to
the complex stomach of ruminants, to the air tubes in insects,
and a few other facts of internal anatomy. But generally
stick to externals.

Under habits and mode of life consider where the creature
lives, under what conditions, and note how it is adapted in
structure. Note the food and the feeding habits, and the rela-
tion between food and mouth structure and organs of loco-
motion. If the creature is alive observe as many of the life
habits as possible, movements, feeding, sleeping, treatment
of young, etc.

Animal stories and anecdotes and experiences of the chil-
dren should be related in this connection.

The economic aspect of the subject should be studied. Is
the animal of any use to man ? Is it harmful to man or other
creatures? How? What remedy have we against it, if
harmful? What useful products do we derive from it, if
any ? A brief study might be made of the modes of capture
of the animal, or of the preparation of the useful products de-
rived.

Animal study ought to be comparative, partly for the sake
of association, and for classification where that is desired.
This classification should be untechnical and based upon a

76 NATURE-STUDY

simple yet accurate comparison. Where a regular course
in nature-study is provided for, it is better to plan the animal
lessons in such a way that the animals may be studied com-
paratively and classified. Thus a series of lessons might be
given on a group of mammals, or on this division as a whole,
or on the insects, or the birds, etc. Beautiful and instructive
relations could then be seen, which could never have been
brought out in a promiscuous study of plants one day, birds
the next, insects the next, etc., without a- chance for classifi-
cation.

In the primary grades nature-study is chiefly observation
of the habits and general appearances of creatures, but even
here a little comparison and broad classification would be
profitable.

The classification need not be emphasized, and certainly
it should be very untechnical. Sometimes it is merely suffi-
cient to group the animals together and the relationships may
be incidentally referred to, or even left wholly unmentioned,
for the pupils to see for themselves from the grouping. Or tell
the children that they are going to study the old Tabby-Cat
and its Wild Relations, or Wild Dogs, or the Cow and her
Wild Cousins. With higher grades the classification should
be much more prominent and systematic.

Courses in Mammal Study

It is not very material with which group of mammals we
begin in nature-study. In general begin with the more
familiar as types and then study the stranger forms.
More will be gained if a series of lessons can be given upon
the mammals, so that they may be studied comparatively
and classified. Hence it is well to select the mammals be-

ANIMAL STUDY 77

forehand with this purpose in view. Select the best types
and the most important mammals under those types. These
should be such as are found in the child's environment, or
such as are frequently mentioned in literature and in geog-
raphy. In teaching about mammals with classification in
mind, be sure to bring out the distinctive characteristics by
which the animal is classified. Be sure the children grasp
the idea of the type or the meaning of the classification. That
is, the children should know what a ruminant is when rumi-
nants are studied, and just why the dog, the fox, and the wolf
belong to the same group.

In the first lesson in the course the definition of mammal
may be derived from a study of the first type. Call attention
to the chief differences between mammals and birds and other
classes. The other mammals studied afterwards should be
considered in the light of this definition. Another way of
arriving at a definition or the idea of mammal is to wait till
various groups of mammals have been studied, and then to
note the common characteristics of the different animals, and
also the different respects in which the mammals differ from
birds, reptiles, etc. In this way the children reason out the
definition for themselves.

The following list of mammals is probably too compre-
hensive for most schools, but it is suggestive of what is
meant by a. course in comparative mammal study. Sev-
eral mammals are mentioned under each type, but all of
them need not be studied if time will not permit. But the
greater the number of animals of a class the better the op-
portunity for detailed comparison. This course is in-
tended to give a general idea of the mammal kingdom as a
whole.

78 NATURE-STUDY

MAMMALS.

I. Carnivorous Mammals (Flesh-eaters).

1. Canine (Dog) Group: Dog (type), fox, wolf, coyote.

2. Feline (Cat) Group: Cat (type), wild cat, panther, tiger,
lion.

3. Bear Group: Bear, raccoon, mink, weasel.
II. Herbivorous Mammals (Grass-eaters).

1. Ruminants (Cud-chewers) : Cow (type), bison; sheep,
goat; deer, reindeer; camel.

2. Other Herbivorous Mammals: Horse; elephant; pig.

III. Rodents (Gnawers): Squirrel (type), mouse, rabbit, beaver.

IV. Insect-eating Mammals: Bat, mole.
V. Whale.

VI. The Monkey Tribe.
VII. Man, in relation to the above.

In order to get a more detailed classification we must re-
strict ourselves to a smaller number of groups. The rodents
by themselves, or the ruminants alone, would offer an ex-
cellent material for making finer distinctions.

The most common wild animals which do not flee into the
wilderness at the approach of the settler, but continue to
live with us on our farms and even in our towns are squirrels,
chipmunks, gophers, woodchucks, muskrats, rabbits, rats,
and mice. These little animals are fairly numerous and often
quite tame, and can be easily observed in their free state.
They are all rodents and form a most excellent group of ani-
mals for comparative study. The beaver, the prairie dog,
and the guinea pig may be added to the list. The beaver is
especially interesting to children on account of its ingenious
ways and its association with the early settlement of this
country, when beaver fur was an important article of barter
with the Indians on the frontier.

ANIMAL STUDY

79

Another good way to study the mammals is to consider those
which furnish us with food and clothing. Study the general
structure of these animals, their life habits, and the way in
which they are useful to man. The industries connected
with them, such as the herding, shipping, meat packing,
leather making, textiles, etc., should also be referred to.

Study the cattle industry. Refer to the ranch life, the
shipment of the cattle, and the packing of the meat in the
large cities. Refer to the dairy industry and its processes.
Bring out the dependence of man on animal food. These
lessons go well with geography, physiology, and domestic
economy.

Children in all grades are much interested in fur and fur-
bearers. Give a series of lessons on the bear, fox, beaver,
mink, muskrat, seal, etc. Do not neglect the hunting and
trapping. Bring out the adaptation of the animals to the
climate, the aquatic life, the protective coloration. Note the
structure of the fur, and how it differs from hair and wool.
The preparation of the fur for the market is an interest-
ing process. Visit a fur factory. Note what articles are made
of fur. These lessons are most appropriately studied in
the winter. Examine the garments worn by the children
and try to distinguish the different kinds of fur. It should
be remembered, however, that the commercial names are no
guarantee that the fur came from the animal to which it is
ascribed. Sometimes an unusual name is given to the fur of
a very common and perhaps despised animal. Thus Genuine
Brown Marten or Alaska Sable is simply a euphonious name
for skunk. Blended River Mink means muskrat, and Siberi-
an Bear is simply the long-haired wool of an Asiatic Goat.

Leather should be treated in a similar way. In the higher

8o NATURE-STUDY

grades perform simple experiments in tanning. Visit a
tannery if one is near. Visit a shoemaker's or a harness shop,
and look at different kinds of leather and see how they work
it. Visit a shoe factory if possible and see how a shoe is
made. Make a list of articles made of leather. This subject
correlates well with the geography of a manufacturing town.
Study the wool of sheep and goats in a like manner. Re-
fer to the herding of sheep and Angora goats in this country;
the shearing, spinning, weaving. Visit a spinning and weav-
ing mill if possible. Study the old-fashioned spinning wheel.
Examine the children's clothing, and show the wool in the
cloth. Bring out the great importance of wool to mankind.

CHAPTER VIII
BIRD STUDY

BIRDS are the most fascinating and entertaining of our
wild animals. Everybody likes the little feathered song-
sters. Their nimble, careless ways, their evident enjoyment
of their freedom, their wonderful power of flight, their cheer-
ful twittering or their bursts of melody all tend, for the mo-
ment at least, to make our spirits lighter and happier. The
birds make the fields and woods full of pleasure for us.
. Shy as most birds are, many kinds seem to prefer the
neighborhood of man. Man plants and cultivates vege-
tables, grains, and fruit. Since every cultivated plant has
its insect enemies, the greater the cultivation of farms and
orchards, the greater the food supply of the birds. Hence we
find more birds about farms and villages than in the dense
forest or in uncultivated and unsettled regions. This ap-
plies chiefly to the song birds, and is, of course, not true of
many game birds. The birds are a very great help to the
farmer and fruit grower, and if they do take a few berries or
a little grain, we should not begrudge it to them. So we
have a practical reason why we are, or should be, interested
in the birds.

There are many other associations that make us love the
birds. It almost seems to the farmer's boy that the first blue-
bird is the cause of spring. And though one swallow may

81

BIRD STUDY 83

not make a summer, still it is a sign of the times. The fall
migration of the birds is a warning that winter is nigh. A
touch of brightness is added to the winter landscape by the
bluejays, snowbirds, and chicadees that remain.

Naturally, the open country and the semi-rural outskirts
of our cities and villages are the places where birds are found
in greatest abundance. Yet in the heart of New York City,
in Central Park, Mr. Chapman found 130 species of wild
birds. Many stragglers may be seen in our shade trees, on
our streets, on the lawns, and in the backyards of our cities.
Even in a crowded city street the house sparrow, the dove,
and the martin may be seen.

People would derive more pleasure from the birds if they
knew their names and something about their habits. Says
Neltje Blanchan, the lover and writer of birds: "Not to
have as much as a bowing acquaintance with the birds that
nest in our gardens, or under the very eaves of our houses;
that haunt our wood-piles; keep our fruit trees free from
slugs; waken us with their song, and enliven our walks
along the roadside and through the woods, seems to be, at
least, a breach of etiquette toward some of our most kindly
disposed neighbors."1

One result of our modern scientific studies in the high
schools and colleges was till very recently to take the students
away from the real, living nature, and to give abstract ideas
of physiology, morphology, etc., instead. A laboratory
course in botany with the microscope may, after all, not make
the student familiar with the flowers and trees in the fields
and woods. Many a student who has had such a course
cannot name and give the chief characteristics of the wayside

i "Bird Neighbors."

84

NATURE-STUDY

flowers and the shade trees along the streets. Outdoor study
has been sacrificed for laboratory work. We try to make
microscope scientists instead of naturalists in our higher
schools. Now, I believe that it would be better for the aver-
age person to be something of a naturalist than a laboratory

FIG. 10. Catbird and Nest.

scientist, for the former has a happy, sympathetic interest in
outdoor life and things, while the other has only the narrower
indoor view. I do not by any means wish to belittle the
importance of the great amount of scientific work done in
the laboratories by competent investigators. But what I
have said applies to the average person's scientific require-
ments for the ordinary purposes of everyday life.

BIRD STUDY 85

The common birds are thus neglected in most secondary
schools, and those who are called upon to teach find them-
selves deficient in the knowledge of birds, which are a very
important subject in every course in nature-study. Teachers
should strive to make up this lack. There are many excellent
colored bird keys, with which the most common birds can
be identified, and a knowledge of them will not only be of
great use to teachers in nature-study, but will afford much
pleasure.

Observing the Birds

The ideal way to study birds is to go out and observe them
in their native haunts. Most birds are shy and rather rare,
so it is not practicable generally to take a class out to study
any particular kinds. They would fly away, or hide, at the
approach of the class. On field trips with a class, birds may
be met with incidentally, but cannot be depended upon for a
lesson. Of course, such birds as English sparrows, doves,
eaves-swallows, bank-swallows, which are tame or live in
colonies, can be well studied with a class. Or, if a nest has
been discovered in a good location, the class may make ob-
servations on the eggs, the young, and some of the habits of
the parent birds in taking care of the young.

But the best bird study is carried on by individual ob-
servation, or by a very small group of pupils. Get the
children to be on the watch for birds. Have the older ones
make notes of their observations. Perhaps assign special
birds to individual pupils or to a group. For instance, have
some observe and report on the English sparrow, others on
the robin, bluebird, swallows, etc. Assign especially to such
pupils at whose homes certain birds have nested the observa-

86 NATURE-STUDY

tion of the habits of those birds. These observations may
then be utilized in indoor lessons.

For the purposes of nature-study it is not necessary, it is
even contrary to the spirit of nature-study, to shoot the birds
in order to study them. It is not absolutely necessary to
have a museum full of birds. Instead, observe the living
bird, in its free state. The opera-glass and field-glass are
used by many students to bring the birds nearer.

Mrs. Florence Merriam Bailey, who has done so much to
popularize bird study, gives the following directions to ob-
servers of birds in her "Birds Through an Opera-Glass,"
a delightful little volume:

FIRST. — Avoid light or bright colored clothing. Wear clothing that
will blend with the background.

SECOND. — Walk slowly and noiselessly.

THIRD. — Avoid all quick, jerky motions. Raising the opera-glass
too suddenly will scare away many birds.

FOURTH. — Avoid all talking, or speak only in undertone — a most im-
portant but obnoxious rule to young observers.

FIFTH. — If a bird was singing, but stops on your approach, stand
still a moment and encourage him by answering his call. If he gets
interested, he will often let you creep up within opera-glass distance.

SIXTH. — Make a practice of stopping often and standing perfectly
still. In that way you will hear voices that would be lost if you were
walking, and the birds come to the spot without noticing you, when they
would fly away if they were to see you or hear you coming toward them.

SEVENTH. — Conceal yourself by leaning against a tree, or "pulling a
branch down in front of you. The best way of all is to select a good
place and to sit there quietly for several hours, to see what will come.
Then you get at the home life of the birds, not merely seeing them wher
they are on their guard.

EIGHTH. — Gaze. Let your eyes rest on the trees in front of you, and
if a leaf stirs or a twig sways, look there for a bird.

In going to look for birds, it is important to consider the time of the,

BIRD STUDY 87

day and the weather. Birds usually follow the sun. In spring and fall
you will find them in the fields and orchards in the morning, but when
the sun has warmed the south side of the woods they go there; and in
the afternoon they follow it across to the north side. During the heavy
winds and storms you are most likely to find birds well under cover of
the woods, no matter at what time of day; and then, often on the side
opposite to that from which the wind comes.

One familiar with birds knows where to go to find them.
Birds live and congregate in places according to their liking —
places of safety and shelter, where food is plenty, where they
can build their homes. Most birds like the water, and we
find them near the shores of lakes and swamps, the banks of
rivers and meadow brooks. Sheltered valleys, which keep off
the winds, with water near at hand, attract many birds.

The cliffs, islands, and bays of the seashore abound with
various water-fowl, ducks, geese, gulls, gannets, petrels, and
shore-birds. Similar water-birds are found in the inland
waters, feeding upon wild rice, aquatic plants and animals.
They build their homes on the sedgy banks. Sloughs and
swamps attract herons, cranes, coots, rails, snipes, and other
waders.

Not only strictly water-birds, such as swimmers and
waders, but many others are to be found about all kinds of
waters. Many come for the water, many to feed upon the
myriads of insects and other animals found there, others to
make their homes in the inaccessible swamp. Here we find
swallows, flycatchers, warblers, tanagers, kingfishers, spar-
rows, catbirds, bobolinks, thrushes, blackbirds, wrens, hum-
ming-birds, and many others.

Many birds are found in the open fields and near the edges
of woods, such as field-sparrows, blackbirds, kingbirds,

88 NATURE-STUDY

meadow-larks, bobolinks, swallows, orioles, robins, wood-
peckers, quail, grouse, prairie hens, etc.

In the woods the birds are not so abundant nor as easily
seen as in more open places, but here are to be found wood-
peckers, nuthatches, tree creepers, pewees, thrushes, ruffed
grouse, hawks, owls, whippoorwills, tanagers, warblers,
vireos, etc.

But we do not have to go far from home to find birds. The
following birds are frequently seen close about the house, or
in the shade trees of the streets, and in the gardens and
orchards near the house: Robins, wrens, sparrows, rose-
breasted grosbeaks, bluejays, kingbirds, orioles, bluebirds,
woodpeckers, catbirds, blackbirds, vireos, warblers, nut-
hatches, brown creepers, phoebes, chickadees, juncos, snow-
birds, kinglets, thistlebirds, waxwings, humming-birds, with
English sparrows nesting in every available place about the
house, eaves-swallows under the eaves, and chimney-swifts
in the chimneys, purple martins in the bird-cots, and owls in
belfry towers.

Bird study is an excellent hobby for the teacher. A
good bird key, such as Chapman's "Color Key," Bailey's
"Birds of the Western United States," Nuttal's "Birds
of the United States," Apgar's "Birds of the United States,"
or Chapman's "Handbook of the Birds of North-Eastern
United States," a field-glass (not absolutely necessary),
a love for the birds, and a watchful eye are all that is
heeded for the study. One can pursue it all through life.
It will afford a perennial pleasure, and add interest to every
journey. Moreover, it is a hobby through which one can
give to others some pleasure. For most persons are willing
and eager to learn about the birds.

BIRD STUDY 89

Bird Lessons in the Grades

The most appropriate time to study the birds is in the spring,
at the time of their migration from the South. Then they are
apparently most abundant and are the tamest. Moreover,
their interesting mating habits can then be seen. The first
robin or the first bluebird always causes a mild excitement.
It is then that a series of lessons on the returning birds should
be given in any grade. This study should contain enough
of the structure and coloration to serve for identification. Of
course the habits will form a chief feature of the work. Bring
out the reasons for the subdued or the conspicuous colors, and
by all means bring out well the economic value of the birds.

As with mammals, so bird study ought to be comparative,
and there should be simple classification according to structure
or according to habits. Even primary children can class
the duck and goose together as swimmers, and differentiate
them from the wading heron and bittern. Much more of
this may be expected from older pupils.

For the purposes of nature-study it is sufficient to class the
birds as Swimmers, Waders and Shorebirds, Scratching
Birds, Birds of Prey or Robbers, Climbers, Perching and
Song Birds. Avoid the technicalities of scientific ornithology,
and yet try to bring out the fact of the relationship of birds.

The following list of birds is suggested as suitable for
nature-study. These are, with a few exceptions, common
and native to the northern and eastern parts of the United
States:

SWIMMERS: Loon, tern, gull, pelican, duck, goose, swan.

WADERS AND SHOREBIRDS: Blue heron, bittern, crane,
stork; coot, rail; sandpiper, snipe, plover.

90 NATURE-STUDY

SCRATCHING BIRDS : Chicken, turkey, quail, grouse, prairie
hen, peacock.

ROBBERS: Hawk, golden eagle, bald eagle; snowy owl,
great horned owl, screech owl, barred owl.

CLIMBERS: Flicker, sap sucker, downy woodpecker, red-
headed woodpecker.

PERCHERS AND SONG BIRDS: Kingbird, crow, bluejay,
common blackbird, yellow-headed blackbird, red-winged
blackbird, oriole, cowbird, meadow-lark, bobolink, indigo-
bird, rose-breasted grosbeak, cardinal, song sparrow, junco
or snowbird, thistlebird, canary, English sparrow, scar-
let tanager, barn-swallow, bank-swallow, martin, waxwing,
shrike, summer yellowbird, zebrabird, catbird, house wren,
brown thrasher, thrush, robin, bluebird.

MISCELLANEOUS: Dove, pigeon, parrot, kingfisher, whip-
poorwill, chimney-swift, humming-bird, ostrich.

When the birds begin to return from the South, in Febru-
ary or March, make a bird calendar on the black-board or in
notebooks :

Bird Calendar

Bird

Date

Place

By whom seen

•narks

The calendar may stimulate the children to make personal
observations. Be reasonably sure that the birds are reported
correctly. Often children and others name birds incorrectly
through ignorance or careless observation.

Toward the end of the migration period the calendar should
be examined, and conclusions drawn from it. Note the kind
of birds that return first, those that come last. Try to make

BIRD STUDY 91

out some relation between the birds and the food they may
expect to find on their return.

Even though no regular calendar is kept of the returning
birds the teacher should, as far as possible, call attention to
the birds that come back and should name them for the pupils.
This would be profitable in all the grades.

In the fall the southward flight of the birds should be ob-
served. Have the children note their gradual disappearance,
and what species go earliest and which last. Let the children
infer some of the probable reasons for the migration. Refer
to the known destinations of certain species, and let the pupils
consider why they are going there. Use the map and trace
out the chief migration routes as far as is known. Have the
children observe the manner of migration. Do the birds
fly singly or in flocks? Direct or by stages? By day or
by night? Are the birds singing much? Can the young
be distinguished from the old ? All these observations will
have to be made incidentally by the children, but they
should be reviewed and summarized in a school-room
lesson.

In the middle of winter inquire of the children if any birds
are to be seen. Ask them to be on the lookout for a week or
so and have them report all the birds seen. A list of the
birds noted will probably include the English sparrow,
dove, snowbird, chicadee, downy woodpecker, nuthatch,
bluejay, hawk, owl, and perhaps others. Let the children
find out what these birds feed upon, where they sleep,
and any other interesting habits, and note their general
appearance. Suggest that the children scatter food to the
birds.

Some very interesting, as well as profitable, lessons may be

92

NATURE-STUDY

given on the structure of birds in general. Make a study
of feathers, their structure, colors and various uses.

The wing of a bird, the bones, feathers, shapes of wings of

different kinds of birds,
and the power of flight
form another good
subject.

The legs and feet
of different classes of
birds should be
studied, especially with
reference to their
adaptation to use and
environment.

Similarly study the
different types of bills
with reference to the
food or other pur-
poses. Bring out the
fact that the feet and

the bills are among the chief features used in classifying the
birds.

The nesting habits of birds should be observed by chil-
dren. At the same time teach them to be kind to the birds,
never to kill those that are harmless and useful, and not to
rob or destroy the nests. Let them try to encourage the birds
to build near their homes. Let them scatter food, expose
bits of thread, wool, horse-hair, cotton, feathers, etc., for the
birds to use in nest building.

Have the children observe how the birds build the nest.
Where is the nest located ? Thus robins nest in trees, bank-

FIG. ii. Wing of Chicken with Quills and Coverts.

BIRD STUDY

93

swallows burrow into the bluffs, barn-swallows nest in
barns, and eaves-swallows under the eaves of buildings.
Is there any attempt made by the birds to conceal the nest ?
Is the nest in a safe place? Some nests, like ground-
sparrows' " nests, are hard to locate because they are so
cunningly concealed in the grass. The oriole's nest is on a
high branch almost at the tip. Does any particular species
select a certain kind of tree? How about the oriole?
What materials are used in the construction of the nest?
Robins and barn-swallows use mud with twigs and grass.
The red-winged
blackbird weaves a
pretty nest of the
leaves of sedges and
grasses in the
swamps. The hair-
bird is so-called from
the fact that it uses
horse-hair chiefly in
the making of its
nest. Note the dif-
ference in skill shown
by different species
of birds in choosing
a location, and in
the construction of
the nest. Some birds
make hardly any nest at all, while others, like the oriole and
the barn-swallow, make beautiful and elaborate nests. Ob-
serve how the birds carry the building material, and how they
work it into the nest. Do both mates work?

FIG. 12. Wing of Chicken.

(Wing coverts removed to show attachment of quills to forearm
and hand.)

94

NATURE-STUDY

Later in the summer, when the birds are through with their
nests, collect different kinds and label them properly, telling
the species to which they belong. A neat way to mount them
is to fix them in a wire frame on a wooden base. These nests
would make a very useful addition to the school museum or
cabinet, and would be very desirable in the next year's bird
study. If the branches to which the nests are attached are
small, the nest may be left on the branch to show the method

FIG. 13. Grass and Mud Nest of a Barn-Swallow.

of attachment. Cut off the piece of a log containing a wood-
pecker's nest, and break away a portion of the side to show
the depth of the nest. If no other species of birds can be
found to study during the nect-building period, the English
sparrow will probably be found almost anywhere in towns.
Although their nest is not a model of beauty and skill, it
nevertheless shows well the activity of the birds that make it.
Examine the eggs. Do not take them out of the nest.
Note the color, their number and size. Try to find out how
long it takes the mother bird to hatch the eggs. Try to

BIRD STUDY 95

accustom the parent birds to your presence after the eggs are
laid, and gradually, day by day, you may be able to come a
little closer for observation. Keep this up after the young
are hatched. Never frighten the birds by noise or rapid
motions. Some birds become comparatively tame toward
those whom they have learned to trust. An acquaintance of

FlG. 14. Nest of Chipping-Sparrow.

this sort affords considerable pleasure and also an oppor-
tunity to learn about bird ways.

At this time let the children also note the songs and calls
of the birds, and try to recognize them by their notes. Have
them learn what time of the day the birds sing most, what
birds are the best songsters, which have the power of sus-
tained singing, which have short snatches of music, and which
simply musical calls. Let them imitate these songs and calls.

96 NATURE-STUDY

Let them also study the subject of color in birds. The
birds of bright and conspicuous color will interest the lit-
tle children most. Let them consider these colors chiefly
from the aesthetic point of view. The older pupils will be
able to appreciate something of the theory that the bright
coloration of birds is a mating device; that the female birds
are supposed to select the handsomest males, and so the
brightest colors are transmitted in the race.

But the fact should be brought out that bright coloration
is almost the exception to the rule, for the great majority of
species are inconspicuously colored in drab, gray, brown, or
olive, so as to blend with and be concealed against the back-
ground of water, grass, or foliage. This is an interesting
observation for the older children. Let them be on the look-
out for birds that are protectively colored in a remarkable
degree, and let them explain the adaptation in each case.
Call attention to the case of the scarlet tanager, rose-breasted
grosbeak, red-winged blackbird, etc. Here the male bird is
handsomely and conspicuously colored, while the mate is
protectively colored. Ask the children of what advantage
this difference in coloration is.

In this connection, refer to the natural enemies of the
birds. The reason for the protective coloration will then be
clearer. Ask the children not to add themselves to the list
of enemies.

Another interesting subject and one on which observa-
tions are readily made is the way in which the old birds care
for the young. Note how solicitous the parents are for the
young. Observe how hard they have to work to satisfy the
hungry mouths. Count the number of trips the parents make
with food in a certain time, say an hour. From this the

BIRD STUDY 97

pupils would get a good idea of the task of feeding. Also
let the children observe, if possible, what the young are fed
with. In this way they will get an idea of the usefulness of
birds as worm and insect exterminators.

Discuss with the pupils the economic importance of birds.

FIG. 15. Nest of Wood Thrush.

Tell about the experiments and investigations made by orni-
thologists of the United States Department of Agriculture,
and by other bird students, which show the great usefulness
of birds to the gardener, fruit grower, and farmer, in ridding
them of many troublesome insect pests. Even if a bird does
take a little fruit or does some other harm, it should be
credited with the good it does. Counteract the prejudice
that many have toward certain birds which, on the whole,

98 NATURE-STUDY

are really useful, yet are generally killed. For example,
hawks and owls have a bad reputation with the farmer
and others, as chicken and turkey thieves. But it has
been shown that most hawks and owls destroy much more
harmful vermin than chickens. Try to get the children
to appreciate the birds as our friends and helpers, and to
wish to protect rather than destroy them.

Note how the young learn to fly. First observe the growth
of the plumage on the nestlings. *What are the birds covered
with when first hatched? Where do the feathers first ap-
pear? How long before the young are full fledged? Do
the old birds seem to show the young how to fly? It often
happens that some of the young are frightened or crowded
out of the nest before they are really able to fly. If fairly
well fledged, it is probably useless to return the waif to the
nest, as it will probably fall out again. These helpless birds
are easy victims to the weather, cats and dogs, and bad
boys. Here would be an opportunity to help. Catch the
young bird, scaring and chasing it as little as possible. Wait
till it goes to sleep at night, if possible, then pick it up and
place it in a cage. It will probably not know enough to feed
itself, and will have to be fed by hand on insects and worms.
If the-cage is placed where the old birds can see it, they -will
often come and feed their child. Hand-feeding of young
birds is not an easy task, but the patience and diligence
would be rewarded by having a tame bird. After the bird
is tame it should be liberated. It will probably remain
about the place, and will be a greater pleasure than if kept
in confinement.

CHAPTER IX
BIRDS

BIRDS are feathered creatures. This is a sufficient defini-
tion. Flight is generally associated with the thought of birds,
but this power is not peculiar to them, for many other creat-
ures besides birds fly, such as insects and bats, and formerly
there were reptiles that flew. Flying squirrels, flying fishes,
and flying toads soar on membranous expansions of the skin.
But none of these animals fly, like the birds, by means of
feathers.

The feet of loons, ducks, and geese are covered with a
scaly skin, reminding one forcibly of the skin on the feet of a
turtle. In the lower orders of the birds these scales are
small and reptilian, but they coalesce more and more into
larger and more horny plates as we go up the scale, till in
the robin and bluebird the tarsus is covered with a continuous
plate along the front.

The homology of a bird's wing is instructive. In general,
it corresponds to our arm. The quill feathers are attached
to the forearm and to the hand. The bones of the latter are
generally grown together and unjointed, the thumb alone
being free.

The leg bones also correspond to those in the mammal.
The prominent bone, usually unfeathered, is the tarsus or
ankle bone, the heel being just above it. The knee bends

ioo NATURE-STUDY

forward, and is between the tibia ("drumstick") and the
femur ("second joint"). The latter is generally not con-
spicuous in a feathered bird and is often within the body.

The feet of birds are varied and wonderfully adapted
to their habits. Swimmers have webbed paddle feet, shore
and marsh birds have partially webbed feet, or their toes are
bordered with lobes or membranous margins that enable
them to walk on swampy ground. Birds of prey have
powerful grasping feet with long, sharp, and curving claws,
adapted well to seize and carry off their prey. Perching
birds have three toes in front and one behind, which are
admirably suited to grasping a limb. The grasping is
automatic, and the bird when asleep on the perch is in no
danger of loosening its hold and falling off. Woodpeckers
that run up the side of a tree and have to cling there while
pecking into the wood have strong feet with two toes in front
and two behind. Birds, like the chicken, that scratch for a
living have the hind toe somewhat raised and shorter than
the others. This is probably to keep the hind toe out of
the way while scratching.

The bills of birds are as varied as their feet, if not more
so. They are beautifully adapted to the food and feeding
habits of the bird. There are the strong hooked beaks of
the hawks and owls, well suited for holding and tearing the
prey; the strong conical bills of the seed and grain eaters,
for picking and shelling the seeds; the more slender and
softer bills of the insect-eating birds; the long, slender bills
of storks and herons, well adapted for work in the swamps
and edges of ponds; the long and often touch-sensitive bills
of the shore birds which poke around in the mud for their
food; there are strainers for the ducks; pouched beaks for

BIRDS X J ^ - — j,oi

pelicans; hard ivory-tipped bills for the wood-boring wood-
peckers, etc.

The technical classification of birds is based more upon the
structure of feet and bills and internal structure than upon
color, size, or habit, although, of course, these are also used.

Feathers are skin modifications, as are scales and hair.
They serve a variety of purposes. The downy under-
feathers are the warm underwear. We utilize them for
pillows and warm feather-beds. Feathers are non-conductors
of heat, and thus keep in the heat of the body; but the air
included between the feathers also acts as a non-conductor.
On cold days the birds may be seen ruffling up their feathers
so as to include more air, thus utilizing the principle of the
"dead air space" which we employ in our storm-windows.
Birds that live in the water have their bodies more thickly
covered with down than other birds. Nestlings and pre-
cocial birds, like young chickens, have another kind of down.
This is pushed out as the real feathers develop. There are
also slender hair-like feathers, called pin-feathers, which the
cook singes off the fowl. These are rudimentary feathers
with only a shaft.

The plumage feathers cover the down feathers and add to
the warmth. In some birds, as in the owls, the plumage
feathers are very soft and render the flight noiseless. But
in most birds the chief function of plumage feathers seems
to be to give the coloration — for beauty or for protection.
These feathers in nearly all kinds of birds do not cover the
whole body, but grow in distinct tracts, yet overlapping the
bare areas.

On the tail and wings are long stiff feathers, called quills,
which are used in flying. These may be taken as typical.

IQS

NATURE-STUDY

They consist of a hollow quill stem and a solid elonga-
tion, the shaft. On the shaft at each side are fine branches
called barbs. These are again divided, and sometimes
subdivided into smaller branches called barbules and proc-
esses. These barbules and processes interlock to form

a stiff, resisting
surface. The
shaft and barbs
form the vane.

Besides these
feathers there
are various mod-
ifications in dif-
ferent birds,such
as the beau-
tiful plumes on
the heads, chest,
shoulders, hips,
etc., of ostriches,
herons, and
other birds; the
hair-like tuft on
the breast of the turkey cock, etc. These are used mainly
for decoration.

Birds raise and maintain themselves in the air not by
their relative lightness (as is the case with a balloon), but by
the reaction of the air against the powerful wing strokes,
or else by the force of winds against the wing and tail
surfaces. Most birds that flap their wings in flight use
the first principle, while the hawk, which circles around high
in the air without apparently a stroke of the wing, and only

FIG. 16. Chimney Swift.
(Not a swallow.)

BIRDS 103

occasionally tilting the wings and tail to better catch the
shifting breezes, uses the latter method. Most birds fly
mainly by strength, but the hawk, eagle, and albatross fly by
skill; that is, they soar on the wind without much muscular
effort.

The wing of a bird is suited to its peculiar needs. Gulls,
hawks, and swallows,, much on the wing, have large wings,
and chiefly soar. The robins, sparrows, blackbirds, etc.,
which live mainly on the ground, or skulk about the bushes, or
flit among the trees, do not need the power of long flight.
They generally fly by easy stages. But they need the power
of rising quickly from the ground when startled. .So their
wings are broad, rounded, and concave underneath, so as
to resist the air well. The quail, partridge, and sparrow
cause a rustling sound by the rapid fluttering of their wings
on starting from the ground. The humming-bird makes its
wings go so fast that you cannot see them, and the buzzing of
the wings gives it its name. Birds of long wing, like the
duck, gull, and albatross, cannot rise well unless they run
or swim quickly on the level till they get the necessary speed
to enable them to rise on the air.

Strange as it may seem, because one of the chief distinc-
tions of birds is flight, there are some birds that have given
up the habit of flying, and by disuse the wings have be-
come rudimentary or have degenerated into organs for other
purposes. This degeneration is greatest in the cassowary,
emu, and apteryx, which have almost no wings at all. The
ostrich has rudimentary wings unfit for flight, but which are
still flapped while running. These birds depend upon their
legs for escape. The penguins are marine birds, chiefly
in arctic waters, which use their wings as flippers in swim-

104 NATURE-STUDY

ming. The wings are destitute of feathers and are covered
with scales like the feet. The wings seem to be the main
swimming organs, the feet being used more like rudders.

Many birds add a touch of brightness to the generally
subdued or sombre colors of nature. Especially those of
the tropics are strikingly and beautifully colored with bright
hues. The oriole, robin, bluebird, blue jay, rose-breasted
grosbeak, goldfinch, tanager, indigo bird, woodpecker, red-
winged and yellow-headed blackbird, cardinal, summer
yellowbird, redstart, meadow-lark, some of our wild ducks,
especially the teal and the wood-duck, are the most com-
mon of our birds which have conspicuously other colors than
black, white, brown, or gray. The colors of the great
majority of birds are subdued and inconspicuous. Probably
no other animals have such excellent protective colora-
tion. Most birds are colored so as to blend with the
background. Field and ground birds like the great sparrow
tribe, snipes and sandpipers, quail and grouse, are seen
with difficulty when standing or sitting motionless in the
grass, leaves, sand, or marsh. Hunters know that quail
cannot be seen though sitting within a yard's distance, and
that these birds rely so much on their mimicry of the ground
and leaves that they will not fly up until almost stepped on.
A ruffed grouse may be disturbed with her young, but at a
sudden warning from the mother the little birds scatter, and
in a trice are effectually concealed by crouching among the
dry leaves and sticks on the ground. Arboreal birds, such
as warblers, vireos, creepers, and thrushes generally, have
brown, gray, or olive colors, so that it takes a sharp eye to
see them among the leafy trees and shrubbery. The whip-
poor-will not only mimics the bark of the trees, but sits

BIRDS 105

lengthwise on the branch so as to mimic more completely
the appearance of a bend or a knot on the branch. The
bittern is of a tawny color streaked lengthwise with black, so
as to look like the light and shade effect among the slender
marsh grasses in which it lives, and when surprised it
stands still, pointing its bill upward so as to make all the
lines of the body vertical like the grass. Even the contrast
between the darker backs and the lighter bellies of so many
birds is for rendering the bird more inconspicuous. The
artist, Mr. A. H. Thayer, has shown that the lighter under-
side makes the shadows under the bird less dense, and thus
makes the bird stand out less from the background.

Some birds, as the ptarmigan, the snowy owl, and the
white snowbird, change their plumage colors summer and
winter. They become almost pure white in the latter season,
so that they are almost indistinguishable against the snow.

But brightness of color is dangerous to a bird. James
Lane Allen shows well in his sympathetic study of the Red-
bird in his " Kentucky Cardinal " what the dangers are : " I am
most uneasy when the redbird is forced by hunger to leave
the covert of his cedars, since he on the naked or white land-
scapes of winter offers the most far-shining and beautiful
mark for Death. . . . For it is then that his beauty is most
conspicuous, and that Death, lover of the peerless, strikes at
him from afar. ... Let him show his noble head and
breast . . . and a ray flashes from him to the eye of a cat;
let him, as spring comes on, burst out in desperation and
mount to the tree-tops which he loves, and his gleaming red
coat betrays him to the poised hawk or to a distant sharp-
shooter; in the barn near by an owl is waiting to do his
night marketing at various tender meat-stalls; and, above

io6 NATURE-STUDY

all, the eye and heart of man are his diurnal and nocturnal
foe."

The origin and development of bright colors is believed
by some authorities to have something to do with the mating
of the birds. Some say that the female chooses for a mate
the male that shows the handsomest colors, and that these
colors are then transmitted to the next generation. At any
rate these fine colors are put on only during the mating
season, or are at their brightest during that period, and hence
we may call them the matrimonial clothes. The rooster, the
peacock, turkey, and other gaily-plumaged birds show their
finery to their admiring female friends.

In the mating season there are developed in some birds
curious crests, plumes, waxtips on the wing feathers, ex-
crescences on the bill, etc., all of which may be considered
as frills of fashion.

In the Spring a fuller crimson comes upon the robin's breast;
In the Spring the wanton lapwing gets himself another crest;
In the Spring a livelier iris changes on the burnished dove;
In the Spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love.

— TENNYSON, Locksky Hall.

The mate of brightly colored males is less bright as a rule.
The female robin, oriole, and bluebird are considerably more
subdued in color than the males. The female rose-breasted
grosbeak, red-winged blackbird, and scarlet tanager are not
at all like the handsome males in color, but are dressed in
rusty brown or olive. This is a sacrifice of finery to safety.
If the female had the bright colors she would be seen more
easily on the nest, and after the young were hatched would
be exposed to many dangers from predatory enemies. This

BIRDS 107

would also mean the destruction of the young. The bright
colors of the males may have been developed. as suggested,
or the brightest females may have always been most frequently
destroyed and the less conspicuous ones escaped, and thus
the subdued colors developed. This is probably not the
whole explanation of the difference in color in the sexes.

Birds moult, that is, lose their feathers wholly or in part
every year, or even several times a year. This loss of feathers
has some connection with the putting on of mating colors
and decorations, and sometimes is for protection. Change
of plumage colors is chiefly due to moulting and renewal.
But the pigments in the feathers may change, and sometimes
the tips of the feathers wear away and the lower ends of the
feathers with a different color are exposed. This last is the
case with the house sparrow when the male puts on his black
bib in the spring.

The young are generally not quite of the same color as
the adults, though full fledged. The colors and markings
are not as bright or as distinct. Sometimes there is a great
difference in color or marking, as in the young robin, which
has its breast mottled with brown spots, like a thrush, re-
vealing the connection of the robins with the thrushes.

The colors in feathers are chiefly due to pigments. But
the changing iridescence displayed on the feathers of the
dove, blackbird, humming-bird, etc., is due to the interference
of light rays reflected from the surface of the feathers-
analogous to the iridescence on the mother-of-pearl.

Besides color, there are other mating devices. Many male
birds go through curious and, to us, comical performances
before their lady-loves. We have all seen the strutting,
rustling, and spreading and snapping of feathers by the

io8 NATURE-STUDY

turkey-cock. The ruffed grouse does a similar thing, and
makes a drumming noise with his wings by flapping them
against his sides. A common sight is the clamorous atten-
tions bestowed upon a female sparrow by several chirping,
dancing males at the same time, all spreading their wings
like little turkey-cocks — each apparently saying, "Take me,
take me!" Sometimes the males engage in fierce combat
over a mate, the victor winning the female which was the
cause of all the trouble.

The most cheering thing about birds, is their song. This
is a general statement, for many, probably the majority of
birds, do not sing, though they may make sounds. But
certain species have become great artists in song.

The canary, European lark, nightingale, and the mocking-
bird have the reputation of the greatest artists. They have
the power of prolonged singing, and at the same time their
notes are exquisite and true. The catbird will sing by the
hour, and the brown thrasher and the robin also sing at
length; but their song, though cheerful and entertaining, is
less excellent. Other birds, such as the song sparrow and
the bobolink, sing short bursts of sweet melody. Thrushes,
bluebirds, meadow-larks, vireos, and warblers have short,
sweet songs. With other birds the song is still more reduced,
only one or two syllables of music, as in the case of the tow-
hee, bob white, phcebe, etc. The lower birds, swimmers and
waders, do not, as a rule, sing. Yet they have their calls.

Why do birds sing ? Probably the earliest function of the
voice was to call the mate, or the young, or companions. It
is still so used. But the song, no doubt, is meant at times to
please, to serenade and cheer the mate. Oftentimes the
song is simply a joyous overflow of spirit and energy — the

BIRDS 109

bird is glad it is living. Birds, in singing, usually select some
elevated place, the tip of a reed, or the top of a tree, to suit
their elevated spirit. Some, like the skylark, fly skyward
higher and higher, singing the while, till almost out of view.
Birds also sing out of mere rivalry, or as a challenge. This
is well illustrated in our barnyard cock, which answers de-
fiantly the crow of another perhaps distant cock. Many
birds have the same note for calling, scolding, distress, fear,
and rejoicing. Others express different emotions by a vari-
ety of sounds or songs.

Birds sing most in the mating season, in the spring, but
after the hungry brood appears the father finds little time or
inclination for singing. Some birds take to singing again in
the fall, but not so .much as in the spring.

Birds sing chiefly at sunrise and during the early hours of
the morning, and are quiet in the middle of the day. The
robin, mocking-bird, and others give us evening songs. The
vesper sparrow is called thus because of its evening serenade.
Nightingales and mocking-birds sing even after sunset. Noc-
turnal birds, of course, are heard at night. Then are heard
the hoot of the owl, the squawk of the nighthawk, and the
plaintive call of the whippoorwill.

It is difficult to express in human sounds the songs of birds.
Many names have been given on account of fancied resem-
blance of the calls or songs of the birds to the names given,
thus chewink, chicadee, whippoorwill, pewee, bobwhite, etc.
Different observers interpret the more complicated songs in
different ways according to the mood awakened by the song
or according to the mood when the song was heard, hence
no two interpretations are alike. Mrs. Bailey, in "Birds
through an Opera-glass," says the robin sings " Tril-la-ree,

no

NATURE-STUDY

tril-la-rah," repeated. She says that little German children
think the bobolink says, "Oncle-dey, dunkle-dey," while the
farmer's boy believes he says, " Dig a hole, dig a hole, put
it in, put it in, cover't up, cover't up, stamp on't, step along,"
and therefore calls him the " corn-planting bird."

Nests and Nestlings

There is a great difference in the kinds of nests and in the

skill shown by different
species in nest construction.
Some birds build no nest at
all. There are many sea
fowl which lay their eggs on
the bare rock. The whip-
poorwill lays hers among the
dead leaves on the forest
floor. Her cousin, the night-
hawk, lays hers on the flat
roofs of city buildings. Many
ground birds, such as quail,
chicken, and " partridge,"
make hardly any pretence at
nest building, but lay the
eggS jn a shallow depression
hollowed out by the breast among the leaves or in the
ground. Many ground-nesting birds lay eggs that are
colored like the leaves and earth, and are therefore
more likely to escape notice. The ground nest is usually
more or less concealed by a clump of grass, weeds, a bush,
log, or base of a tree. Being made of leaves or grass, the
nests are hard to distinguish from the background. The

FIG. 17. Robin's Nest.

(Showing method of mounting. Materials — grass,
twigs, mud.)

BIRDS

in

nests of ground sparrows are especially well hidden among
the grass or weeds, and one may almost step on such before
the bird will fly off and be seen, and even then the nest may
not be easily found.

Probably for greater safety from weasels, foxes, snakes,

and other foes the birds first , -^ _

took to building in trees and
bushes. Most such nests are
perched in the crotch of a tree
or shrub, although some, like
the humming-bird and some-
times the robin, will saddle
the nest on top of a twig or a
bough. Some, like the vireos
and orioles, suspend their nests
from the branches. Among
tree dwellers we find some
hawks, owls, and eagles, the
crow, mourning dove, robin,
kingbird, bluejay, blackbird,
grosbeak, cedarbird, wood
thrush, catbird, many war-
blers, and some sparrows. FIG. 18. oriole's Nest.
Some birds seem to prefer (Hair and fibre interwoven into a hanging basket-}
special kinds of trees. The robin has a liking for box-elders
and maples, and the oriole a fondness for the drooping
branches of the elm.

Most song birds use small twigs, grass, fine fibrous roots,
bark fibre, and hair for the material of the nest. Many
plaster this material together with mud or clay. This is
seen well in the robin's, the phcebe's, and the eaves-swallow's

ii2 NATURE-STUDY

nests. The coarsest material is placed on the foundation
and at the outside. Many birds put a lining of horse-hair or
feathers on the inside of the nest. The eider duck's nest is
chiefly of feathers plucked from the breast of the mother, and,
when the nest is left, the eggs are carefully covered with
feathers.

The various materials are carefully woven together, the
bird using its bill for the purpose. Even the mud is carried
in the bill. The general form of the nest is moulded by the
bird's pressing the material into shape with its body. Watch
a robin building a nest, and you will see the bird frequently
squatting down and turning about in it to give the materials
the desired shape.

Birds often display considerable ingenuity and discretion
in the choice of a location for the nest. Some seabirds, on
inaccessible islands and cliffs, do not need much of a
nest for the protection of the eggs and young; but where
enemies are liable to intrude, the nest must be made incon-
spicuous or placed in a safe location. The red-winged black-
birds, marsh wrens, and bobolinks find safety by building in
the swamps and marshes. The first makes a large, loose nest of
marsh grasses, woven together and fastened to reeds or cattails.

A number of birds live in hollows in trees or stumps, as
the wren, flycatchers, nuthatches, brown creepers, chicka-
dees, and bluebirds. Woodpeckers dig out their own hol-
lows in dead trees by means of their stout chisel beaks.
Their nest is lined only with wood chips. Owls are often
found in large hollows in decayed trees.

The crevices and ledges of cliffs are selected by many birds,
especially on the seacoast by sea-fowl. Phcebes and cliff
swallows also lodge in such places.

BIRDS 113

The kingfisher and bank-swallow dig tunnels into the
sides of clayey or sandy bluffs, at the ends of which they
make their nests.

A wonderful nest is that of the eaves-swallow, which is
found under the eaves of barns and houses. This is a flask
or cup shaped nest made of pellets of clay plastered together
and lined with feathers.

The chimney-swift makes a pretty little shelf of sticks

FIG. 19. Nest of Humming-Bird.

< Built of lichens. Simulating a wart on the twig.)

which it cements together with a sticky saliva and attaches
to the inside of unused chimneys.

One of the daintiest nests is that of the humming-bird.
This is a tiny thing composed of moss and fibres plastered
over with lichens and lined with cotton. The nest is cemented
on top of a branch, and so cleverly imitates a knot that it
easily remains unnoticed.

The Baltimore oriole's nest is beautiful in workmanship,
and is safely and airily suspended from the end of a drooping
elm branch, where neither snake, squirrel, nor small boy

ii4 NATURE-STUDY

dares to venture. Occasionally other trees, soft maples and
tall cottonwoods, are selected for the nest. It is composed
of a network of bark fibres, grasses, hair, and threads skil-
fully woven together into a little sack or swinging basket,
and is hung below the branch.

The little house wren will build in almost any sort of
cavity, a knot-hole in a tree, a deserted woodpecker's nest,

a hollow gourd
suspended on
poles or walls,
even old boots
and coat pock-
ets. The house
wren is very
easily attracted
to our homes by
placing a bird-
house on some
shady wall or
on a tree. The
hole should be

FIG. 20. Wren Box, Side Removed. rather high UD

and not more than one inch in diameter. Here is a picture of
the inside of a wren-box. It is more than half filled with
coarse sticks and twigs, some six or eight inches long, which
the bird knew enough to take in endwise.. Finally, a few
feathers and some cottonwood down were added for lining.

The nesting habits of the house sparrow are easily ob-
served. It builds in sheltered nooks about the house, over
cornices, mouldings, in drain-spouts, and in holes in the
walls or roof. The nest itself is not very elegant, being

BIRDS 115

hardly more than a loose pile of straw, sticks, grass, and
feathers. It is sometimes quite large, often causing trouble
with drains, and looks unsightly on the house. For this
reason many people destroy the nests. The birds frequently
rebuild several times before becoming discouraged.

Some grebes make a floating nest of rushes and sedges
which they fasten to growing stems of water plants.

The cowbird builds no nest of her own, but lays her eggs
in the nests of other often smaller birds. The foster parents
hatch and rear the young cowbird. Most writers on this
subject say that the parent cowbirds pay no attention
whatever to the young. But Mr. Mason, in "A Hermit's
Wild Friends," asserts that he has frequently seen the mother
of the young cowbird visiting the nest where her offspring is
quartered, and occasionally has seen her feed it, and that,
when finally out of the nest, she assumed full care of the
young bird.

There are two kinds of nestlings, precocial and altricial.
The former are down-covered at birth and are able to run
about or swim, and in a measure take care of themselves and
feed alone. Domestic chicks, young turkeys, ducks, and
goslings belong to this class, and also quail, grouse, and wild
waterfowl. But most birds are born far less advanced.
They are naked or almost so, weak and helpless, and remain
for a time in the nest, and are taken care of and fed by the
parents. This is generally for a period of several weeks,
till they are able to fly. For this reason a good, well-con-
cealed nest is an advantage. The featherless and helpless
state of this class of young birds is seen well in the case
of the canary. Young robins, blackbirds, woodpeckers,
thrushes, sparrows, etc., are like this. It is interesting to

n6 NATURE-STUDY

watch the development of the nestlings. At first ugly and
nearly naked, they become covered with down, and then
later the real feathers appear, first on the shoulders, wings,
and tail, and later on the rest of the body. The colors of the
young, even when fully fledged, are not quite like those of
the old birds, are less distinct in marking and less intense.

Watch the old birds feed the young. They seem almost
always hungry, and keep their parents very busy, bring-
ing worms, insects, fruit,
grain, etc. Professor Tread-
well records that a young
robin requires its own
weight of insects daily.
The parents have been
timed to carry food as
often as once a minute to
FIG. 21. Young Grosbeaks. the young. The infant diet,

even of seed-eaters like the sparrows, is at first almost wholly
insects- and worms. After leaving the nest the young still
receive some care from their parents. The robins, blue-
jays, grosbeaks, and sparrows may be seen in the yards and
on the lawns, feeding the big babies that have left the nest
and can fly almost as well as the old ones.

Migration

Most of our birds migrate to milder climates as the cold
weather of autumn approaches. The increasing coolness of
the weather and the decreasing food supply, especially in-
sects, are probably the chief reasons for migration, though
there are probably other influences that impel the birds to
take up their yearly pilgrimages. Migration habits are in-

BIRDS 117

teresting and easily observed. Many birds gather in flocks,
sometimes of very great size, preliminary to migrating. Black-
birds congregate and fly in vast armies sometimes miles in
length. Bluebirds and robins go in smaller parties, and by
shorter stages, resting here and there on the way. Ducks
and geese fly in marshalled flocks, and probably in longer
flights, although even they stop on the way in our northern
lakes. Many birds disappear quietly without attracting any
notice, except that they all seem to be gone, when we think
of them. Some fly by day, as the above mentioned, others
in the night, as is known by their disappearance between
days, and also from the observations of lighthouse-keepers.

Where do the birds go? Many do not go further than
the Middle and Southern States. The bobolink, which is
found only in pairs here and there in the meadows in the
North, collects in great armies on its way and spends the
winters in the southern rice-fields along the coast of the Gulf.
The robins also go here for the winter. Some of our birds
go to Mexico, and even to South America. Some fly across
to the West Indies.

It seems probable that birds are guided in their travels
by more than the sense of sight. They have a good sense of
direction, and often fly across the sea in foggy weather with-
out losing their way. Different species choose different
routes of migration. Sea fowl generally travel along the
coasts. Some of the land birds travel along the Atlantic
Coast and then fly across from Florida to the West Indies,
and from there to the shores of South America. Their route
seems to be governed by the food supply. For most of the
species that fly via the West Indies do not use the Lesser
Antilles as stepping-stones, as here the food supply would

n8 NATURE-STUDY

not be sufficient for so many birds. Others go to Mexico and
South America by flying over the mainland and the Isthmus,
while still others fly from the Gulf States across the Gulf,
and not necessarily at its narrowest part either. This shows
that some birds are not averse to long flights over the water.
In their migrations birds are subject to many dangers.
Along the coast they are attracted by the lighthouses at night,
and beat themselves to death against the shining beacons.
Storms, rain, sleet, and cold often destroy thousands of them.
Many flocks are exhausted and drown in the seas they at-
tempt to cross.

Mr. W. W. Cooke writes in the 1903 "Yearbook of the
United States Department of Agriculture" of the Eastern
nighthawk migrating 5,000 miles from Alaska to Patagonia,
and the American golden plover going from within the Arctic
Circle to the southern part of Argentine, a distance of 8,000
miles. He also gives interesting estimates of the rate of
travel. The average speed in the northward migration in
the spring from the Southern States to Minnesota is about
23 miles per day, increasing more and more after this, to
40 miles through Minnesota, and to 70 or more miles farther
north. The reason for this increase is that the season ad-
vances more rapidly farther north. He states that most
birds that winter south of the United States outstrip the
spring in its advance, but that the robin advances more
slowly than spring.

In the warm South the birds spend the winter and enjoy
themselves. But on the return of spring they go north to
breed. Northern latitudes seem better for the breeding,
and many birds build their nests far north in Alaska, the
Mackenzie Valley, Labrador, and even in Greenland. The

BIRDS 119

return is sometimes made in great flocks that distribute
themselves gradually over a wide territory. Sometimes the
flocks are small. Sometimes the flight is direct, and some-
times by short and easy stages. In the spring we frequently
notice the appearance of flocks of robins and other species,
which suddenly disappear, probably having passed on farther
north. In a number of species the males come first. Indi-
vidual, marked birds have been positively known to return
to the same summer home year after year.

In mild winters some of the birds of passage do not go south,
but remain with us. Crows, robins, flickers, song-sparrows,
bluebirds, etc., have been observed in the North in winter.

There are certain birds that stay with us in the northern
part of the United States all the year. Owls and hawks,
quail and grouse, downy woodpeckers, nuthatches, chicadees,
bluejays, English sparrows, snowbirds, and others remain
with us to enliven the wintry landscape. They find a living
in the seeds of weeds and grasses that project above the
snow, or in buds, berries, and nuts on trees and shrubs.
The eggs, larvae, and chrysalides of insects found on the bark
of trees also supply a large part of the winter food. The
birds of prey catch smaller birds and small mammals.

The Food of Birds

The food of birds depends upon the. species, upon the mode
of life of the bird, and upon the food conditions. Birds are
either predominantly vegetivorous or insectivorous, some eat-
ing the flesh of other animals. But most of the first class will
also eat insects, and vice versa.

The vegetable diet consists of seeds, fruits, nuts, grains,
corn, buds, leaves, and sap.

120 NATURE-STUDY

A large number of bird species feed upon the seeds of
weeds, such as ragweed, pigweed, the buckwheat family,
hemp, mullein, and wild grasses. The great group of
sparrows especially eat the seeds of weeds. So do the black-
birds, cowbirds, bobolinks, quail, grouse, pigeon, and wild
ducks.

Cultivated grains are eaten by crows, jays, blackbirds,
pigeons, prairie chickens, ruffed grouse, quail, sparrows,
meadow larks, bobolinks, ducks, and geese. Nuthatches,
woodpeckers, crows, jays, pigeons, blackbirds, grouse, and
quail feed upon corn.

Wild rice in the swamps is a favorite food with many birds,
especially red-winged blackbirds, bobolinks, rails, and wild
ducks. The same birds commit great havoc in the southern
fields of cultivated rice.

The dry seeds or fruits of many trees are relished. The
white elm nutlets, the fruits of birches tend maples, and the
seeds of conifers (especially pine) are eaten by finches,
sparrows, woodpeckers, chickadees, and nuthatches. They
constitute, with the seeds of weeds, the chief winter diet of
many birds.

Nuts are eaten by crows and bluejays, which peck them
open. But the pigeon, grouse, ducks, and quail shell them
in their gizzards.

The dried fruits of .the sumach, bayberry, rose, Virginia
creeper, grape, and barberry, that remain on the winter
shrubbery and vines, afford food for the winter residents —
chicadees, nuthatches, sparrows, snowbirds, jays, and crows.

There are many birds that relish juicy fruits, and in the
ripening time they sometimes do damage to fruit and berry
plantations. The catbirds, brown thrashers, robins, sparrows,

BIRDS 121

quail, grouse, cedar birds, orioles, blackbirds, flickers, blue-
birds, crows, and others like fruit. But most of them
seem to prefer the wild fruit, such as choke-cherries, wild
grapes, raspberries, blackberries, partridge berries, bar-
berries, blueberries, huckleberries, elderberries, Virginia
creeper, mountain ash, and cranberries.

In the winter and early spring quail, grouse, sparrows, and

FIG. 22. A Weedy Cornfield.

(The feeding ground of many birds in autumn and winter.)

grosbeaks eat the buds of trees and shrubs. Grouse, ducks,
and geese also eat leaves of shrubs and herbs.

The yellow-bellied woodpecker, also called sapsucker, is
so called because he taps maple and orchard trees for the
sap. The chicadees and kinglets, also, will drink the sap of
wounded trees.

The animal diet of birds consists primarily of insects,
also of spiders, thousand legs, snails, angleworms, crayfish,

122 NATURE-STUDY

fish, frogs, toads, lizards, and snakes, while the larger birds
feed upon the smaller mammals and birds. Practically
all birds, even the little nectar-loving humming-bird, will
include insects on their bill of fare. Some birds, like the
wrens, swallows, tanagers, swifts, nighthawks, warblers, and
vireos, are almost exclusively insectivorous. Thrushes, cat-
birds, robins, bluebirds, woodpeckers, chicadees, blue jays,
brown thrashers, cowbirds, cedar birds, orioles, brown
creepers, rose-breasted grosbeaks, kingbirds, phcebes, and
many shore birds feed chiefly upon insects.

The Economic Value of Birds

One thing should be emphasized in bird study, and that
is the "dollar and cents" value of birds. Man has a much
greater material interest in the birds than in their song and
beauty and lively ways. Our forefathers snared and shot
with bow and arrow the game birds, and we hunt them still.
Canvasback ducks, prairie chicken, and quail on toast are
delicacies of food.

Long ago man captured the jungle fowl, wild goose, and
wild duck, and more recently the wild turkey, and has
domesticated them all. From them we have derived the
great variety of our domestic poultry. Poultry may be con-
sidered as domesticated game. The chicken industry alone
is very large in this country. The estimated production of
eggs in the United States is about 2,000 million dozen, which
at only fifteen cents a dozen would amount to $300,000,000.
To this should be added the dressed poultry of the meat
markets and the down of geese and ducks.

The eggs of many wild birds, particularly seagulls, are
gathered in boat-loads on the sea cliffs and rocky isl-

BIRDS

123

ands along the coasts, and used for food and other pur-
poses.

Ducks and geese furnish us with soft pillows and downy
beds. The finest down comes from the nests of the eider
duck along the far northern sea coasts. This duck lines

F c. .^3. Feeding the Chickens.

her nest and covers her eggs with feathers plucked from
her breast.

Man, or rather woman, has borrowed the plumage of birds
for personal adornment, and an immense trade flourishes in
ostrich plumes and the feathers of many other birds.

As a minor economic item, may be mentioned the catching
and sale of song and pet birds, such as the canary, mocking-
bird, and parrot.

i24 NATURE-STUDY

Mention should also be made of guano, which is a very
valuable fertilizer, and is the accumulated manure of sea
birds found on many islands in dry climates, especially off
the Peruvian coast.

Another economic aspect of the birds is seen when we
consider the harm that certain birds do. Many species en-
tail a loss to man by injuring his crops, or feeding upon his
fruits, or by robbing him of domesticated animals or of game.
Blackbirds and crows are great grain and corn thieves, and
when they gather in flocks of thousands in a farmer's
field, they do great damage to the freshly sown grain, or
dig up the planted corn, or shell out the heads of the
standing crop. When troublesome this way they are de-
servedly shot. The bobolinks, so famous in poetry and so
harmless and cheering in the North, become a veritable pest
in the southern rice fields, where they spend the winter in
vast flocks. Here they are shot and eaten by the negroes
and others. The cedarbird, catbird, thrush, and robin
do considerable damage to small fruit, such as cherries and
berries. The Baltimore oriole has a bad habit of pecking
open the pods of green peas. Farmers and gardeners try to
protect themselves by shooting the thieves or by setting up
scarecrows, which, however, are generally useless. Crows,
hawks, and owls steal poultry, and occasionally they thus
cause great annoyance.

On the other hand, practically all birds feed upon insects,
and many destroy other harmful creatures or such as are
considered a nuisance. In this way man derives a great
indirect benefit from the birds. This is not realized as
thoroughly as it should be, or it is often forgotten, while
at the same time only the sins of the birds are remem-

BIRDS

I25

bered against them. Some one sees a sapsucker bleeding an
apple tree, and perhaps injuring a limb. Immediately the
orchardist places the bird upon the harmful list and makes
war upon it, forgetting the good this bird does in ridding
his fruit trees of harmful
borers, beetles, plant lice,
etc. Teach the children
to suspend judgment on
the birds, and not to con-
demn them immediately
as unmitigated pests. If
a cedarbird takes a little
fruit, it does still more
good by destroying nox-
ious insects. Let the fruit
taken be considered part
payment for the good
done. The economic im-
portance of the birds can
only be determined by
averaging the good and
the harm they do. This
is found out by a care-
ful study of the feeding
habits of the birds. In-
vestigators of the United States Department of Agriculture and
others, such as Beal, Judd, Forbes, Fisher, Weed, Dearborn,
etc., have shot many thousands of birds of different species
in different seasons and have examined the contents of their
stomachs. From such observations we are able to say more
accurately whether a bird is on the whole useful or harmful.

FIG. 24. Apple Tree Showing Good Work of
Woodpeckers Hunting for Borers.

126 NATURE-STUDY

Thus we can say that the goshawk, the sharp-shinned
hawk, and Cooper's hawk do more harm than good, but
that the other hawks are on the whole beneficial in destroy-
ing harmful field vermin ; that the great horned owl is about
as useful in destroying field mice, rats, gophers, moles, frogs,
etc., as he is harmful in stealing chickens and in killing quail,
grouse, and song birds; and that the bluejay is not such
a thief and cannibal as he is generally thought to be. Most
bird students agree that the English sparrow has proved a
curse instead of blessing to this country. He does not pay
for the grain he eats, nor for the beneficial birds he drives
away, nor for the general nuisance he makes of himself
around our houses.

We know that the woodpeckers and warblers keep our
trees free from borers, caterpillars, plant lice, etc. ; and that
cuckoos and flycatchers, meadow larks, orioles, swallows,
wrens, robins, and bluebirds are almost wholly beneficial.
They feed almost entirely upon injurious insects and worms.
We know that the wild sparrows, such as the song, chipping,
tree, field, and other sparrows, and the slate-colored junco
are very useful in eating great quantities of weed and grass
seeds. Professor Beal estimates1 that in Iowa alone the
single species of the tree sparrow destroys at least 875 tons
of weed seed. And Mr. Judd estimates2 that the bob whites
in the State of Virginia annually destroy 573 tons of weed
seeds. This gives a good idea of the usefulness of some of
our birds.

Birds are the natural check upon the too great multiplica-
tion of insects. The thrush family, the wren family, swal-

1 " Common Birds in Relation to Agriculture," Farmer's Bulletin, No. 54.
2 Yearbook, 1903. U. S. Department of Agriculture.

BIRDS 127

lows, swifts, warblers, vireos, flycatchers, tanagers, and the
shore birds, woodpeckers, chicadees, and nighthawks are
almost entirely insectivorous, and highly beneficial to the
farmer, the fruit grower, and the truck gardener. They also
protect our flower gardens, our lawns, and our shade trees.

Even seed-eaters, like the blackbirds, bobolinks, jays,
finches, and sparrows are largely insectivorous; as are also
wading birds, grouse, hawks, and owls. The food of nest-
lings, even of seed eaters, is at first composed wholly of soft
insects, such as caterpillars, cut-worms, grubs, larvae of ants,
etc., flies, plant lice, etc. Gradually harder shelled insects,
like beetles, bugs, and locusts are added, then berries and
fruit, and then hard seeds. Thus even seed-eating sparrows,
etc., are valuable as insect exterminators during the breeding
season.

Birds feed especially upon any insects that become un-
usually numerous. Thus in plagues of cankerworms, army-
worms, or locusts, the birds find this class of food especially
abundant, and therefore subsist on it more than ordinarily.
In locust years these insects are eaten a great deal even by
birds not particularly insectivorous, such as owls, hawks,
sparrows, and grouse. Thus, when a plague of insects occurs,
the birds' activity in destroying them correspondingly in-
creases, and acts as a very great check on their multipli-
cation.

Mr. Forbes made an investigation during a cankerworm
plague that was ruining the shade trees, to see how well the
birds were doing their work in destroying this pest. He ex-
amined the stomachs of 149 birds of 36 different species,
and found that 85 birds representing 26 species had eaten
the worms. That is, 72 per cent, of the species, and 60 per

128

NATURE-STUDY

cent, of the birds had eaten the caterpillars. Taking the
149 birds, 35 per cent, of their food was cankerworms, a very
good showing.

There is a most unfortunate prejudice against hawks and
owls. An examination of their stomachs has shown that
most of them are positively beneficial to the farmer and the

fruit raiser in destroying
gophers, rats, mice, wea-
sels, moles, insects, etc.
And yet the average man
or boy feels that he is
virtuously doing his duty
in shooting them.

In the winter of 1904
field mice wrought great
destruction in the or-
chards of Minnesota and
Wisconsin. The mice
gnawed the bark at the
base of the young trees
and killed them. Similar
plagues of mice, gophers,
and other small rodents

in this country and elsewhere. The only natural check seems
to be larger mammals and hawks and owls. It is known
that these birds are attracted to those regions where such
pests abound, and destroy great numbers of them.

In 1886, the State of Pennsylvania offered a bounty on
hawks, owls, minks, and weasels, and in a year and a half paid
$90,000 in bounties. One hundred and twenty-eight thousand,

BIRDS 129

five hundred and seventy-one animals, mostly hawks and owls,
were killed under this law. The probable loss in poultry
from these animals, estimates1 Dr. C. H. Merriam, amounted
to about 5,000 fowls per year, which, if valued at 25 cents
apiece, would amount to $1,875 in one and a half years. This
price is fair, as most of the poultry was young. So the state
was taxed $90,000 to save $1,875, which the farmers and legis-
lators soon saw was bad economy. But the loss to the state
was really greater, says Dr. Merriam, if we think of the useful
owls and hawks that were killed, and of the loss of many
thousand dollars' worth of grain caused by field mice, gophers,
etc., which were allowed to live. Figuring on the grain eaten
by the mice, and on the capacity of three or four mice per
owl each day, he estimates a loss in grain of $3,500,000 in
the one and a half years that the law was in force. This is
an excellent object-lesson. Common hawks and owls, ex-
cepting the sharp-shinned and Cooper's hawk, and the great
horned owl, are much more beneficial than harmful, and
should not be killed.

The English sparrow has acquired a rather bad reputation
in this land, though when first introduced it was hoped that
it would be useful in destroying insects. About 1850, various
eastern cities were afflicted with a scourge of cankerworms
that destroyed the foliage of the shade trees in the streets
and parks, and thereby injured the trees. It was thought
that the English or house sparrow, being accustomed to city
life, would rid our cities of these plagues. So, in 1850, several
pairs of sparrows were imported and set free in Brooklyn,
and a few years later a large lot were brought to the same
city and other places, and the bird became established. Not

1 Report, i8863 Ornithologist of U. S. Department of Agriculture.

i3o NATURE-STUDY

only did it become established, but, finding conditions so agree-
able, as do many other immigrants, it thrived and soon spread
throughout the East and Middle West, and is on its onward
march across the continent. Not only is it to be seen in al-
most every village and city, but it has even invaded the rural
regions. Now, if the expectations of those who introduced
the bird had been realized, it would be well. But, unfortu-
nately, the sparrow is not as insectivorous as was hoped, and
has the habit of eating grain. He is a pugnacious little bird,
and will drive away other and more desirable birds, like the
robins, bluebirds, swallows, wrens, etc. He pre-empts the
bird houses we put up for these birds, and has been
known to destroy their nests, eggs, and young. He is a
nuisance generally in that he clogs up rain-spouts on the
houses, or builds his rather unsightly nests in all kinds of
nooks and on all kinds of protected cornices and mouldings,
and soils the houses with his roosting places. Moreover,
the shrill, monotonous chirping of the sparrow becomes very
tiresome. All these things have caused a revulsion of feeling
against the sparrow, and now there are frequent and serious
proposals and even attempts to destroy him by wholesale, by
snaring and poisoning and the destruction of eggs. But
these attempts are hopeless now that the bird has spread.
The English sparrow has come to stay, and we must pay
the penalty for bringing him here by enduring his an-
noyances.

There is, however, this to be said in favor of the house
sparrow. He frequents the busy streets that would be
avoided by other birds, and he enlivens them by his presence.
Then, too, he does eat insects to a certain extent, and these
are chiefly the diet of th£ nestlings. Sparrows also eat a large

BIRDS i3I

quantity of weed and grass seed. I have often seen them
collecting caterpillars from infested trees, and have seen
flocks of them on the lawns, eating the seeds of crab-grass and
other weeds.

CHAPTER X
PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF BIRDS

THERE are many natural checks to the over-multiplication
of birds. They have their natural enemies, such as birds of
prey, weasels, minks, foxes, cats, and snakes. There are
parasitic and other diseases that destroy many. The ele-
ments are especially destructive of bird life. On their migra-
tions birds are driven out of their course by adverse winds,
and falling from exhaustion are killed on the ground. They
are also beaten against trees and buildings, or fall into the
sea, if they happen to be attempting the passage over the
water, and are drowned. Occasionally severe cold waves
penetrate far south in winter, and then many of the birds
perish.

Annie Trumbull Slosson describes in Bird-Lore, April,
1899, the freezing to death of many birds at Miami, Florida,
in February, 1899. " The next morning the sun shone brightly,
though the weather was still very cold — the mercury had fal-
len below 30 degrees during the night. But as I raised the
shades of my eastern windows I saw half a dozen swallows
sitting on the window-ledge in the sunshine, while the air
seemed again filled with flashing wings. . . . But alas! it
was but a remnant that escaped. Hundreds were found
dead. Men were sent out with baskets to gather the limp
little bodies from the piazzas, ledges, and copings. It was

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF BIRDS 133

a pitiful sight for St. Valentine's Day, when, as the old song
has it, 'The birds were all choosing their mates.'"

In the spring of 1904 when the Lapland longspurs were
passing through the State of Minnesota on the way to their
northern summer home, they migrated in vast flocks. They
encountered cold weather, winds, and even snow and sleet,
and, exhausted, they came to the ground, where they were
either killed by the fall or died from exposure. The ground
for miles around was strewn with the dead bodies of the
birds, which lay thickly in the streets and on the sidewalks
and porches of the towns in the southwestern part of the
state. It will take many years of breeding to make up the
loss experienced by this species.

Sometimes the birds are lured northward by mild weather
in early spring, and are then very numerously destroyed by
subsequent cold and snow. I recall one such spring in the
rolling prairie region of Minnesota. Many ground sparrows
had made nests and even hatched, when a snowstorm de-
stroyed not only the young but many of the old birds. The
bluebirds also fared very badly that year.

These vicissitudes of the birds are mentioned to indicate
various agencies that tend to reduce their numbers. But
one of the most serious of all the enemies of birds is man.
Game birds are shot by the hunter. The farmer kills the
birds because he believes that they eat his crops or steal his
chickens. Rarity attracts the bird collector. Professional
collectors seek the skins and plumage for the millinery trade.
Even the song is a source of danger. Nightingales, finches,
thrushes, etc., are snared by thousands, to be sold as cage
birds. Eggs are collected for the markets, from the cliffs and
islands on the coast. Would-be ornithologists collect eggs and

I34 NATURE-STUDY

shoot birds to make a "collection." Small boys and grown
men destroy thousands of birds for "fun" with sling or gun.

FlG. 26. Hunting Grouse.

The game birds suffer most. The wild turkey and the
pinnated grouse are almost exterminated. In the days of

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF BIRDS 135

Audubon wild pigeons were so numerous that they formed
flocks that were miles in length and actually darkened the
sun. Nowadays they are rare.

The unrestricted shooting of game has driven many kinds
to less settled regions or almost destroyed them. Such
shooting is especially destructive in the breeding season, and
an element of unnecessary cruelty and wantonness is added
when the young birds are left to starve because the parents
are killed.

On the seacoast much harm is done the birds by the col-
lection of eggs, often by boat-loads, from the rocky islets and
cliffs. These eggs are eaten, or are used in tanning and
other industries, but the birds that are robbed are discouraged
and driven from their accustomed breeding places, and, of
course, the multiplication of the species is curtailed.

Even our harmless or useful song birds are killed. Through
ignorance or prejudice, farmers and others destroy them be-
cause they take a little grain or fruit. Hawks and owls,
which are as a class very beneficial, are generally killed as
chicken thieves. The small boys with air-guns, sling-shot, or
other weapon do a great deal of harm in the name of pleasure
or sport. Such "sport" is very reprehensible, and should
be severely checked by parents, teachers, and civic authori-
ties. In many cities laws are passed prohibiting the killing
of song birds. Animals in parks are generally thoroughly
protected for the benefit and pleasure of those who go there,
and this principle should be extended to the wild birds
everywhere.

Our schools, by sensible and sympathetic study of the
birds, can do much to counteract their destruction. More
correct ideas can be taught about their harmfulness and use-

136 NATURE-STUDY

fulness, their natural checks and enemies, their habits and
food, and the need of close seasons in hunting. A knowl-
edge of bird life, and a sympathetic interest in birds,
should do much for the cause of their protection. I be-
lieve it would be a good thing if the principal features of
the game laws of each state were read to the boys in the
schools once a year, and the meaning and purpose of the
laws made clear.

It is a question how much shooting of birds may be justified
in the name of science. The average boy certainly should
not be encouraged in making a collection of stuffed birds.
There may be some boy with a marked interest in ornithology
who may be permitted to shoot birds for such a purpose,
but he should be advised not to destroy any more life than
necessary.

Many boys have the egg-collecting fever for a short
while, during which they may commit much harm. If the
collecting is done with a serious purpose, to learn more of the
birds, it may be encouraged, but with proper restraints. The
collector should not take the whole clutch of eggs from a
nest, but only one or two. When eggs are collected, as in
the case of the ordinary stamp collections, merely for the
collecting, and when the collectors make a practice of selling
their eggs, the practice should be checked.

We have our societies for the prevention of cruelty to ani-
mals. These societies are largely composed of women.
Yet many of these same women, who would have a man
arrested for beating his horse inhumanly, or for leaving it
unblanketed in the cold, will contentedly and with pleasure
wear hats adorned with the plumage of birds, plumage that
was obtained by the death of the bird to which it belonged.

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF BIRDS 137

Of course this is generally due to thoughtlessness. These
women would shrink with horror at the thought of doing
the killing themselves, or even if they realized fully that others
had to do it for them.

From the tropics to the polar regions birds are shot for
plumage for the millinery trade. As the feathers for hats
sometimes bring $15 per ounce, it is a great temptation for
men to go and hunt the birds. Beautiful paroquets, orioles,
tanagers, terns, egrets, and other kinds of harmless or useful
birds are killed in great numbers. If ladies must adorn
themselves with borrowed plumage, let them use the feathers
of game birds, which are shot for food anyway, and of the
domesticated birds, among which we may now include the
ostrich.

The story of the American egret and the snowy egret,
which furnish the beautiful aigrettes for hats, is especially
pathetic. Aigrettes are the plumes that develop on the
head, wings, and back of the egrets, and are finest in the
breeding season. In the southern part of the United States,
where they live, they form large colonies where, in the breed-
ing period, it is an easy matter for hunters to kill them
by hundreds. The saddest feature of this slaughter is that,
when their parents are shot, the young are left to starve
miserably. Women should be ashamed to be in any man-
ner connected with this cruel business. As long as they will
buy and wear aigrettes, however, there will be a demand for
the plumes, and hunters will be paid to furnish them.

The millinery trade demands enormous numbers of
feathers whenever they are the fashion. Some plumage
is imported from other countries, particularly the tropical
regions, where the birds are most gorgeously colored.

138 NATURE-STUDY

A dealer in bird skins in three months killed 11,000 birds
in South Carolina. He sold 30,000 a year mainly to the
millinery trade. A New York milliner, who wanted 40,000
skins, hired men to shoot gulls, terns, etc., on an island off
the coast of Virginia, and paid 10 cents apiece for them.
During four months a Long Island village furnished 70,000
terns and land birds for the trade.

Happily, a change seems to be taking place in regard to the
wearing of feathers, though how long the present decrease in
their use will last is impossible to state. It may be that when
feathers are next in vogue in millinery, the birds will again
suffer. But at present most ladies, in this country at least,
have had the cruelty of the practice of wearing plumage
shown to them, and prefer not to wear it. The crusade of
the last twenty years against the wearing of feathers seems
to have had good results. In our schools the cause of pro-
tection for the birds has been helped. Various ornithological
societies, the Audubon Societies, and the League of American
Sportsmen have united in showing the enormity of the de-
struction of birds that has been going on, and in urging the
abandonment of the fashion of wearing feathers. The
periodical and daily press also have lent their aid in this good
work.

As a result of all this agitation the separate states and
the National Government have passed laws regulating or
prohibiting the destruction of birds, the shipment, and
even possession of plumage of birds other than game.
The Lacey Act, passed by Congress in 1900, prohibits the
importation of all foreign birds except such as are per-
mitted by the Secretary of Agriculture. This prevents the
importation of birds from the tropics or other countries,

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF BIRDS 139

and aids the states in stopping the traffic in birds across
their borders.

While the laws are not all that is to be desired, they still
go a good way toward the protection of harmless and bene-
ficial birds. Of course there are time limits set for the
hunting of game birds, and the export of game is prohibited.
Massachusetts, New York, and some other states have
millinery clauses in their game laws, and make the sale or
possession, and even the wearing of the feathers of protected
birds a misdemeanor. No doubt through the enforcement
of these restrictive laws the millinery traffic in plumage
will dimmish greatly.

Audubon Societies

In 1886 there was started by Dr. George Bird Grinnell,
editor of Forest and Stream, an organization for the protection
of birds other than game in the State of New York, which
soon had branches in almost every state in the Union. This
organization was called the Audubon Society, in honor of
that great naturalist and lover of the birds, John James
Audubon, who studied American birds in the first half of the
last century. The chief work of this society was to combat
the large trade in feathers for millinery purposes, and when
this trade declined, partly through the efforts of the society
and partly because of a change in the fashion in hat decora-
tion, the society died out. In 1896, however, on a revival
of the feather trade, new Audubon societies were formed in
different states, notably in Massachusetts. All the state
societies are bound together by a national committee.

The aims of the present Audubon societies are, first, to
awaken public sentiment in favor of the birds by means of

140 NATURE-STUDY

society meetings, libraries of bird literature, lectures, school-
work, bird calendars, bird charts, the observance of Bird
Day in the schools, outings for bird study, pins, badges, etc. ;
and, secondly, the establishment of protective legislation for
other than game birds, and its enforcement. The protec-
tion of game is left to the various national and other sports-
men's leagues.

The magazine Bird-Lore ($1.00 per year) is the official
organ of the Audubon societies, and it is also interesting and
valuable for its descriptions of birds and bird life.

The trade in feathers has been greatly checked, as far
as our native birds are concerned, by the efforts of the
Audubon societies. Restrictive laws have also been passed
prohibiting the importation of foreign birds, and wardens
have been engaged to protect the gulls, terns, and other sea
birds on the Atlantic coast from the depredations of hunters.

There will always be need for such organizations. In
certain communities or regions there develops from time to
time a lack of interest in the birds, or a prejudice arises
against certain species, or the boys have the egg-collecting
fad, or worse, wantonly shoot the birds with gun or sling-
shot. At such times the organization of the children and
interested adults into Audubon or similiar societies would be
an excellent thing. As soon as a healthy sentiment is
awakened against it, the evil will be checked. Even though
the organization is disbanded later, it can easily be reor-
ganized as soon as another need for it arises.

Bird Day in the Schools

Many schools set aside a day in spring as Bird Day. Its
purpose is similar to that of Arbor Day, to disseminate

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF BIRDS 141

knowledge about the birds, and to arouse a more general in-
terest in their protection. The idea originated with Professor
C. A. Babcock, of Oil City, Pa. In May, 1894, a day was
observed there as Bird Day, and the schools of other cities
soon followed this example. Now the day is a regular feature
of the school calendar of several states, and in some of them
its observance is even recognized by law.

Education is very properly recognized as one of the most

FIG. 26. Young Grosbeaks.

important factors in bird protection. Courts of law and
officers are not as effective for this purpose as a strong
sentiment in school children in favor of the birds. For the
small boy is most destructive of the local song birds. By
education proper sentiments can be instilled into the boys that
will remain with them as men, and, not least in importance,
the girls can be taught to see the cruelty of wearing birds'
plumage and to abhor the fashion for that reason when they
grow up.

Bird Day should be the culmination rather than the be-
ginning of bird study. After the birds have been studied

i42 NATURE-STUDY

intelligently and sympathetically during the early spring,
let Bird Day be observed. It will then be appreciated
better and be more effective.

The following are suggestions for Bird Day programmes,
which can be modified according to the age of the children.

Original essays, giving descriptions of certain local birds,
bird habits, bird haunts, bird food, etc. Discussions on the
benefit and harm from birds. Reading of the game laws,
and their explanation. Reading of the laws protecting song
birds. Reading of Senator Hoar's petition of the birds to
the Legislature of Massachusetts. Impersonations by the
children of certain birds, the description of their habits,
and the guessing of their names. Reading of literature
published by the Audubon and other protective societies
descriptive of the destruction of the birds and the use of
plumage in the millinery trade. A discussion of the natural
enemies and dangers of birds. The account of personal ex-
periences with the birds by the children and others. Recita-
tions of poems and readings of prose selections about the
birds. An excellent feature would be an illustrated lantern-
slide lecture by some one who has made a study of the
birds. The room could be decorated with nests (old ones),
colored pictures of the native birds, children's drawings of
canaries, and parrots, etc., in cages. The reading of Long-
fellow's "Birds of Killingworth " is especially appropriate
or the day.

In places where the birds are much persecuted it would
be well to make special effort on Bird Day to interest old
and young in its observance. School patrons, and other
citizens, civic authorities, etc., should be invited to attend,
and beneficial legislation might result in the end.

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF BIRDS 143

Attracting the Birds

It is possible to attract birds near our homes if we can
surround them with the conditions they demand. The best
way is to plant trees and shrubbery about the house. There
should be clumps of trees and shrubs so as to afford shelter
and concealment and places for their nests. Evergreens
are much used by the birds as shelter against wind,
snow, and rain, and are a favorite choice for building-
sites. Fruit trees and berry bushes are sure to attract birds,
not only for the fruit, but for the caterpillars and other in-
sects that live on these plants. Wild berries and fruit seem
to be preferred to cultivated ones. Choke-cherry, mountain
ash, raspberry, barberry, currant, etc., and grape and wood-
bine afford food, some of them even to winter birds. Clumps
of hemp, ragweed, sunflower, etc., attract the seed-eaters.
Nuthatches, woodpeckers, chicadees, and other winter
birds can be induced to stay during the summer by feed-
ing them in the winter months. Pieces of tallow or bacon
fastened to the trees in the winter will be relished by the
birds.

In towns cats are the worst enemies of the birds, and
should not be allowed to run at large if one wishes to attract
the latter.

In the summer a very good way to attract the birds, es-
pecially if they have far to go for open water, is to set up a
drinking and bathing fountain or basin. These are much
appreciated by the birds. A drinking trough or basin is
made by nailing a board on top of a post or by placing a
shelf on the trunk of a tree. On this put any large, shallow
dish, a stone crock, a large flower-pot saucer, or chopping-

144

NATURE-STUDY

bowl, filled with water. The water should be renewed daily
and the dish frequently cleaned. In the hot, dry weather
of summer many birds will come to drink and bathe. It is
pleasant to see the birds taking their baths. I have had such

a drinking and bath-
ing basin for several
summers, and con-
sider it one of the
greatest satisfactions
I get from my gar-
den. Right in the
heart of the town
the basin is visited
by robins, bluejays,
grosbeaks, catbirds,
orioles, and, of
course, numberless
sparrows. At one
time I counted as
many as eighteen
house sparrows at
the basin at one time.
The robins are es-
pecially regular visi-
tors to it. No other
bird seems to bathe as regularly as this one and to enjoy its
bath so thoroughly. The basin-stand may be made more
attractive by growing plants in a box around the basin, and
vines at the foot of the post. Some branches nailed to the
post furnish convenient perches and add to the rustic effect.
Such a drinking basin should be set up on the school ground,

FIG. 27. Drinking Trough.

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF BIRDS 145

though, of course, not as many kinds of birds will visit there
as in less public places.

One very pleasant memory of my boyhood is that of the
bird houses near my home. I waited eagerly in the spring
for the bluebird that, year after year, built in one of the
houses, and for the purple martins that dwelt sociably in a
multiple cot.

Suggest to the school children the building of bird houses
early in spring. This is a good exercise in manual training.
Birds prefer a house made of weather-beaten boards to one
freshly painted in bright colors. If you paint the house at
all, paint it a dull color. Almost any sort of box, about
8x8xio inches will do. In one end cut a hole about two
inches in diameter for the entrance, and fasten in front of the
opening a perch or a platform for the bird to alight on.
For the house wren the opening should be made in the box
near the top, and it should not be more than an inch in
diameter. This allows the wren to enter, but not the spar-
row. Sparrows are a nuisance in many ways, but chiefly be-
cause they drive away other birds. They begin to nest earlier
than most other birds, and often pre-empt the houses designed
for martins and bluebirds. Keep the boxes closed till the
right birds arrive. Bird houses may be fastened to the walls
of buildings, on the gables of barns and sheds, or attached
to trees. Some birds, like the wren and the bluebird, prefer
to have the house shaded from the mid-day sun. Houses
may be placed upon poles, especially for the martin. Rustic
houses may be made by hollowing out a block of firewood, or
by nailing bark or small saplings on the outside of a board
house.

In this connection encourage boys to keep doves and

FIG. 29. Bird Houses. Robin Tray.

PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF BIRDS 147

poultry. Have them send to the United States Department
of Agriculture for Farmers' Bulletins, Nos. 41, 51, 64, 128, 177,
182, and 200, which give excellent directions for the keeping
of poultry and doves. These may be had free of charge.

CHAPTER XI

FROGS, TOADS, SALAMANDERS, SNAKES, LIZARDS,
TURTLES, ETC.

As unattractive as this title may seem, nevertheless the
animals named should be studied in nature-study. Prejudice
and repugnance once cast aside, these creatures are very in-
teresting, and furnish some very profitable lessons.

One reason why they should be studied is to combat the
superstitious dread that children and so many grown people
have for them, and which creates such a dislike that it results
in the killing of a vast number of these harmless animals.
Of course it is proper to caution the child against the few
really poisonous or dangerous reptiles that we have in this
country, but it is positively wrong for parents and others to
make children afraid of the harmless ones; for example, the
useful toad and the pretty little garter snake. Toads do not
cause warts, and garter snakes are neither vicious nor poison-
ous. The fear that many children have of reptiles is very
great, and we do them a service if we dispel this through
proper knowledge. Perhaps a little of this fear is instinctive.
Many lower animals, the dog, for instance, show their dislike
for reptiles; but most cases of fear in children are the result
of education, or rather false teaching from parents and com-
panions. If we teach our children that frogs, toads, and
snakes are harmless, and even useful in destroying harmful

pests, perhaps they will treat them more humanely. As it

148

1

FROGS, TOADS, SALAMANDERS, SNAKES, ETC. 149

is now, the average boy feels that he is doing a sort of duty
in killing a snake on sight, and he delights in killing frogs and
toads just for sport.

There is really no excuse for this killing, when we remem-
ber that it is generally the useful or harmless amphibians and
reptiles that are
killed. There are
no venomous
snakes in the
northern half of
the United States
except the rattle-
snakes, and these
are pretty well
exterminated in
the more settled
regions. There
are no other poi-
sonous reptiles in
.this region, and
the amphibians
are all harmless.

In the South there are the poisonous copperheads, moccasins,
and the little coral snake. In the Southwest there is one
poisonous lizard, the Gila monster.

Most people call salamanders lizards, and do not know
what amphibians are. Amphibians, such as the frog, toad,
and salamander, have a soft skin without scales. This is
generally kept moist for a time by an excreted liquid. The
boys will know that their frogs for fishing will die if they
are not kept moist. This is necessary for the reason that

FIG. 30. A Dish of Frog's Eggs.

150 NATURE-STUDY

the skin is used partly as an organ of respiration. As a
rule, these animals do not have claws on their toes.

But it is their development from the egg that especially
differentiates amphibians from the reptiles. The eggs are
generally laid in the water, or in some moist place, where

FIG. 31. Strings of Toad's Eggs.

they hatch from natural heat, not into frog-like or salamander-
like forms, but into tadpoles.

Tadpoles at first have no visible gills, but very soon there
develop on each side of the head or neck branching gills.
Later these disappear, inside gills develop, and gill slits
are left in the neck as in fishes. In fact, the tadpole stage
corresponds very closely in its structure and physiology to
the fish. During this time the tadpole lives an aquatic life

FROGS, TOADS, SALAMANDERS, SNAKES, ETC. 151

and breathes the air in the water with its gills. At this time
the food is mainly vegetable, consisting of minute algal
vegetation.

Gradually, as the tadpole grows, lungs develop. Also about
this time limbs develop. Finally the tail disappears, not
by dropping off, but by gradual absorption and transfer of

FIG. 32. Development of a Tadpole.

its substance to other parts. This loss of the tail applies only
to frogs and toads. Salamanders, mud-puppies, etc., retain
them.

After the limbs and lungs have developed, most amphibians
leave the water and breathe the air, their gills usually first
disappearing. Thus frogs, toads, and salamanders become
more or less terrestrial. This does not mean that they shun
the water thereafter. In fact, frogs continue to live what we
generally call an amphibious life. They like moist places, wet
meadows, damp woods, and many species spend a good share
of their lives sitting half-submerged in the water of swamps
and lakes. Salamanders are found in damp cellars or in damp

152 NATURE-STUDY

woods and other moist places. Toads appear the most
accustomed to dryness, often being found far from water, in
gardens, on the lawns, and in dry woods. Tree-toads, as
their name implies, live among the foliage of trees. But
the necturus, or mud-puppy, found in many of our streams,
is an amphibian with very rudimentary lungs, and in adult
life still retains its bushy external gills, and does not leave the
water.

The Frog may be taken as the type of the amphibians. In
the spring, soon after the first piping and croaking resound
in the marshes, visit these breeding places and look for eggs.
They will be found in the form of large jelly-like clumps or
masses attached to submerged sticks and plants. Bring some
home and, placing them in a dish of water, observe the develop-
ment of the tadpoles that soon hatch out. Do not place too
many eggs in one aquarium. It is better to put only a few in
one vessel. A fruit- jar or similar vessel will do very well for
the hatching, but a shallow dish, slightly tilted at one end,
or a shelving vessel so as to give a variation in the depth of
the water, will be better for the development of the tadpoles.
Place green algae and other water plants in the water for the
tadpoles to feed upon. They will also eat cooked corn-meal.
They will not grow unless fed., Frogs are not easy to raise to
maturity in an aquarium, but the tadpoles of toads, which in
general resemble those of the frog, are more easily raised.
Tadpoles are great feeders, and will very soon clean off the
algal scum from the sides of an aquarium. The algae should
be replenished from time to time. If only a few tadpoles are
in an aquarium there is less care in feeding. The children
will be greatly interested in the development of the tadpoles.
Watch the formation of outside gill branches, the replace-

FROGS, TOADS, SALAMANDERS, SNAKES, ETC. 153

ment of these by the internal gills and gill slits, the develop-
ment of the legs and the gradual loss of the tail.

If you do not have good luck with the raising of the tad-
poles in the aquarium, have the boys catch some that have
been living in the pools and swamps and have developed
naturally. Make observations upon these. If there is a
small natural pool or tank near the school, place eggs there
and good results may be had.

Frogs are interesting and harmless creatures. Their cheer-
ful piping or croaking in the early spring is a pleasant sign
of the season, though a large colony of frogs near dwellings may
become a considerable nuisance on account of their loud
concerts. Different species of frogs have different notes or
songs. Some of the smaller ones have shrill cricket-like
chirps, while the great bullfrog has a deep base " jug-o-rum"
call. At times at night it seems as if all the frogs in a pond
were "singing" in concert, all keeping time together beauti-
fully.

Frogs in the tadpole stage are chiefly vegetarian in their
diet, but after leaving the water they are almost exclusively
carnivorous or insectivorous. They then eat insects of all
sorts, worms, spiders, etc. The larger forms will even eat
lizards, snakes, and small mammals.

Frogs and toads have peculiar tongues. They are fastened
in front and folded back in the mouth, but may be shot out
quickly at an insect or worm, which adheres to the sticky
surface and is thus drawn in. Feed a toad some angleworms,
mealworms, or insects, and the action of the tongue is well seen.

Watch a frog breathing. He seems to be swallowing all
the time. He is swallowing air which he forces down into his
lungs. How do we breathe? When we inhale we increase

154 NATURE-STUDY

the chest cavity by raising the ribs with the muscles attached
to them. The atmospheric pressure then forces the air into
the lungs, which thus fill the expanding chest cavity. Ex-
haling requires no effort. We simply relax the muscles and
let the ribs descend, their weight forcing out the air. But
frogs have no ribs. There are simply stumps or rudimentary
ribs on each side of the backbone. So a frog cannot breathe
as we do, but has to force the air in by swallowing. As
before mentioned, frogs breathe somewhat through their
skin. The croaking is made by inflating the throat and
cheeks. Observe this in a frog or a toad.

The feet of the frog are webbed so as to enable him to
swim well. The toes of the hind feet are much elongated, and
with the web make an excellent paddle. Place a frog in the
water and see what an expert swimmer and diver he is. The
hind limbs are long and strong, and are well adapted for
leaping. Notice how the frog at rest squats with his legs
all ready for the jump. Try to make him jump. Measure
some of the longest jumps and compare this distance with
the frog's length. Can a boy jump as far in proportion ?

Hold a frog under water a short time. Note that he pulls
a thin, transparent film over the eyes. What is its use ? It
is the lower eyelid.

Just back of the eye is a circular area with a smooth,
flat surface. This is the ear, and the membrane is the ear-
drum. Frogs have a keen sense of hearing. Any one who
has approached a swamp where the frogs were holding a
concert will know how quickly they stop at the snapping of
a twig, the rustling of the grass under foot, or any other sound
made on coming toward the swamp. The fact that frogs
have "a song" implies an ear to hear it.

FROGS, TOADS, SALAMANDERS, SNAKES, ETC. 155

The colors of the frog are admirably adapted to conceal it.
The species that sit most of the time along the edges of pools
and swamps are so colored and mottled as to resemble closely
the water plants among which they live and try to conceal
themselves. Those that are more terrestrial are similarly
protectively colored. This is especially well shown in the
small tree frogs, which are able to change their color within
limits, according to the surface upon which they sit. When
we think of the snakes, turtles, cranes, herons, bitterns, ducks,
crows, hawks, owls, and different mammals that are always
on the lookout for frogs, we can see the wisdom of such pro-
tective coloring.

Another peculiarity, shared with other amphibians and
reptiles and many other animals, is the habit of sleeping
through the winter. Only the frog sleeps in the mud at the
bottom of ponds and swamps, under the ice, where he stays
till spring releases him. At this time the skin is the organ of
respiration.

It may be asked of what use are frogs. They play their
part in nature, and on the whole a useful one. They destroy
a vast number of insects, and they themselves serve as food
for other animals. They are good for bait, and frogs' legs
are used as food in large quantities by man.

There are a number of species of frogs. The following
are some of the most commonly seen.

The Bullfrog is the largest, and may be recognized by its
deep base voice. It is of greenish color above, mottled with
irregular blotches of brown or black, and underneath it is
white. The web extends to the tip of the fourth toe. It is
found in swampy places.

The Leopard Frog is the most common. It has a greenish

156 NATURE-STUDY

back dotted over with dark spots not arranged in straight
rows, and white or yellowish underneath. There are several
dark bands across the thighs.

The Brown or Pickerel Frog is brownish on the back with
squarish dark spots in rows.

The Common Tree Frog is green, brown, or gray in color,
with irregular darker streaks down the back. It lives on
trees, shrubs, and vines. Owing to its mimicry of the back-
ground it is hard to find. Its chirping is often heard at
night.

The Swamp Tree Frog is a small frog, grayish in color, with
three dark stripes running along the back. It is found in
marshes.

These tree frogs are charming little creatures and make
interesting school-room pets. Place them in a moist cage
and provide them with a rock or wooden perch, such as the
branch of a tree. The changes of color in the common
tree frog can be nicely seen by substituting perches of
different color, green, gray, and brown. Feed the animals
with worms, spiders, and insects. Observe the small disk-
like pads at the ends of the toes and fingers. Observe the
frog clinging to the vertical wall of the cage, and notice how
the little pads are pressed against the surface. They act as
suckers and enable the frog to climb. The soft, moist under-
side also helps the animal to stick on.

The Common Toad is another interesting animal, and
should be compared with the frog as to structure and habits.
Toads are found in gardens and in the woods. They are
very unlike their relatives, the frogs, in that they live in dry
places. They keep their skin moist, however, by secretion.
The skin is wrinkled and warty-looking, though there are no

FROGS, TOADS, SALAMANDERS, SNAKES, ETC. 157

true warts, and the idea that handling a toad causes warts is
wrong. Toads do exude an acrid fluid from the skin which
may irritate cuts or scratches on the hands, but it does not
cause warts. The excretion is probably a protective device.
The skin of the toad is dull colored, so that when it sits on
the ground or lies half buried in the ground it resembles the
earth so closely as to be difficult to
see. The movements of the toad
are slow and cumbrous as com-
pared with the nimble frog's. The
toes are webbed, which would in-
dicate that the toad, in spite of its

land habits, is a swimmer. FlG. 33. The Toad.

In the early spring, after coming CA very useful animaL)

out of hibernation, the toads assemble for a period in swampy
places, where their long, plaintive pipings (from the males
only) may be heard. Visit such a place, and the toads will be
seen spawning. The females are larger than the males, being
full of eggs. The females lay the eggs and the males fertilize
them. The eggs are laid in long ropes or strings on the bot-
tom of shallow water, and are attached to water plants.
Collect some of these eggs and place a few in a dish or vessel
of water together with some green aquatic plants. When
first laid they are about as large as a pin-head, but the
jelly-like matrix in which they are imbedded soon absorbs
water and swells. The eggs of toads are blacker than those
of frogs, as are also the tadpoles or polliwogs.

The treatment of the tadpoles of the toad should be the
same as for frog tadpoles. Their development, which is
the same as that of frog tadpoles, only more rapid (about
two months), should be observed by the children. As the

158 NATURE-STUDY

tail gradually disappears, the young toads become more and
more terrestrial, crawling up for a time out of the water.
A visit to the ponds and marshes about the beginning of
July will perhaps show many young toads leaving the water
for the land. They have not yet become wrinkled and warty.
After the laying season the old toads return to the land.
Their habits are chiefly nocturnal. They like to burrow into

FIG. 34. Protective Coloration of the Toad.

the soft soil during the day4o escape the heat of the sun, or
else lie concealed under a large-leaved plant, a board, or
other protection. Toward evening, however, they leave
their hiding places and hop about the lawns and gardens in
search of food. This consists of worms, caterpillars, beetles,
flies, and other insects, slugs, sowbugs, etc. These they
catch, like the frogs, with their long extensible tongues.
Catch a toad and bring it to school. It soon becomes tame
if kindly treated. Set it on the floor or desk, and place worms,

FROGS, TOADS, SALAMANDERS, SNAKES, ETC. 159

insects, bits of fresh meat, etc., before it. After observing it
for a while, and slowly approaching the food, the toad all at
once, quick as a wink, has licked up the morsel. Children
will be much interested and amused at seeing it eat.
Toads may be tamed in the garden so as to come at a call or
whistle to be fed.

So useful are toads that gardeners like to have them in
their gardens. Next to the robins I consider them my
best helpers in destroying cutworms, beetles, and other
injurious insects. Toads may be found elsewhere and
brought home and placed in the garden, where they will
generally remain and do good work.

Teach the children the harmlessness and great usefulness
of toads, and discourage the erroneous belief in their wart-
producing power. By all means discourage the cruel and
senseless habit that many boys have of killing these little
creatures.

Toads hibernate. They burrow their way backward into
the soft earth till they are deep enough not to be affected by
the alternate freezing and thawing of fall and early spring,
and here sleep away the winter in a kind of torpor. In the
warm spring, however, they dig their way out. This act of
going into winter quarters may be observed, if we place a
toad in a box of loose earth in the latter part of the fall. If
the box is placed in a cool spot the toad will probably begin
to burrow sooner.

Is the toad ugly? Of what use is his ugliness to him?
He certainly has a very beautiful eye.

Salamanders are tailed amphibians and are often mis-
called "lizards." They develop much like frogs and toads,
except that they do not lose their tails, and their food is the

160 NATURE-STUDY

same. They are found in damp or wet places, under stumps
and logs, and they lay their eggs in jelly-like masses in the
water. There are several rather common forms.

The Spotted Salamander is seen most frequently. It is a
soft-skinned, sluggish creature, black above and spotted with
yellow blotches.

In the Eastern States there are other common salamanders,
the Newts, or Efts, and the Tritons. The first, if found in
the water, is green in color, spotted red on the back, and it
has a flat tail. A variety of this species (Red Eft) lives out
of the water and is red on the back.

The Red Triton is about twice as long as the newts, six
inches, and is red on the back, spotted with brown. It lives
in pools and streams.

Another salamander-like creature occasionally caught in
our rivers is the Mud-puppy. This looks like a large, heavy
salamander, and attains a length of two feet. It has external
branching gills, however, and does not leave the water. Its
color is brown.

These salamanders are not venomous and may be handled
with impunity. They make interesting animals for the
aquarium or moist cage.

Reptiles differ from amphibians in that they have a scaly,
or plated, skin, and clawed feet (if any), and that their eggs
hatch directly into young resembling the old, which breathe
by means of lungs from .the time of hatching, without pass-
ing through the tadpole stage. The following is a brief
description of some of the different orders.

Our Lizards are active little creatures that like to bask in
the sun. They are slender, long-tailed, and have four legs.
Their bodies are covered with scales. They feed upon in-

FROGS, TOADS, SALAMANDERS, SNAKES, ETC. 161

sects, worms, and other small creatures. The most common
kinds in the northern part of the United States are the Swift,
about seven inches in length, and bluish or bronzed and
black in color; and the Bluetailed Skink, also called "Scor-
pion," about ten inches long, and olive backed, with five
yellow streaks, and blue tail. In the Southwest there is a
curious rough-scaled lizard, called the Horned Toad, that is
very common. In the Southern States there is found a pretty
little lizard called the "chameleon" (not properly a chame-
leon), which one frequently sees exposed for sale in the North
as a pet. This little lizard has the power of assuming different
colors — green, gray, yellowish, bronze, and black. It makes
an interesting pet for the school-room, but should be properly
cared for and not left to starve and thirst to death.

Snakes are interesting from several standpoints, and should
be studied. They have a long slender body with usually a
tapering tail and no external legs.

There are rudiments of the hind legs in some snakes, which
seems to indicate that at one time the ancestors of our snakes
had legs, but by disuse they became rudimentary or were
entirely lost. How do snakes move if they have no legs?
Observe a snake "run." It wriggles with a sinuous motion,
and by the help of its rough, scaly skin and by a slight motion
of its numerous ribs it can move very fast. Chase it into
the water and see how gracefully it can swim. Catch a
common garter snake, so common everywhere east of the
Rocky Mountains. This is found in meadows and along
lakes and streams. It is about two feet in length, and is
of a general green or olive color, striped lengthwise with
yellowish and black stripes. Keep it in a cage in the school-
room, and give it a basin of water and some earth on the floor

i62 NATURE-STUDY

of its cage. Give it some large insects and frogs to eat. It is
interesting to see it eat frogs, which are generally seized and
eaten alive. The snake does not chew its food, but swallows
it whole. By a curious dislocation of the jaws at the back,
allowing the mouth to distend widely, it can swallow a frog
of larger diameter than itself. The snake secretes a large
amount of saliva, which flows over the frog and makes it
more easily swallowed. The two halves of the lower jaw
are hinged together in front and are separately movable
backwards. This arrangement is very useful in swallowing
small animals.

Perhaps another interesting habit of the snake will be ob-
served,— the shedding of the skin. Our skin is constantly
coming off in minute scales or shreds, rubbed off by the
clothing and in the bath, but it is being renewed con-
tinually from beneath. So it is with snakes, except that peri-
odically they shed their skin whole. Sometimes a very per-
fect sheath is left in the shedding.

Snakes' eyes are always staring, for they cannot close or
move them. They are covered with a transparent skin and
have no lids.

Snakes live in burrows, crevices, and under litter, or in the
holes left in the earth by decayed tree roots.

Non- venomous snakes, on the whole, are useful creatures,
and destroy insects, frogs, and small mammals, such as mice,
moles, shrews, rats, etc. On the other hand, they do more or
less harm in killing the useful toad, and in destroying the
eggs and young of birds.

There are many common species of snakes in this country.
As stated above, the only poisonous snakes are the rattle-
snake, copperhead, moccasin, and the little coral snake.

FROGS, TOADS, SALAMANDERS, SNAKES, ETC. 163

The latter three are found only in the South. Rattlesnakes are
found in almost all parts of the United States, but have been
nearly exterminated in the more settled regions. Before
striking with their poisonous fangs, they give a warning by
means of the "rattle" at the end of the tail. This consists of
a number of horny, thin, joint-like structures. These are the
remnants of previous coats of skin which did not fall off with
the shedding of the rest. It used to be said that each section
in the rattle indicated one year in the snake's life. This is,
however, not the case, as it is now known that the. snake
may shed its skin more than once a year.

Do not forget the Turtles. Every child is interested in
them. Keep some at the school. The smaller ones may be
placed in the aquarium, but a float or raft should be pro-
vided for them. Larger ones may be kept in a terrarium.
Observe the feeding and other habits of these specimens.
Note how they swim. Have they any teeth? Note how
well the softer parts of the body are protected. The shell of
the hard-shell turtles is made of a modified bony skin, grown
together with the backbone, ribs, and breastbone. Are the
colors of the shell protective? Hold a turtle under water
and note the transparent film, the nictitating membrane,
that is drawn over the eyes. In the fall a turtle in a
cage with an earthen floor will be seen to be anxious about
something, and trying to burrow into the ground. It is
getting ready for the hibernation. If a deep lot of earth is
put into the box the turtle will probably completely bury it-
self, particularly if the box is left in a cool place.

The soft-shelled, snapping, mud, and box turtles are the
commonest in the Northern States. Let the children know
about the large sea-turtles, such as the loggerhead, hawks-

164 NATURE-STUDY

bill, and the green turtle, their mode of life, capture, and
uses.

The study of American reptiles would not be complete
without a brief reference to the Alligator of the South. Some-
what lizard-like in form, it is nevertheless not a lizard. The
habits of the reptile are interesting. Besides pictures,
satchels, pocketbooks, and other articles made of alligator
skin may be used for illustrations.

Like the amphibians, the reptiles hibernate during the
winter in some protected place.

CHAPTER XII
FISHES— AQUARIA

IN the spring, when the ice goes out of the lakes and
streams, the small boy begins to think of going a-fishing.
This natural interest should be utilized by giving a series of
lessons on fishes. The best illustration, of course, is the live
fish. There are excellent glass aquaria to be had, both globe-
shaped and square, but almost any kind of vessel will do,
as a wooden pail, a stone crock, a porcelain dish, a fruit jar,
or a candy jar, etc. Common battery jars are excellent and
may be had in various sizes. A very good aquarium may
be made by a tinsmith out of angle iron soldered together for
a frame, with sides and bottom of strong glass cemented into
it with a water cement. Such an aquarium is a useful ad-
junct of the school, and adds a decorative effect to the room
if properly stocked. Medium sized aquaria are best, as a
large one cannot be readily or safely moved, and by using
smaller vessels the animals may be kept separated. A good
size for a built-up aquarium is 12x18x8 inches. There should
also be aquaria of various smaller sizes, some tall and narrow,
others wide and shallow, in order to suit different kinds of
plant and animal life, according as they live in deep or shallow
water. Insect aquaria and those for frogs, etc., should have
a wire cover to prevent the animals from escaping.

Stocking an aquarium is a work the children delight in.

165

i66 NATURE-STUDY

Take the pupils out to the pond, brook, lake, or river, and
collect the things to be put into the aquaria. This should
be more than a mere collecting trip. Have the children note
as far as possible the conditions under which the creatures
live, perhaps the food needed, the depth of the water in
which they live, etc. This will teach them something of the
habits of the creatures, which should be utilized in fitting up
the aquarium. Gather some of the plants among which the
animals live, perhaps some of the dead leaves and twigs at

FIG. 35. Aquaria.

the bottom of the water, as these will furnish food or natural
shelter for the animals.

In case of most aquatic insects a mud or ooze bottom seems
best for their aquarium. The water from the pond whence
they came also is often better than well or city water. For
fishes and clams the bottom may be of clean sand. Pretty
stones and pieces of coral and seashells placed in the aqua-
rium will make it more attractive.

The best way to keep the water fresh and supplied with
oxygen is to place in it green aquatic plants. These give off
oxygen in the sunlight. This is often seen in a jar with a
mass of green algae in the water when- the sun is shining on
it. There are small bubbles of oxygen upon the mass. Small
aquaria, with not too many animals, may be kept for months

FISHES— AQUARIA 167

in this way, only needing the addition of water now and then
to make up the loss from evaporation.

Water milfoil, eelgrass, elodea, and filamentous green algae
are very good plants for aerating the aquarium water. Other
plants may be added for beauty. The little floating duckweed
is an interesting plant to have in an aquarium. Another
interesting and curious plant is the water hyacinth, which
may be obtained from greenhouses. With its thickened leaf-
stalks, which contain air, it floats on the surface of the water.

Plant small varieties of bullrushes, water buttercups, arrow-
head, small swamp sedges, marsh marigold, and other water
or marsh plants, in the sand at the bottom of the aquarium,
or at the edge of the water in a terrarium. This is simply a
cage, with earth floor, for land animals. If a basin of water
is set in this soil, both land and water conditions will be
afforded. Frogs, toads, salamanders, turtles, snakes, and
other animals prefer this kind of cage. It should be orna-
mented and made more natural by planting land and water
plants as suggested.

Another suggestion for the aquarium is that an island be
built of stones or earth for the benefit of turtles, frogs, and
other animals that like to crawl out of the water. Plants
may be placed on it also.

As an aquarium should not be too much in direct sunlight,
any other window except a south window is suitable.

If an aquarium becomes coated with an incrustation, this
should be removed by scrubbing.

In case it becomes necessary to change the water of an
aquarium on account of stagnation, it should be done by
avoiding too great change of temperature. The water
probably has the temperature of the room, and the fishes

i68

NATURE-STUDY

(goldfishes especially) and other animals are chilled and
often killed in consequence of pouring on them water
taken directly from the pump or the city mains at a much
lower temperature. Let the new water stand a few hours in
the room before making the change, or add warm water

to it till to the hand

the two waters are
about the same tem-
perature. A siphon
is useful sometimes
in drawing off the
water, so as not to
disturb the bottom
and to prevent the
animals from going
out.

The following ani-
mals are good for
stocking aquaria:
Goldfishes (very
hardy), small bull-
heads, young dog-
fish, carp, perch,
small sunfish, min-
nows and darters, sticklebacks, salamanders, turtles, frogs,
tadpoles, crayfish, clams, snails, leeches, dragonfly larvae,
electric-light bugs, water-beetles, water-boatmen, water-
striders, water-spiders, mosquito wrigglers, and other aquatic
insects.

One thing must be kept in mind, however, and that is that
the carnivorous creatures are apt to eat the other smaller

FIG. 36. Aquarium with Sunfish.

FISHES— AQUARIA 169

animals. So keep the water-scorpions and electric-light
bugs, dragonfly larvae, perch, bass, turtles, and frogs by
themselves, or with those too big for them to eat, un-
less you wish to add the smaller animals as food for
them.

Goldfish may be fed on bread and cracker crumbs, or on
the "fish food," which can be bought. Other fish and tad-
poles will also eat these things. Carnivorous fish will have
to be fed on insects, worms, and bits of meat. A piece of
beef that has the fat boiled out, dried, and crushed into
minute bits is an excellent fish food. I keep a large food-
jar containing algae and other water plants and various
kinds of animalcula. Occasionally I put some of these
plants with the animalcula that cling to them into the aquaria
as food. In feeding aquarium animals be careful not to give
them more than they will eat, else the decaying food left over
will make the water sour and stagnant.

The fish should be studied as a type of animal life, with
special reference to its structure, breathing, swimming,
spawning, and other habits.

Let the children observe the fish in the aquarium. Note
the flattened and tapering shape of the body. Is this shape
of any special use ? Why have most fishes this shape ? How
does the fish swim? It will be seen that the fish propels
itself with its tail, using it as a sculling oar, and that the fins
are not so much used for swimming as for balancing and
directing the course. With rubber bands slipped over the
back and side fins, try Professor Needham's experiment to
see how a fish behaves without the use of these, and to dis-
cover their proper functions. Note the sharp spines on the
fins (if the fish is a spiny-finned one). Ask the children

170 NATURE-STUDY

about the use of these. Any boy who has been fishing can
tell of his experience with them.

Most fish are covered with scales that overlap each other
and make a protective armor. Examine some separate
scales from different kinds of fish. The outside of the body
is covered with a slimy substance which protects the body
and also enables the fish to elude the grasp of its enemies.
The scales are often beautifully colored. Our common
" pumpkin seed" sunfish displays a wonderful wealth of
color and beautiful iridescence. Most fishes, however,
are inconspicuously colored for protection. Brown and
olive colors are common on the backs of many fishes.
This renders them inconspicuous against the darker depths
of the water or the bottom. Underneath, however, fishes
are generally lighter colored, often nearly white. This makes
them less easily seen against the bright upper surface of the
water. Some strange fish of the ocean have curious warty
and spiny surfaces and long streamers, so that they more
effectively resemble water vegetation.

The eyes of fishes are lidless, and are usually large and
staring. Their mouths differ much in shape and in position,
and those of predaceous kinds are large and well supplied
with teeth. Bottom feeders have 'their mouths more on the
under side of the head.

Observe the fish in the aquarium. See how it seems to be
swallowing all the time. It does take in water, but not to
drink, for it forces it out through the openings at the sides
just back of the head. These openings lead to the gill
pouches and are closed by the cartilaginous gill covers.
Take a dead fish and examine the gills. A large fish shows
them better. Turn back or cut off the gill cover, and the red

FISHES— AQUARIA

171

gills will be seen lying in several layers in the cavity. The
gills are composed of small red filaments attached to carti-
laginous or bony arches. Between these arches are slits that
communicate with the back part of the mouth, through which
the water is forced. As the water passes over the gills, the
fine blood-vessels lying in the surface of the gill filaments
absorb the free oxygen in it. This is the way the fish breathes.

Dissect the fish and ,

find the air-bladder, a
long, white sac in the
body cavity next to the
backbone. This organ
is found in most fishes
and has an important
function. In fish like
the sunfish, bass, and
pickerel, it serves as a
floating device. The
body of the fish is slightly heavier than the water and
naturally sinks. By expanding this bladder the fish can rise,
and vice versa. The same principle is applied in our sub-
marine boats. Watch a fish in the aquarium as it rises and
sinks without moving any fins. It is done by means of the
air-bladder. In the dogfish and other fishes, generally of
low degree, the air-bladder serves partly as an organ of
respiration. It is more or less cellular and lung-like, and
is connected with the mouth so that the fish may come to
the surface and inhale air.

Fishes, like amphibians and reptiles, are cold-blooded ani-
mals. That is, their blood is not, as in the birds and mam-
mals, at a higher temperature than the medium around them.

FIG. 37- The Gill of a Fish.

1 72 NATURE-STUDY

Watch the fish in the aquarium. Place some food in the
water and observe them feeding. Watch the predaceous
kinds catch water insects, etc. Most fishes are carnivorous,
and even cannibalistic. Among them the general rule is
that the bigger swallows the smaller. Aquatic insects,
worms, crayfish, etc., and the minute animalcula that swarm
in the water, are also food of the carnivorous fish. Some
are vegetarian and feed on aquatic plants.

In cleaning fish in the spring or early part of the summer
one often finds masses of roe. This roe is the unlaid eggs of
the fish. Fish lay their eggs or spawn generally in the spring,
soon after the ice is out of the lakes and ponds. At this time
they often make long journeys or migrations to a suitable
place for the spawning. They go up the rivers and streams
to the headwaters, and there the female deposits her eggs.
Some fish dig in the sand at the bottom of the water a shal-
low hollow in which the eggs are placed. Sometimes they
are covered with a little sand, sometimes they are loosely laid
in the water. The little stickleback makes a pretty little
nest in which the female lays her eggs. Some fish take care
of the eggs until they are hatched, and then for a time protect
the young. But many kinds pay no further attention to the
eggs after they are hatched. The young, or "fry," as they
are called, and the eggs as well, are much attacked by fishes
and other animals. In this connection read to the children
The Story of the Salmon, in "Science Sketches," by David
Starr Jordan, a very delightful and sympathetic study of the
life of a fish. Show the boys that it is wrong to catch or
spear fish before the spawning season is passed.

Bring out the economic aspect of the subject. This would
be well done in connection with geography. The fishing

FISHES— AQUARIA 173

industries of the salt and inland waters, the principal food
fishes, such as salmon, mackerel, cod, and herring should be
studied. Refer also to the artificial rearing of fish at the
state and national hatcheries. Briefly take up methods em-
ployed, and also the stocking of the lakes and other waters.

A few strange fish, such as the eel, shark, ray, flying-fish,
seahorse, torpedo, and others, would be interesting illustra-
tions of curious adaptations to special modes of life.

The following fresh-water fish are common and should be
referred to in this study of fishes : There are the sunfish, the
gamy little fish for the youthful angler, so common in our
ponds, lakes, and rivers. Some of them are beauties, as,
for example, the " pumpkin seed." Another fish, in similar
places and affording similar sport, is the common perch.
For the more mature sportsman the black bass are more
worthy to test their skill at angling. These also abound in
our lakes and streams. Related to the sunfishes and bass
are the speckled croppies of the lakes. In another class
belong the ferocious and large-mouthed pike, pickerel, and
muskalonge of the lakes and rivers. These are well pro-
vided with teeth. They are very predaceous and attack any
moving object in the water, and are therefore usually caught
with the trolling hook. They are very destructive of other
fish, and make gamy catches. Another famous order of
fishes is that of the salmon and trout. On account of
their vigorous fighting qualities salmon are considered ex-
cellent game, and trout catching is a test of nimbleness and
skill with the fly. Both kinds are among the best food fish,
as the flesh is excellent and the bones are not troublesome.
Another order includes the suckers and minnows. Suckers
generally have small tube-like mouths adapted for sucking

174 NATURE-STUDY

in food. The red -horse and the buffalo of our rivers, and
the common sucker of the lakes are easy sport, and though
not very good for food, are considerably caught for this
purpose. Most people think that minnow means a young
fish of any kind. That is not the case. Minnows are gen-
erally small, it is true, but they may be old. There are
some minnows several feet in length. There are other small
fish, full-grown, however, that are not minnows, as, for ex-
ample, the little darters of the streams. Minnows are lively
little fish, preyed upon by larger ones, and much used for
bait by fishermen. Allied to the suckers is the vegetarian
German carp, introduced from Europe into our muddy ponds
and lakes, and now so numerous as to be almost a pest. This
is a fairly good food fish. The goldfish is a species of carp
originally from China. A very interesting little fish, espe-
cially for the aquarium, is the stickleback found in streams.
The male makes nests for the female to deposit her eggs in.
Every boy will know the common bullhead of the lakes and
rivers. This is a sluggish, scaleless, slimy fish of rather
nocturnal habits, and will therefore bite well after dark.
It has a number of flexible feelers, or barbs, around its
mouth, with which to explore its way and perhaps find its
food. These feelers do not sting. Catfish anjd bullheads do
sting or prick with the spines on their back and pectoral
fins. The latter fins can be firmly locked so as to stand
out straight from the body, and so the fish is disagreeable
to handle. Other interesting fish found in fresh waters and
worthy of study are the dog-fish, the garpikes, the sturgeons,
and eels.

CHAPTER XIII
TYPICAL INSECTS

THE abundance of insects, their variety of form, beautiful
colors, ingenious ways, remarkable adaptations to their mode
of life, and wonderful transformations make them excellent
material for nature-study. They are easily found, collected,
and kept alive in cages. There is no excuse for not illus-
trating these lessons with abundant specimens. Outdoor
observations can easily be made by the pupils individually,
and field lessons with the whole class can be successfully
conducted.

Children are over-cautioned against insects, so that they
finally come to have a dread for them generally. This spoils
much of the pleasure they might otherwise enjoy at the sight
of insects and their many interesting devices. It would be
a kindness to children to teach them that this fear is un-
necessary. Much nonsense has been told and written about
being bitten and stung by insects with terrible results. In
our country, flies, mosquitoes, fleas, lice, bedbugs, ticks,
gnats, bees, and hornets are the most annoying or dangerous
insects. As for spiders, though not true insects, they may be
mentioned in this connection. They are, as a class, harm-
less, only the larger running spiders and the tarantula causing
painful, though not fatal, poisoning.

The great economic importance of insects, their rapid

175

176 NATURE-STUDY

rate of multiplication, and their vast power for harm and
for good, should be studied in nature-study. The children
should learn to distinguish the most common beneficial and
harmful insects, note their habits, and learn the methods of
fighting them if injurious.

Teacher and pupils should go out and collect insects for
study in the school-room, and should observe their habits out-
doors. Insects may be found in various places according to
their food and life habits. Flower-loving insects are found
in the garden, in the clover field, on the wayside flowers,
and in the meadows. Flowers attract the nectar-sipping
insects, such as butterflies, moths, bees, and bumble-bees.
The vegetable garden will show grubs, cutworms, beetles,
and bugs that feed upon the leaves or other parts of the
planted crops. In the orchard we find leaf-eating cater-
pillars, bark-borers, plant lice, scale insects, bugs, fruit-
destroying insects: and in the flowering time hosts of bees
and other nectar-loving insects. Many insects, such as
ground beetles, ants, cockroaches, crickets, etc., may be found
under stones, logs, boards, and under the bark of decaying
stumps and logs. Locusts, grasshoppers, and crickets
swarm in grassy meadows and pastures.

A walk along the country road will show us swallow-tailed
butterflies, milkweed, cabbage, roadside, red admiral, fri-
tillary, mourning-cloak, and other butterflies flitting over
the wayside flowers; moths of various kinds will flutter up
from the grass as we disturb them, or, toward dusk, we may
find them probing the deep-cupped flowers with their long
probosces. Locusts and crickets are chirping in the grass or
adjoining fields. Here we see the orb spider spinning its
beautiful web in the fence corner, and running spiders in

TYPICAL INSECTS 177

search of their prey. The bees are busily gathering both
nectar and pollen, and are dusty as millers with trr? golden
pollen grains which they brush off against other flowers,
thereby effecting a very essential process, that of pollination,
which is necessary for seed formation. Bumble-bees are
drowsily humming past or are half-buried in the depths of
some flower's corolla. Here, perhaps, in a hole in the bluff
along the roadside, or in a tree, we find the paper nest of
the yellow jacket or hornet, which we had better let alone.
In the grass and along the dusty road, -we see the active and
nimble tiger-beetles and other predaceous beetles, running
about looking for some smaller insect which they may de-
vour. In the footpaths along the road we see many little
ant-hills, and it would pay us to pause and observe the little
workers. In the grass we may find a large mound made by
the larger ants, and if we open this we may see the eggs and
cocoons carried hastily away by the frightened workers. In
the tall elm or cotton wood trees along the road, we hear the
cicada, sounding like a miniature alarm clock running down.
We are lucky if we find the insect.

A visit to the pond will show us various aquatic insects.
Flying over or about the pond are the gauzy winged dragon-
flies, mayflies, damselflies, and stoneflies, end myriads of
mosquitoes. Their larval stages will be found by dredging
with a net on the muddy bottom of the pond. By lifting up
submerged sticks, leaves, and stones we find water-tigers,
caddisworms, water-beetles, etc. By dragging the dip-net
along the bottom of the pond, along water-plants and over
submerged sticks and stones, turning out the contents and
examining the mud, we shall find the large and the small
electric-light bugs, the predaceous water-beetle, the water-

178 NATURE-STUDY

scorpion, water-boatmen, back swimmers, dragonfly larvae,
etc. The black, shining whirligig-beetles spin about like
beads upon the water, and running dry-shod over the sur-
face are the water-striders and some spiders. All these
pond insects may be kept in aquaria.

In the forest we shall find leaf-eating caterpillars and their
moths. Perhaps we shall be fortunate enough to find the
beautiful cecropia and the luna moths. We shall find inter-

FIG. 38. A Likely Place for Dragonfly Larvae, Water-Scorpions, Electric-
Light Bugs, Crayfish, Frog's Eggs, etc. Muskrat House at End of
Pond.

esting homes of insects, such as rolled-up leaves, wart-galls
on the leaves, willow cones, oak galls, etc. Decaying stumps
and logs are regular hotels for such insects as ants, roaches,
crickets, and beetles, also spiders, centipedes, millipedes,
sow-bugs, etc. We may also find the interesting measuring
caterpillars, and the remarkable walking-sticks.

Nocturnal insects may be found flitting about at dusk,
such as the humming-bird moths and other moths; or they
may be seen around the street lamps in swarms. By ex-
amining the ground beneath a street lamp we shall find

TYPICAL INSECTS

179

various beetles, moths, and other insects. At certain seasons
there are great swarms of beetles flying at night, often filling
the globes of the lanterns with quartfuls of insects. In the
summer, also, the large water-bug, called the electric-light
bug, comes out of its native swamps and flies around the
street lights, falling dazed and sprawling on the pavement.

FIG. 39. An Old Decaying Stump Harbors Many Insects.

At such times hundreds of excellent specimens of these large
insects may be collected and preserved in bulk for future
use. By placing a lantern on the lawn we can attract many
night-flying insects. The same happens if we leave a window
open in a lighted room at night. Fireflies, of course, reveal
themselves by their own lanterns.

A search through our houses from cellar to attic will result
in a catch of insects and related animals somewhat as follows :
In the damp cellar we find cellar-bugs, millipedes, centipedes,

i8o

NATURE-STUDY

FIG. 40. Insect-Net.

ground spiders, and beetles. In the attic we find more
spiders, on the rafters the homes of the mud-wasps and the
paper-wasps. In the clothes-press, perhaps, there are moths.

Under the carpets are the carpet-
beetles. Flies and mosquitoes are
hard to keep out of the house.
Ants invade the pantry. All these
creatures come into the house in
spite of the housewife's care and
cleanliness. But if she is not so
cleanly there may be cockroaches,
fleas, and other more undesirable
and less mentionable insects.
So there should be no difficulty in finding and collect-
ing insects for nature-study. For this purpose the pupils
should be provided with nets. The older pupils can make
their own. An insect-net should be made of some light porous
cloth, such as muslin, cheesecloth, or mosquito bar, made in
the form of>a sac about ten inches in diameter and about
twice as long, fastened to a wire loop which is securely at-
tached to a stick about four or five feet long.
The dip-net may be smaller and should have
a finei mesh. It is emptied by turning it in-
side out. Aquatic insects, to be kept alive,
must be carried in water in pails or bottles.
Cans, paper boxes, and bottles serve to bring
back alive land insects for the school-room

TO I

Oooc:

FIG. 41. Cyanide
Bottle.

cages.

But if the insects are to be mounted, they are immediately
killed by placing them in the cyanide bottle. Each pupil in
the higher grades should have one of these. Take a wide-

TYPICAL INSECTS 181

mouthed bottle, like a vaseline bottle, and place some lumps
of potassium cyanide in it. This can be obtained at a drug-
store and is a deadly poison. On the lumps of cyanide pour
a paste of plaster of Paris, and allow this to set or harden.
The poison will give off fumes all the time, which rise through
the porous plaster and kill the insects in the bottle. Label
the bottle "Cyanide Bottle— Poison."
Keep it tightly corked. Leave the
insects inside long enough to be sure-
ly dead. Larger insects, like but-
terflies, etc., may be placed under a
larger vessel with an open cyanide bot-
tle, or they may be killed with ether
soaked in some cotton under a glass.
Gasoline or kerosene poured upon
them quickly kills them. In the field, FlG'42' Mounted Beetle"
butterflies may be quickly killed by tightly pinching the thorax
for a short time. If left to flutter in boxes or bottles till taken
home, they are liable to injure their wings by knocking off
the beautiful scales. But, if killed in the field, they may be
carried home uninjured in little packets or envelopes.

The insects collected should be neatly mounted. This may
be done by sticking pins through them after they are killed,
and pinning them to the bottom of light boxes. Cigar boxes
do very nicely.

The insects should be straightened out and arranged
naturally, and pinned before they are dry. The wings, at
least those on one side, should be spread out so as to display
them. This applies to grasshoppers, locusts, beetles, bugs
etc., which fold their wings when at rest. Moths and but-
terflies should be especially treated before mounting. Their

182 NATURE-STUDY

wings should be spread out and pinned or fastened in this
position while drying. A drying board may be made, accord-
ing to the figure, and the insect placed in the groove with its
wings held down upon the side boards by means of strips of
paper pinned down. Or they may be simply laid upon their

backs on a board, and the wings
spread out and fastened down.
Very small insects, eggs, larvae,
etc., should be glued on the end
of a strip of paper, and this
pinned in the box. Do not crowd
FIG. 43. spreading Board. tne specimens. Arrange them ac-
cording to their natural relationships. Place the locusts,
grasshoppers, and crickets together, the beetles by them-
selves, etc. If there is not sufficient room to write the
names of the insects on the bottom of the box, simply num-
ber them, and write a corresponding list of names upon a
slip of paper pasted on the inside of the cover.

It is better not to encourage primary and lower interme-
diate children to make collections, but leave this to older
pupils, more interested in structure and classification.
This collection should be made not merely for its own
sake, but in order to learn something of the form, relation-
ships, and habits of the insects. A mere collection that
does not represent a study of these points amounts to very
little. The habits of the insects should be observed, as far
as possible, before they are caught and killed.

It is a good plan to collect insects of certain kinds in bulk,
when they are especially abundant, and to preserve them in
alcohol or formalin for future study. Thus, in a time of
great abundance of locusts, or a pest of boxelder-bugs, or

TYPICAL INSECTS 183

when the electric-light bugs and ground-beetles swarm
around the street lamps, it is an easy matter to gather a
large quantity of these insects, which may be extremely use-
ful for study in years when the supply is scarce.

It would be an excellent thing for the teacher to make a
hobby of insect study. Let her take up some group like the
butterflies, or the beetles, and collect and study them. In time
she might become quite an authority on the class selected.
Every teacher should have some kind of insect book for such
work. Comstock's "Manual," Comstock's "Insect Life,"
Howard's "Insect Book," Kellogg's "American Insects,"
Folsom's "Entomology," and Holland's "Butterfly Book"
are excellent.

Insects are fit subjects for study in any grade from the
kindergarten up. Naturally, primary children are more inter-
ested in the general appearance, color, and habits of insects.
Let them study the most common and noticeable insects:
Flies, bees, moths, wasps, butterflies, locusts, crickets, June-
beetles, fireflies, ants, etc. In higher grades touch more
upon points of structure. Develop the structure of the
typical insect. Note structural adaptations, such as feet,
wings, and mouth parts, modified for special purposes. Note
mimicry of shape and color, and point out the reason there-
for. Study the metamorphism of insects. The habits should
be studied, especially where productive of good or evil. All
these things will make the study of insects interesting. Struct-
ure studied simply by itself is uninteresting.

In the upper grades, though also to some extent in the
lower, insects should be studied comparatively, and simple
relationships made out. The classification should be un-
technical. Children should see that locusts, grasshoppers,

i84

NATURE-STUDY

and crickets are closely related, and. similarly, the bees,
wasps, and ants. They should be able to tell a bug from a
beetle, a butterfly from a moth

Type± of Inserts

The meaning of the word Insect is frequently wrongly
stretched so as to include creatures that are not really in-

<^^>;?W/J , - ^- \

I

FIG. 44. Young and Old Locust

sects. Thus spiders, isopods, and centipedes are called
"insects," and even so very different an animal as the coral
polyp is called by this name.

What is an insect? This is best answered by studying
some typical insect, like the common grasshopper or locust.

The body is divided mto three principal regions, the head,
the chest or thorax, and the abdomen. The abdomen is
composed of ring segments, and so is the thorax, though not
so well seen. By bending the body it is seen to be jointed at
the neck, between the chest and abdomen, and also between

TYPICAL INSECTS

185

the abdominal segments. This jointedness is a character-
istic of all insects, and is extended also to the feelers, legs,
and mouth-parts.

The grasshopper has six legs, composed of several stiff seg-
ments and a jointed foot terminated by minute forked claws
that act like pincers and are used for grasping. The legs of
insects are attached to the chest re-
gion, not to the abdomen, as some-
times seems to be the case. In the
grasshopper the first two pairs of
legs are not very strong, and are
used for crawling and holding to a
support. But the last pair are es
pecially large and powerful, and are
used for making high and long
leaps. Observe how a locust uses
his legs.

On the back of the thorax, from the second and third
segments, arise the two pairs of wings, which the grass-
hopper folds up like a fan when not in use. The first
pair are narrower and a trifle stiff er than the second, and
protect the last pair somewhat when folded. Unfold the
wings and examine them. Watch a grasshopper fly. In
flying the wings are extended at the sides and expanded.
The hind wings show bright colors in certain species.
Hold an expanded wing up to the light, and see that it has
a network of stiff ribs or veins running through the more
delicate membrane. These act as a framework for the
wings. The veins of the wings of insects are differently
and characteristically arranged. Though grasshoppers
are generally seen to fly only short distances, they have

FIG. 45. Part oi Compound Eye
of a Dragon-fly.

(Photomicrograph.)

i86

NATURE-STUDY

the power of extended flight, and sometimes make long
migrations.

The head of the grasshopper has a number of interesting
organs. There are enormous compound eyes at the sides
made up of many little eyes, or "facets." These can be
readily seen with a magnifying glass. Besides the compound

i ( eyes there are three little simple

eyes arranged in a triangle at
the top and in the front of the
head. In front of the eyes there

•R 41 • are two J°inted> tapering rods,

^H T^ called antennae or feelers, which

are sensitive organs by which
the insect can feel and smell.

The mouth is a very compli-
cated thing in most insects. In
the locust it consists of the upper
U'P (seen m front), and behind
it a pair of powerful biting jaws
or mandibles (seen on the sides).
Then follow two pairs of curious
lobed appendages, called maxillae, which serve in chewing
and holding the food, and which have a pair of feelers. The
last pair of maxillae are grown together in the grasshopper and
form what is called the under lip.

The body and legs of the grasshopper are covered with a
tough, horny substance, which serves as a coat of mail
against the stings and bites of other insects, and against
mechanical injuries, and also as an external skeleton to give
shape to the body and to permit the attachment and action
of the internal muscles. This coating is technically called

FIG. 46. Mouth-parts of Locust.

(Photomicrograph.)

TYPICAL INSECTS

187

chitin. It is the hardened epidermis of the insect. To per-
mit the insect knight to move in his coat of mail, it is made
in sections united by flexible bands similar to the jointed
mail of old ; and, as with human armor, so here the vulnerable
spot is between the plates at the flexible membranes. This
is where a wasp would insert her dagger.

The abdomen of the grasshopper is divided into ten ring
segments, that fit together with
flexible joints. On each side of a
segment is a small pit or breath-
ing pore. These pores commu-
nicate with a complete system of
air-tubes that branch throughout
the body, even into the veins of
the wings. They are the lung?
of the insect. Observe a grass
hopper breathing. Note how the
abdomen expands and contracts
By a muscular exertion the air is
expelled, and the natural elasticity of the body-wall causes it
to expand and draw in the air.

The end of the abdomen of the female grasshopper has a
forked appearance, on account of the projecting lobes. This
arrangement is the egg-placer, or ovipositor, with which the
female bores a hole in the ground and deposits her eggs in
the burrow. The male's abdomen is blunt and round.

The fact that some insects, like the cricket, the grasshopper,
and others, possess a call or f song" argues that there is a
receptive organ for the sound. The ears, or hearing organs,
of some insects have been located. The ear of the grass-
hopper may be found by lifting up the wings and looking at

FIG. 4* , Breathing Pore of a

Cockroach.
("Photomicrograph.

i88 NATURE-STUDY

the first abdominal segment. Here will be seen a shallow
pit covered with an oval membrane. This curiously located
organ is believed to be the ear.

In general, this description of the grasshopper is typical
of all insects. As a class they have bodies divided into three
sections, with abdomens distinctly segmented ; they have three
pairs of jointed legs, two pairs of net-veined wings, jointed
feelers, compound eyes, complicated mouth-parts, breathing
pores, respiration carried on in a system of tubes that spread
throughout the body, and the chitinous coat acting as an
external skeleton. It is true that in one respect or other
many insects do not conform to this description. Some have
no wings, some have lost one pair only, some have only rudi-
ments of legs, etc. The immature forms of insects also
often differ widely from this description.

Insects are hatched from eggs. The mother grasshopper
lays her eggs in a mass in a barrow. The young are largely
head, but the resemblance to the parents is unmistakable.
The young grasshopper looks like a grasshopper from the
beginning, even though it has no wings. There is no great
transformation in passing through the different stages to
maturity, and the adult period is reached when the wings
are put on.

As the insect grows, its leathery coat becomes too small.
It is then cast aside or moulted. This shedding of the skin
occurs a number of times before the insect is full grown.
Then, after the wings appear, no more moulting takes place.
In moulting, a rent occurs in the cuticle, and the insect slips
or wriggles out of the old coat. When first divested thus, the
grasshopper has a pale, soft, moist skin. At this period the
insect is especially vulnerable. Hence it generally performs

TYPICAL INSECTS

189

the moulting in some secluded or protected place. The soft
skin allows the body to expand, but it soon hardens into
chitin on the outside. The insect then proceeds to eat, and
grows as long as its coat will stretch, when the moulting again
takes place.

After several of the first moults fleshy pads begin to be
noticeable on the shoulders. These grow with each succes-
sive moult, and at
the last they are
exposed and in-
flated with air and
blood, and spread
out into wings.1

Insects are clas-
sified chiefly ac-
cording to the

structure of their FlG'48-

wings and mouth-parts. Thus the locust, grasshopper, and
cricket belong to the Orthoptera, or straight-winged group, so
named on account of the narrow and straight fore-wings.
There are about nineteen orders of insects, only six or seven
of which need be referred to in nature-study. A typical insect
of each of these orders, except the one already described, will
be now considered:

Dragon-flies or Darning-needles are .characterized by a long
slender body, i:wo pairs of narrow, net-veined wings always
extended horizontally from the body, and enormous com-
pound eyes. They are among the best flyers, flitting nimbly
in search of insects to devour. They are sometimes called
mosquito hawks, because of their predatory habits. Often

xFor destructive effects of the locust, see pages 222-223.

190

NATURE-STUDY

dragon-flies are beautifully colored. Their eyes are finely
iridescent, their wings mottled with blue, green, black, or

Ijj brown spots and the abdomen simi-
u larly colored. The mouth of the
adult dragon-fly is somewhat similar
to that of the locust, and is adapted
for biting and chewing, the mandibles
being especially powerful.

The dragon-fly is useful in devour-
ing flies, mosquitoes, etc., and, in
spite of popular prejudice, is perfectly
harmless, without poison and sting.

The development of the young
dragon-fly is very interesting. The
female dragon-fly lays her eggs on
the water of pools and ponds, where
they hatch into rather hideous young,
very different from the pretty gauzy-
winged adult. The young dragon-
fly is a heavy, flattened creature, brown
or gray, looking much like the mud
in which it lives. It has a large head,
large eyes, and an enormous underlip
that can be thrust forward to grasp
its prey. There are two pairs of
from'Nymph°case.' wings Not wing-pads upon the back. This ugly

Yet Inflated. Below, a Nymph. creature h RO doubt ironically

(After Shipley and McBride and * '

Packard.) Deen called the "nymph." The

nymphs may be found by dragging a dip-net along the
muddy bottoms of ponds, and by lifting out and examining
submerged leaves, sticks, and stones, to which they often cling.

FIG. 49. Dragon-fly Emerging

TYPICAL INSECTS

101

The lower lip (second pair of maxillae) is generally folded
like a mask over the lower part of the face, but it can be
suddenly shot out to seize mosquito "wrigglers" and other

1. Whirling-beetle.

2. Diving-beetle.

3. Mosquito Wrigglers.

4. Water-strider.

FIG. 50. Some Aquatic Insects.

5. Back-swimmer.

6. " Electric-light " Bug.

7. Long-bodied Water-scorpion.

8. Short Water-scorpion.

9. Water Scavenger-beetle.

10. Water Boatman.

11. Caddis-worm.

12. Dragon-fly Larva.

13. Larva of Water-scavenger, Water-tiger.

aquatic creatures. With a pin or forceps, pull out the lip
and examine it.

During its growth the young dragon-fly moults several
times. When about ready for the final moult, the insect crawls
out of the water upon the shore or on some projecting plant,
then splits its nymph skin along the back, and emerges

192 NATURE-STUDY

an adult dragon-fly. But the wings are not yet expanded.
They are mere fleshy lumps upon the back. The insect
gradually inflates these fleshy masses until they become the
beautiful, transparent wings. After waiting a short time for
the wings to stiffen, the insect begins its swift, aerial life.

Empty nymph cases are
common sights along
ponds and lakes.

This interesting emer-
gence of the dragon-fly
from the nymph may be
observed by visiting a
pond when these insects
begin to be abundant.
Or, better still, collect
some of the nymphs about
this time and place them

FIG. 51. " H alf and Half" Wing of a Hemipterous in the aquarium, and yOU
Insect or Bug. ^^ ^ fortunate enOUgh

(Photomicrograph.)

to see the whole process in

the school -room. This development of the dragon-fly is
called direct, and is not marked by a dormant period.

Damsel-flies and May-flies have a similar life history.

The Electric-Light Bug or Giant Water-bug represents
another order. It is found in quiet pools and swamps, on the
muddy bottom, or under submerged sticks and stones. At
night it often leaves the water and, attracted by the arc lights
of the streets, it may often be found in large numbers under
the lamps.

The giant water-bug is one of our largest insects. It is about
two inches in length, and is admirably adapted for the study

TYPICAL INSECTS

193

of insect anatomy. Note the large cross-folded wings. Lift
up one of the front pair. It will be seen that the first half of
the wing is thick and hard; the rest, thin and membranous.
The under wings are thin and beautifully nerved. The legs
are large and muscular. The hind pairs are flattened and
fringed so as to serve as
paddles. The first pair
are modified into sharp
grasping and piercing
arms. This bug is a fierce,
predatory creature, seizing
and killing all kinds of
aquatic insects, and even
larger animals, like small
fish, etc. It has a sharp-
jointed beak, which it gen-
erally carries folded under
its head, but which may
be thrust into its prey. A
poisonous fluid is also ejected through it, which paralyzes
small animals and even causes painful wounds in those who
handle it carelessly.

During the youthful stage the bug has no wings, but other-
wise resembles the adult, except in size. It is wholly aquatic
at this time, but, during the mating season, the adults leave
the water and swarm about at night. The eggs are laid in
the water.

To most people the term " bug " is synonymous with the
word insect, but to the entomologist the word means a distinct
order of insects. Bugs, as a rule, have wings like the electric-
light bug; that is, the outer pair are half hard and half mem-

FIG. 52. Head and Beak of a Bug.

(Photomicrograph.)

i94 NATURE-STUDY

branous. Hence they are called Hemiptera (" Half-and-
half "-winged). Bugs have sucking and piercing beaks,
which are very different from the mouth-parts of the locust.
The young resemble the adults, except that they are smaller
and have no wings. Bugs all live upon liquid food, the
blood of animals, or the juices of plants.

The squash-bug, box-elder bug, chinch-bug, plant-lice, and

FIG. 53. A Cage of Luna-moths.

the common louse belong to the Hemiptera, and the cicada is
also related to them. Some parasites, like the louse, have
lost their wings from disuse. Some of the bugs, like the
chinch-bug and plant-lice, are at times very numerous, and
commit much damage to crops and other vegetation.

During the summer one of the most common butterflies is
the common White Cabbage Butterfly seen flitting around
our gardens. Perhaps you will see one of them alighting for

TYPICAL INSECTS 195

a moment on a cabbage or nasturtium leaf, then doing the
same thing on another leaf, and so on. This is probably a
female laying her eggs. Watch the insect carefully, and, after
noting the leaf where she alights, examine for a minute the
yellowish egg placed upright on the surface.
Watch this egg for a few days, or cut off the leaf,
and placing it in a glass of water observe the
egg. It will soon hatch into a little green "worm"
or, more properly, a caterpillar, which imme-
diately begins to eat of the leaf on which it was
born. This caterpillar is the baby butterfly, very
different indeed from the beautiful winged form
of the adult. It continues to feed and grow, shed-
ding its skin periodically as it becomes too small. FIG. 54. insect
When full grown it is about an inch in length, and
is covered with short, soft hairs. The caterpillar is divided
into segments, but without any marked regional distinction.
On the sides of the segments may be seen the small breathing
pores.

The head is small and mostly mouth, which is provided
with a pair of strong mandibles for biting and chewing. There
are no compound eyes, only several small, simple eyelets on
each side of the head.

Examine the under side of the body. You will find., on the
first three segments next to the head a pair of short, jointed
legs with clawed feet. These three segments correspond to
the thorax of the adult. There also seem to be legs on other
segments of the body; but closer examination will show that
they are not real legs, but fleshy, wart-like outgrowths of the
skin. They are called prolegs and are used for clasping.
At the end of the abdomen there is one pair especially used for

196

NATURE-STUDY

clasping. Watch the caterpillar holding on to the edge of
the leaf.

Cabbage caterpillars, all caterpillars for that matter, are
very voracious. Their capacity can be judged by the havoc

a few can effect in a
£^ ^\^^ head of cabbage in
the garden.

The cabbage cat-

J§ . erpillar moults sev-

^^f _^^^^^ eral times before
^^^^F ^9 reaching full size,

£• and at the final

moult it seeks a se-
cluded and dry spot,
under the clapboard-
ing or coping of a
house, or under a
board or leaf. It
first fastens itself to
the sheltering ' sup-
port by a tuft of silk
at the tail, and also
makes a sling of silk
around the waist.
Then a remarkable thing takes place. The old caterpillar
coat splits and is cast off. But the insect no longer looks
like a caterpillar. It is now a pointed, angular case,
called a chrysalis. It remains in this form in a quiescent
condition for several weeks, in the summer. In the fall of
the year it may continue in this condition longer, and pass
the winter as a chrysalis. It is apparently dead or asleep.

FIG. 55. Eggs and Young Caterpillar of Cabbage Butterfly.

(Photomicrograph.')

TYPICAL INSECTS

197

That it is alive may be shown by gently pressing it at the
thick end, when the other end will wriggle. Apparently the
insect in this chrysalis state is
not growing or developing.
Nevertheless, all this time won-
derful transformations are going
on within the shell. The cater-
pillar is being made over into a
butterfly. Wings are developing.
The legs become longer, the body
becomes markedly divided into
head, chest, and abdomen, the
biting mouth of the caterpillar
changes into the sucking tube of

FIG. 56. Caterpillar on Milkweed Leaf.

the butterfly, the simple eyelets

become large and compound, and the rudimentary antennae
become long. Colored hairs and scales develop on the body
and wings. These are the principal external changes in the
caterpillar going on in the chrysalis. In the cabbage butter-
fly it takes two or three weeks to make this
change, except in those which pass the winter
in this condition. At the right time the chrys-
alis bursts and the winged adult butterfly
comes out, at first with soft and crumpled
wings, which, however, are soon inflated and
dried. How different now becomes the life
of the aerial, nectar-sipping butterfly from
what it was in the voracious, leaf-eating, crawling caterpillar.
Collect some nearly grown caterpillars and keep them in
cages in the school-room. Feed them regularly upon fresh
cabbage leaves. If possible, observe the moulting, the for-

FIG. 57. Getting
Ready to Pupate.

198

NATURE-STUDY

FIG. 58. Chrysalis of Milk-
weed Butterfly — Green
and Gold.

mation of the chrysalis, and the emergence from it. Observe
the way the caterpillar cuts away the edge of a leaf. See
how its jaws work. Observe the way
the butterfly uses his wings in flight and
rest. Note how the wings are held up

rover the back and folded together when
at rest. Place some flowers or a dish of
sweetened water in the cage, and see
how the insect uses its long proboscis or
sucking tube. What does it do with
the tube when not in use ?

The butterfly passes through four dis-
tinct stages: the egg, the larva or cater-
pillar, the chrysalis or pupa, and the
imago or the adult. This kind of growth is called indirect de-
velopment or, perhaps better, complete
metamorphism. Compare with the locust.
Other insects besides the butterflies have
this kind of development, where the differ-
ent stages are strikingly different from each
other, such as the fly, beetle, bee, and ant,
for example.

Moths and butterflies belong to the order
of Lepidoptera (Scale-winged), so called
because of the colored scales on the wings.
These scales are arranged like the shingles
on a roof. The fine mealy substance that
rubs off on the fingers when a moth or
butterfly is handled consists of these scales.

Moths are chiefly nocturnal insects, and may be distin-
guished from the butterflies by the fact that they hold their

FlG. 59. Milkweed or
Monarch Butterfly
Just Out of Chrysalis.

TYPICAL INSECTS

199

wings flat over the body or extended laterally, and not erect
over the back like the butterflies, when at rest. They also
have, as a rule, thicker and heavier bodies than the butterflies.
They have thread-like or feathered antennae, while butter-
flies have feelers with thickened
or even knobby ends. Their
food is like the butterfly's.

Moth - caterpillars generally
spin a silken case or cocoon
around themselves before going
into the chrysalis stage. Collect
some of the black and brown
woolly Tiger -caterpillars and
rear them in a cage till they
spin their cocoon. The silk
comes from glands within the
body and emerges near the
mouth. It is a liquid that quick-
ly hardens on exposure. To es-
cape from the cocoon when the
transformation is complete, the
moth dissolves the gum that
binds the fibres of the cocoon together and forces its way out.

Examine a cocoon. Open it. Within you will find the
chrysalis and the last caterpillar coat.

There are many harmful moths: tent-caterpillars, clothes-
moths, army -worms, cut -worms, codling -moths, gypsy-
moths, etc.

The Beetles or Coleoptera (Sheath- winged) represent
another great order of insects. A good typical beetle is the
common June-" bug" (beetle). This is a common night-

FIG. 60. Scales on a Moth's Wing.
( Photomicrograph.)

200 NATURE-STUDY

flying insect, often found in great swarms in early summer.
It has a short, fat body. The abdomen is covered with
two stiff, hard, concave wing cases, which are really modi-
fied wings, the first pair. They serve not so much for flight
as for protection in general, and to cover the delicate under-
wings. The hind pair of wings are tucked away under the
wing cases, and are folded first lengthwise and then crosswise.

FIG. 61. Cecropia-moth Just Out of Cocoon.

It is the outer pair of hard wings that gives this order the name
Coleoptera.

Beetles have mouths much like those of locusts, and the
mandibles (jaws) are especially strong and large. They
feed on a great variety of food. Some are carnivorous, and
some eat various parts of plants.

The young stage of the beetle is called the grub. That of
the June-beetle is known as the Common Grub-worm. It is
the fat, white, fleshy larva, the kind used for fishing, found in

TYPICAL INSECTS 201

manure piles or rich soil. This caterpillar-like larva, with a
hard head and chewing mouth-parts, a soft, segmented body,
with feet like a caterpillar, -but no prolegs, lives on delicate
roots of plants or on decaying organic matter.

Most beetle-grubs pass into pupae, the quiescent stage,
which is a sort of chrysalis in which the wings are in sep-
arate pouches and the legs are free. The June-beetle spins
no cocoon, but hollows a cavity in the ground, which it lines
with an excretion that makes a kind of shell around it. In the
spring and early summer the insects emerge from their pupal

FIG. 62. Caterpillar Beginning to Spin Cocoon, and Finished Cocoon.

A. Old Caterpillar Coat. B. Chrysalis.

cases in adult form. They often come in such numbers that
they do considerable harm to the foliage of trees. The grubs
also of certain kinds of June-beetles do harm in the gardens,
by eating the roots of plants. In the daytime the June-
beetles hide, sometimes in the foliage of trees, and they come
out at night, flying about in a blundering way seeking for
their mates.

Beetles are well adapted for living under various conditions.
There are many varied forms, and they number about 100,000
species. Their stout mouth-parts adapt them to all sorts of
food. Many are quite injurious. Meal-worms (beetle
larvae) spoil flour and grain. Potato-beetles destroy the
foliage of potatoes. Cucumber beetles eat squash, melon,
and cucumber vines. Rose-chafers destroy our roses. Wood

202

NATURE-STUDY

FIG. 63. A Beetle.

and bark-boring beetles are injurious to trees. Carpet-beetles
destroy our carpets. Tiger-beetles are active and feed upon
other insects, and so does the little
polka dotted ladybug. The large,
black water-beetle also feeds on other
insects. The goldsmith's-beetle is a
handsome cousin of the June-beetle.
The fire-fly is also a beetle.

Flies, Mosquitoes, and Crane-flies
form another order, the Diptera (Two-
winged). The name refers to the
fact that these insects have only one
pair of fully developed wings, the
hind pair having become rudimentary.

The House-fly is typical. This insect lays its eggs on
decaying manure or ex-
posed meat, etc. Very
soon small, white, footless
larvae hatch out, which
are called maggots, and
feed upon the substance
in which they are hatched.
After about a week the
maggots shrink into bar-
rel-shaped pupae (corre-
sponding to the butterfly
chrysalis), from which

e, ,1 , , FIG. 64. Head and Mouth-parts of a

after another week the predacious Beetle,

adult winged flies emerge. (Photomicrograph.)

The fly has a rather large head, connected by a very flexible
neck to the hairy thorax. This is well marked off from the

TYPICAL INSECTS 203

short conical abdomen. It has six stout legs, with five-
jointed feet, which have a pair of pincer claws at the end and
a pair of pads underneath.

These pads are beset with hairs, from which exudes a sticky
substance that enables a fly to walk upside down on the ceil-
ing. The gauzy wings are not folded over each other, but

FIG. 65. House-fly.

( Photomicrograph.)

are laid flat against the back and reach beyond the body.
Examine a fly closely and you will find a pair of small, curved,
rod-like organs in the place where the second pair of wings
ought to be. In fact this is all that is left of the second
pair. They are called halteres and may serve to rest
the front wings upon while soaring. In some species of this
group the second pair of wings is represented by a pair of

204 NATURE-STUDY

slender rods, as can be very nicely seen in the long-legged
crane-flies.

The large compound eyes of the fly are very prominent and
his sight is good. Try to catch a fly.

The mouth is very complicated in structure — varying in
different kinds of flies and the other genera of the order.
In the house-fly the mandibles and maxillae are aborted, but
the lower lip is a curious, extensible organ, called a tongue or
proboscis. It is usually folded up under the head, but when
in use it is thrust out and opens up into two lobes, which are

FIG. 66. Honey-bees: Drone, Queen, and Worker.
(From Benton.)

rough, like a file or rasp. With this rough tongue the fly can
scrape off bits of meat, bread, etc., and lap up liquids. Place
a little dry and liquid food for some flies to eat, and observe
the use they make of the! tongues.

There are many species of flies. The most common is our
house-fly, but there are meat-flies, bluebottle-flies, fruit-
flies, horse-flies, deer-flies, etc. Some of these have mouth-
parts adapted to piercing and sucking, as in the case of the
last two.

Adult winged insects do not grow and moult the skin.
Hence the small flies we see are not young house-flies, but
belong to another, smaller species.

The house-fly is an immigrant from Europe, probably

TYPICAL INSECTS

205

brought over by our first colonists. It is a great nuisance
about the house. It gets into our food, specks up everything,
wakes up the baby, etc. But worse than this, it often is the
carrier of disease germs. First it walks in infected filth and
then over our food, infecting that, and this in turn transmits
the germs to us. Clean premises, screens, mosquito bars, and
fly-paper are efficient reme-
dies against the house-fly.

Flies live for several
months and then most of
them die from the cold of
autumn, or from a disease
caused by the fly-fungus.
Flies attacked by this fungus
may often be seen on the
window-panes, covered and
surrounded with a cloudy
substance. A few flies man-
age to live or hibernate
through the winter, to come
out in the spring and renew

the race ^IG' ^' ^ea(^ °f Honey-bee.

Bees, Wasps, and Ants constitute another great and very
important order, the Hymenoptera (Membrane -winged.)
The bee and the polistes-wasp make good types for study. If
the bee is chosen, a study of its anatomy will reveal the follow-
ing facts: The body is hairy, often colored black and brown
or yellow in bands. The abdomen is joined to the chest by a
very narrow, " wasp-like" waist. The six legs are strong,
and well adapted for climbing and clinging on flowers.
The first joint of the hind foot is flattened and beset with hairs,

2o6 NATURE-STUDY

It is used for gathering pollen, and the tibia, the lowest seg-
ment of the same leg, is used as a basket to carry the pollen
to the hive. It is provided with long curving hairs for that
purpose. Bees are frequently seen in the field or coming

home to the hive, with their pol-
len baskets filled with golden
dust.

The wings of bees are very
transparent, with but compara-
tively few veins. The fore and
hind wings are fastened. together
by means of minute hooks along
their adjacent edges. These in-
Fic.68. sting and Poison Bladder of terlock and make the wings
Honey-bee. more rigid. Bees are excellent

( Photomicrograph.) _

flyers.

The mouth-parts are very complicated. There is a pair of
rather weak chewing mandibles, a pair of sharp maxillae for
piercing flowers, and the lower lip is peculiarly modified into
a hairy, hollow tongue, adapted for sucking or lapping up the
nectar of flowers. It lies between the second pair of maxillae.

The bee, as is well known, is provided with a formidable
sting. This is a modification of the ovipositor. Connected
with the sting is a poison-gland from which the bee injects
into the wound formic acid, which causes an irritating in-
flammation.

The above description applies to the worker-bee. There
are two other forms, the queen and the drone. The drones
are the males, and can be distinguished by their greater
plumpness and hairiness. The queen is the mother of the
drones and of the workers, and has a body which is longer

TYPICAL INSECTS • 207

and more pointed than the others. Workers are incom-
pletely developed females and are unproductive.

The workers do all the work of the hive except laying the
eggs. They make the honey, gather the pollen, build the
honey-comb, nurse the young, »etc. The drones lead a life of
idleness, and their only function in the colony is to- fertilize
the queen for the egg laying. There is generally only one
queen to a hive, several hundred drones, and 10,000 to
40,000 workers.

Bees are social insects, with a wonderfully intelligent com-
munity life. There is among them a division of labor, a care-
ful nursing of the young, a remarkable skill in the building of
the comb, and a regulation of the colony life that amounts to
an excellent organization.

The active life of the hive is resumed in the warm days of
spring, when the flowers again offer their fragrance, pollen, and
nectar. Then the queen and such workers as have withstood
the hardships of the winter bestir themselves. The workers
clean the hive, and gather nectar and pollen. The queen
lays eggs to increase the population of the hive. She may lay
several thousand per day. The number of eggs, however,
varies with the food supply, being smaller in seasons of
scarcity of food. The eggs are placed by the queen in special
brood cells, which are generally in the central part of the hive.
Here the young are hatched into helpless little larvae, which
are fed and cared for by the workers, till they are ready to
turn into pupae. Then the workers wall them up in the cells,
and the pupae remain dormant for a period, developing into
the winged form. Most of them turn into workers, a few into
drones, and still fewer into queens. The larvae in the queen
cells are given especially rich food.

208

NATURE-STUDY

All summer long the honey is stored up in the combs,
which are made of six-sided cells in two layers, end to end.
The wax is an excretion sweated out of the pores between the
abdominal segments of the workers. This they scrape off
with their feet, and knead and work into comb with their jaws.

Honey is more than
the nectar gathered from
the flowers. The bee
takes the nectar into its
honey-crop, not stomach,
where, though it does
not undergo digestion, it
is in some way changed
so that it is different from
the nectar. This is dis-
gorged into the cells of
the honey combs, and the
bee adds a small amount
of formic acid as a pre-
servative. It is also prob-
able that some water is
removed from the nectar while it is in the crop. The honey
is further condensed in the cells, and most of the volatile oils
are evaporated from it. Then the cells are sealed with a cap
of wax. The honey generally retains some of the aroma
of the flowers from which the nectar was collected. Thus
we can distinguish basswood, clover, or buckwheat honey.
The bees confine themselves chiefly to the principal flowers
out at different times, so the honey is pure rather than mixed
in the combs. Among the flowers visited by bees for pollen
and nectar are those of the willow, maple, currant, fruit trees,

FIG. 69. Hornet's Nest.

TYPICAL INSECTS

209

common locust, raspberry, white clover, alsike clover, bass-
wood, sweet clover, buckwheat, wild aster, and goldenrod.
Bees range several miles in search of flowers and use the
pollen extensively for food, especially for the brood. They
keep it stored in cells.

Bees also collect the gummy juice that exudes from some
trees, such as the plum
and cherry, This sub-
stance is called propolis,
and is used for cementing
up the cracks of the hive.

In the work of collect-
ing pollen and nectar the
bees perform a great ser-
vice to plants. They
carry pollen from one
flower to another, and
thereby bring about what
is called cross-pollination,
which results in fertiliza-
tion of the ovules and
the formation of seed and
fruit. An apiary in con-
nection with an orchard is a very practical and profitable
arrangement.

In early summer when things are going well in the hive,
honey is abundant, the colony has increased to uncom-
fortable size, and new queens are nearly ready to emerge from
their cells, the old queen leaves the hive, followed by a large
part of the workers in search of a new home. Generally
she first alights on the branch of a tree or shrub, and the

FIG. 70. Brood Comb Inside a Hornet's Nest.
(The capped cells contain larvae.)

2io NATURE-STUDY

workers cling to .her and each other in a dense cluster. They
may now be shaken into an empty hive and thus prevented
from wandering off. This leaving the old hive is called
"swarming."

Soon after the old queen has left the hive the new queens
hatch out. Often the first out will sting the others to death
in their cells or in combat. Sometimes the extra queens
swarm away with some followers. Finally one queen is left
mistress of the hive. Then she goes out with the drones on a
wedding trip, but soon returns to the hive to proceed to her
duty of laying eggs. The drones are mercilessly killed by the
workers in the fall, or when the food begins to be scarce.

During the winter the colony lives on the store of honey in
the hive.

Many swarms of bees leave the apiaries and take up
quarters in a hollow tree or a rock cavity. Some people make
it a practice to trace these homes of the "wild" bees, which
may be done by following the "bee line" or direction taken
by the laden bee on its way home. Read Burroughs' " An
Idyl of the Honey Bee," which tells about bee hunting.

The interesting life in the colony may be observed by
school children by visiting an apiary and having the bee-
keeper show and explain things. A still better method is
to have an observation hive with glass sides.

CHAPTER XIV
INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE

FROM a human point of view insects have a great economic
importance. They are either useful or injurious. Many are
direct pests and nuisances. They frighten or disgust us;
they annoy us, like the flies; or they bite or sting us, like the
gad-flies, fleas, mosquitoes, and "yellow jackets."

But the most harmful insects are injurious to man only
indirectly. They eat his crops, spoil his fruit, and injure his
trees and flowers, his books, furniture, and clothing. They
go into the pantry and make havoc there. The bot-fly
and the tsetse-fly kill his 'cattle. The losses inflicted by
insects in these various ways often amount to millions of
dollars yearly.

Mosquitoes belong to the two-winged group. These little
insects can entirely spoil our enjoyment of outdoor life at
water resorts, in the woods, or even on the city veranda.

The natural breeding places for mosquitoes are swamps
and marshes, though rain barrels, puddles, tin cans, etc. will
do. The female lays on the water, a boat -shaped mass of
eggs, which floats around till the eggs are hatched. The
larvae of mosquitoes are commonly known as " wrigglers,"
and are frequently seen in rain barrels. Wrigglers breathe
air by means of a tubular organ near the posterior end of their
bodies. When at rest they are at the surface of the water,

212 NATURE-STUDY

head down, with the breathing tube thrust up through the
surface-film and adhering to it. If they are suddenly dis-
turbed, they quickly fall to the bottom.

The larva changes to a bent form, the pupa, which
breathes air by means of thoracic spiracles. It now has wing
pads. This pupa finally splits open on the back, and the
winged mosquito appears, using the old pupal case as a rait
until its wings are strong enough to fly. All these changes

Male. Female.

FIG. 71. Mosquito.

take place in a few days, if the conditions are favorable, and
they are interesting to observe in the school-room. Keep a
number of larvae in a dish of water with a screen over it.
Watch frequently, and probably you will see the mosquito
emerge.

The male mosquito differs in appearance from the female.
He has long feathery antennae, believed to be organs of hear-
ing, and he has no sting or, rather, beak. Therefore he does
not " bite " as does the female. She has smaller antennae, and
her mouth-parts are a collection of slender, sharp, piercing,

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE

213

lancing and sucking organs. They are modified mandibles
and maxillae, which can be folded together into a sucking
tube. The female " sings," but the male is silent.

In many places malaria is a burden to the people. It is
now believed that mosquitoes carry the germs of the disease,
and implant them in man when they bite. It is not the
common mosquito, Culex, that is responsible for this, but
the genus Anopheles. This genus may be distinguished from

FIG. 72. Development of a Mosquito.

Egg mass, enlarged egg, hatched out larva, pupa, and adult emerging from pupa case.
(After Howard, Miall, etc.)

the common mosquito by the fact that it seems to stand upon
its head when at rest, while the common form stands as a
well-behaved mosquito should, with the body parallel to the
resting surface.

It has also been determined that the mosquito is a carrier
of yellow fever. After biting a fever patient a mosquito bites
a healthy person, who then contracts the disease.

These facts make the checking of the development of the
mosquito a very important problem. Screens on doors and
windows are very effective in keeping them out of the house.

2i4 NATURE-STUDY

The most successful way to exterminate the mosquito is to
pour a little kerosene oil upon the water of their breeding
places. This forms a thin film over the water and kills eggs,
larvae, and adults that come in touch with it. This method
of extermination has shown good results.

Fish, tadpoles, and aquatic insects destroy many wrigglers,
and the adults are eaten by other insects, especially dragon-
flies, by birds and bats.

The Flea is another very troublesome insect, found in the
homes of prince and pauper. The bite of this little tormentor
is more painful, and in many people leaves more lasting and
irritating inflammation than that of the mosquito. There
are many different kinds of fleas, but the most common in this
country are the dog-flea and the cat-flea. The human-flea,
so common in Europe and the Orient, is as yet not numerous
here except locally.

Fleas are related to flies. They have lost their wings
from dis.use, however, and they have no compound eyes, only
two simple ones. They have a sharp beak with which they
suck the blood of animals. They are very hard to catch,
as they are very nimble and excellent jumpers. They
lay their eggs in dust in the cracks of the floor. Cleanliness
in housekeeping is the best remedy against them. Dogs and
cats with fleas should not be allowed in the house.

Similar parasites are Lice and Bed-bugs, belonging to the
Bugs. They have lost their wings on account of their par-
asitic, lazy habits. These creatures are often distributed in
schools, in the cars, at moving times, and on the street. They
are very irritating pests that thrive in dirt and filth. Per-
sonal cleanliness and a liberal use of soap, broom, scrub-
brush, scalding, and treatment by gasoline of the rooms and

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE 215

furniture infested are preventives as well as remedies for
them.

Another disgusting household insect is the Cockroach, of
which there are several kinds. The small kind is called the
Croton-bug or German cockroach. The large, black kind is
the Oriental roach. They are hard to get rid of. They are
unpleasant to meet with in the night; they run over the food
in the pantry, and congregate in cracks and crevices near
sinks and drains. The most effective remedy for them is
probably to pour gasoline or carbon bisulphide into their hid-
ing places. They are sometimes caught in cockroach traps.
The eggs are laid in cracks in little bundles, which the female
may sometimes be seen carrying about with her.

Clothes-moths (several species) are very destructive of
wearing apparel, tapestry, carpets, etc. Many a fine fur
garment, or cloth suit, has been ruined while being stored
during the summer or left uncared for in a closet or trunk.
Clothes-moths have been associated with man for ages. The
Bible speaks of treasures that moths do not corrupt, and Job
is made to speak of "a garment that is moth eaten."

The common clothes-moth is a small, buff-colored moth,
about half an inch in length. In the summer this moth lays
her eggs upon clothing, and the larva or caterpillar that
hatches out of the egg begins to eat off the nap of the cloth or
the hairs of the fur, and proceeds to make itself a felt case.
This it carries around with itself, and enlarges when too
small by adding to the end, and to make it wider puts in
gores. Then it turns around in the case and does the same
at the other end. The case is further lined with silk spun
by the larva itself. The caterpillar lives on the material of
the garment or the dirt that may be on it, and passes

216 NATURE-STUDY

the chrysalis stage in the case. Finally the winged moth
emerges.

The moths themselves are harmless, but they lay the eggs
that become the destructive larvae. The moths may be
prevented from laying their eggs in clothing by putting it in
well sealed paper packages, or in tight boxes or chests. The
insects, that is the adults, do not like the odor of moth balls
and camphor. Hence these substances are usually put in the
chest or package in which the clothes are to be kept. Cedar
chests are also avoided by moths. All these precautions
are useless, however, if eggs have already been laid in the
garments before they were put away. Therefore it is well to
brush out well and air the clothing before packing it.
Another way to prevent injury from moths is to put the
furs, etc., in cold storage; if any eggs are in them they will
not hatch.

Our gardens suffer from several kinds of insects. Early
in the growing season Cutworms are troublesome. They
cut off the sweet-peas and other tender plants near the ground,
and drag the plant down into the burrow generally close to the
base of the plant, where, if we dig, we can generally find the
culprit. This cutworm is a fleshy, gray, black-striped cater-
pillar, which crawls about at night. It is the larva of a moth.
The best preventive against it is to put a little fence or girdle
of stiff paper or boards around the plant or the beds. Poi-
soned bran is a bait they will eat. Birds and toads are
good friends of the gardener and destroy many cutworms.

Cucumbers and squashes are injured by the Striped Cucum-
ber-beetle and the Squash-bug. Paris green and ashes are a
remedy against them.

A very injurious butterfly is the little white Cabbage But-

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE

217

terfly, seen flitting about every garden from early spring till
late in fall. The eggs are placed on cabbage, cauliflower,
and nasturtium leaves. The caterpillars are very voracious
and often do much damage. Pyrethrum powder (insect
powder) is a remedy. This butterfly is not a native species,
but was introduced from Europe about 1860, since which
time it has multiplied enormously,
having two or three broods a year.
A small ichneumon-fly is its para-
site, which in a measure acts as a
check to it.

Plant-lice or Aphides, of which
there are many species, are harmful
to many plants. They are minute
insects, and their permanent loca-
tion on certain plants amounts
almost to parasitism, so much so
that most of them have no wings.
They are usually named after the
kind of plant on which they live:
cherry aphis, peach aphis, corn aphis, hop aphis, etc. They
are generally crowded together in great numbers on the
succulent twigs and leaves of plants. They live upon the
juices of the plant, which they suck through piercing beaks.

Some aphides are green; others, black; some, red. Some
are covered with a woolly coat. Some have a pair of little
rods at the rear end of the back. These aphides excrete a
sweet liquid, which often drops from them upon the leaves
and the walks beneath the trees. This liquid is called
honey-dew, and is relished by certain ants, which may often
be seen in summer among clusters of black aphides on the

FIG. 73. Plant-lice.

2i8 NATURE-STUDY

lamb's-quarters weed. The ants climb up the weeds to the
colonies of aphides to lick from them the excreted honey-dew.
These honey-dew forming plant-lice are sometimes called the
ant's cows. Bees and other insects also sometimes drink
this liquid. The honey made from this, however, has an
inferior and rank quality.

Plant-lice can weaken or even kill plants by robbing them
of their juices, House-plants, such as chrysanthemums, are
subject to the attack of these insects and are much injured.
The aphides feed chiefly on the stems and leaves, but some of
them attack the roots of plants. Garden asters are often
killed in this way. The phylloxera is such an aphis, and at
one time almost ruined the grape industry of Europe.

Kerosene emulsion, and fumigation with tobacco and car-
bon-bisulphide are common remedies. Soap and sulphur
solutions are also used to destroy plant-lice.

For study, either observe the colonies on different plants
outdoors, or bring plants or parts of infested plants to the
school.

Orchards with their sweet-scented, nectar-filled flowers,
tender foliage, juicy bark, and luscious fruit always attract
many injurious insects. The plant-lice referred to are some-
times very troublesome to fruit trees, the apple being especially
attacked at the roots.

Related to the plant-lice are the Bark-lice or Scale Insects,
so called from their habit of clinging closely to the tender bark
of trees and sucking the juices, also from the scale-like appear-
ance of the female insects, which generally are covered with a
rounded, protecting scale. We sometimes find upon the
leaves of the palm and other greenhouse plants white, flaky
spots, which on close examination are seen to be insects called

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE 219

mealy bugs, a species of scale. On many fruit and other
trees there often form dense incrustations of scale insects that
sometimes kill the trees. The apple-bark louse is such a one.
The San Jose scale, that affects the orange and many other
fruit trees, has done a vast amount of damage. The best
remedy for such insects is spraying with emulsion. Fumi-
gation with hydrocyanic acid gas is also used.

Another serious menace to all orchards is the Bark and
Wood Borers. These are the larvae of various moths and
beetles, that gnaw their way through and live upon the tissues
of the bark and wood of stems and roots. Apple and other
fruit trees, the box-elder, basswood, and many other trees will
show upon their bark many holes. These were mostly made
by woodpeckers digging for borers. With a strong knife
or other tool chip the bark from some old box-elder tree,
and you will no doubt find some bark borers that have made
tunnels between the bark and the wood. On peach and
cherry trees there may be fresh masses of exuding gum, which
indicates the presence of borers, and cutting into the bark will
reveal the larvae. The best remedy we have against these
borers is perhaps the woodpeckers, which should be en-
couraged in every orchard. Wrapping the trees is some-
times an effective remedy.

The Codling-moth ravages apple orchards. Soon after
the petals fall from the flower the moth lays her eggs in the
calyx of the flower or, rather, young fruit. The larva that
hatches out bores its way into the core of the apple. The
affected apples fall early, and the grub bores its way out and
generally crawls up the trunk of the tree, to make its cocoon
under the bark scales. A second brood generally affects the
orchard again later in the summer and causes many apples

220 NATURE-STUDY

on the market to be wormy. Millions of dollars worth of
fruit are lost annually through this insect. Early spraying
with poisons will kill the larvae. Collecting and destroying
the apples that fall early, wrapping straw, etc. around the

trunk for the caterpillars
to make their cocoons in,
in order to collect and
burn them, are remedies.
Birds in the orchard are
a great aid.

A number of other
caterpillars injure the
foliage of orchard and
shade trees. The Tent
Caterpillar forms large,
unsightly webs in the
twigs of the trees. These
webs are the homes of
several hundred caterpil-
lars, that were hatched
out of an egg mass de-
posited by the female
moth the fall before, on

FIG. 74. Tent of Web-worms. , i • ,-t

the twigs near the tent.

These caterpillars feed upon the leaves of the trees, and by
the defoliation sometimes injure the trees materially, besides
disfiguring them badly. They eat the soft parts of the
leaf, leaving the skeleton of ribs and veins. They gener-
ally feed during the early morning hours and again toward
evening, probably so as to escape the attacks of other in-
sects and of birds. During most of the day they hide in

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE 221

the tent, which is a good protection against many of their
enemies. At night it helps to protect them from the
cold, and it also sheds rain. As the caterpillars crawl
about on the tree they spin out a thread of silk over the
path they take. This may aid them in finding their way
back to the tent, and also enables them to let themselves
down from the branch or leaf to the ground. After reach-
ing maturity the caterpiller crawls or spins down from the
tree, and seeking shelter under sticks, stones, bark, etc.,
goes into the cocoon or pupa state. From this emerges a
dusky, streaked moth. The nests should be removed with
the colony as soon as noticed, and should be burned. Birds
are useful in ridding us of this pest, especially the winter
resident woodpeckers, chicadees, nuthatches, etc., which eat
the eggs. The cuckoo and oriole destroy many of the cater-
pillars in summer. Most birds do not like the hairiness of
the common tent caterpillars and hence leave them alone.

The forest trees are affected like the orchard and shade
trees. Large tracts of forest are sometimes defoliated by
tent caterpillars, canker-worms, tussock-moths, and other
leaf-eating caterpillars. Leaf mining or eating beetles also
do much harm to the foliage. The borers injure the bark and
wood of the stem and roots. Gall-forming insects attack
many forest trees and injure the leaves and twigs. In fact, it
is often impossible to find a perfectly sound leaf in the latter
part of the summer, so widespread is the injury done by
insects.

The farmer has some very bad insect enemies to contend
with. Potato-beetles, chinch-bugs, army-worms, weevils, and
locusts sometimes cause the ruin of prosperous farmers, so
that such an insect plague becomes a national calamity.

222 NATURE-STUDY

The Locusts or Grasshoppers, as they are commonly
called, are perhaps the most serious of these pests. Ref-
erences to locust plagues are found in ancient history and the
Bible. The locust plague in Egypt in Bible times "covered
the whole face of the earth, so that the land was darkened;
and they did eat every herb of the land, and all the fruit of the
trees which the hail had left; and there remained not a green
thing in the trees, or in the herbs of the field, through all the
land of Egpyt." The same has happened in Kansas and
other states within the memory of man.

There are a number of species of locusts in this country, bat
the one most commonly seen in the North is the common
Red-legged Locust, with red legs and wings no longer than the
body. This rarely does much harm to crops. It is a com-
mon insect along the roadsides and in the meadows. The
Rocky Mountain Locust is similar to this, except that its
wings are longer. This species lives chiefly in the dry
plateau region of the United States, but occasionally migrates
to the agricultural sections farther east. There it sometimes
does immense harm, and reduces states to the verge of starva-
tion, as in Kansas in the year 1874. The Clouded Locust is
a common pasture insect, that makes a snapping sound by
rubbing its wings together as it flies. The Carolina Locust is
a common gray or brown locust, seen often in dusty roads or
along the sandy shores of lakes and rivers. It is rather large,
and is hard to see at rest because its color resembles the
background. Its under wings have a bright band of orange
or yellow, which is displayed in flight. In the Middle South
there is the large Bird Locust, measuring over two inches in
length.

I remember one locust year in Minnesota, when the locusts

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE 223

settled irregularly on the country, visiting certain regions and
leaving others unharmed. They ate the ripening wheat and
other grains; they attacked the corn and every other green
plant; they congregated in swarms along the roadsides, and
clustered thickly on the fences at night or under piles of
straw and other litter. In the latter part of the summer, one
could dig almost anywhere along the roads in the hard soil
and unearth their egg masses, or see the females burrowing
the ground to deposit their eggs. After doing much harm
the locusts suddenly, and with almost one accord, took to the
wing and flew away. So thick were they in the air that on
looking up one saw the myriads of locusts like flakes in a
snowstorm, and the sun was actually dimmed by their great
numbers. Soon after news came of great masses of locust
bodies having been found in the Atlantic Ocean along the
coasts. The farmers fervently hoped they were those of their
late enemies.

Various remedies were used to fight the plague, but most
of them were as a drop in the bucket. The insects were
crushed on the fences, coaxed into rows of litter which were
then burned. The young were collected along the roadsides
by pushing a small tar-covered cart about in the grass. The
young locusts jumped into the tar and were afterwards
burned. Fortunately locusts, like other creatures, are subject
to natural enemies and diseases. Many kinds of birds eat
great numbers of them. Reptiles, frogs and toads, field mice,
shrews and moles eat them. There are certain insect
parasites that kill or weaken them. On many locusts you may
find attached to the wings and other parts of the bodies small
red mites. The common hair-worm (hair "snake") is an
internal parasite of locusts. Certain fungous diseases affect

224 NATURE-STUDY

locusts, so that often great numbers of them are stricken. The
eggs and young of the Mountain Locusts do not thrive well
in the lowlands and soon die out. Thus, there are natural
checks upon these rapacious hosts.

Many other kinds of insects are very injurious to the
farmer's crops, notably the army-worm, chinch-bug, potato-
beetle, cotton-boll weevil, etc.

Not only the farmer's crops, but his animals as well suffer
from insects. There are many species of flies, mosquitoes,
gnats, lice, ticks, mange insects etc. that irritate and injure
his horses, sheep, and cattle. Poultry also suffers much in
the same way. External scabs and internal bot-flies, if
neglected, may result in the death of the animals so affected.
In South Africa there is a fly called the Tsetse-fly that intro-
duces with its bite a disease germ that kills cattle and even
man.

The United States Department of Agriculture, and the
Agricultural and Experiment Stations of various states have
departments of entomology for the study of harmful insects
and ways of controlling them.

Insects and Flowers

There exists a vejy intimate relation between flowers and
insects. A few minutes spent in watching a flower-bed or a
patch of wild flowers will show flies, bees, bumblebees, moths,
and butterflies, as well as other kinds of insects, crawling into
or over the flowers, sipping the nectar, or eating and gathering
the pollen. These insects are doing a great work in nature —
carrying pollen from the stamens to the pistils of the flowers.
This is called pollination, and is an essential thing in the for-
mation of fruit and seed. It is an interesting fact that if a

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE

225

flower be pollinated, not with its own pollen, but with that
of some other flower of the same sort, better seed will be
formed. It seems to be the aim of nature to bring about
cross-pollination, as this is called, in one way or another.
And one way is to utilize insects.

It may be set down as a general rule that all flowers that
have bright colors, nec-
tar, and perfume are in-
sect pollinated. The
colors and odors attract
the insects, and they like
to drink the nectar.
The pollen also is eaten
by many insects. The
insects travelling about
from flower to flower
carry, not intentionally
but accidentally rather,
pollen from the stamens
of one flower to the pistil
of another.

Plants have developed special structures, that aid materially
in cross-pollination or make self-pollination impossible.

In the common sage the anthers are hinged at the middle to
their filaments, and they mature before the stigma of the same
flower. A bee trying to get at the nectar in the bottom of the
flower strikes the lower part of the lever anther, which turns
down and strikes the bee on the back, dusting it with pollen.
The dusted bee then goes to another, perhaps older flower,
with withered anthers but mature and opened stigma. The
style in this flower is elongated, and the stigma held right

FIG. 75- Butterflies and Bumblebees Like Clover
Blossoms.

226 NATURE-STUDY

in the way of the bee which, in attempting to go past it,
brushes off some pollen against the stigma.

When a bee alights on a sweet-pea flower it rests upon the
wings and keel of the flower. The weight of the bee de-
presses these parts, which makes the stamens and style pro-
trude through the end of the keel. This dusts the bee with

FIG. 76. Sphinx-moth.

pollen, and in the next flower this pollen is rubbed off on the
stigma.

The primrose illustrates another device for cross-pollina-
tion. Some of the plants have flowers with short stamen and
long style, and others just the reverse. Insects visiting these
flowers transfer the pollen of the short stamen to the short
style, and from the long stamen to the long style.

The lady's-slipper is a remarkable case. The bee enters
by the incurving fold of the slipper. It cannot get out again

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE 227

this way, however, but must leave the flower by one of two
openings near its base. In doing so it rubs against a pollen-
mass, which adheres to the insect's head or shoulder. When
the bee tries to get out of another flower it rubs off the pollen-
mass against the stigma, and in passing on takes along
another pollen mass.

In many plants self-pollination is impossible, because the
stamens and pistils are in different flowers. This is the case
in the begonia, in the pumpkin, and many others.

Some plants are so dependent upon insects that but for
them little or no seed would be formed. The common red
clover, generally pollinated by bumblebees, produces seed
only in small quantity if bumblebees are not about.

Parasitic Insects

Insects have many enemies and endure many hardships.
The rain and the cold kill great numbers, and moles, shrews,
bats, birds, frogs, toads, fish, etc. eat them. They are also
subject to disease. Attempts have been made to spread
contagion artificially among chinch-bugs and locusts, in order
to destroy them. Flies die from a fungous disease. Insects
prey upon each other. There are predaceous insects like
the dragon-fly, tiger-beetle, etc., that kill and eat many of their
fellows. Some insects destroy the lives of others by parasiti-
cally feeding upon or within them. All these checks upon
multiplication are welcomed by man, providing they do not
affect our beneficial insects. And we consider insects useful
if they help us to get rid of the more harmful kinds.

The little polka-dotted red or orange Ladybug is a very
useful beetle because it destroys great numbers of plant-lice,
scale insects, etc. It should be protected. One kind of lady-

228 NATURE-STUDY

bug has been introduced into this country to help fight the
scale and other insects which injure the fruit trees in Cali-
fornia.

The injurious cotton-boll weevil has an enemy in the form
of a certain species of ant.

Ichneumon-flies are interesting and beneficial insects.
One form, the Thalessa, is a wasp-like insect, with a long
slender body terminating in a very long thread-like ovipositor.
By means of this instrument the female penetrates the bark
of trees to the burrows of larvae of the borers, and inserts her
eggs in the bodies of these insects. The eggs hatch out and
the grubs then feed upon the vitals of the host. In time the
host succumbs. By this time the ichneumon grubs are ready
to leave or to pupate. They burrow their way out of the
host and pupate in the borers' burrow or tunnel, from which
they emerge as winged insects. There are other kinds of
ichneumons and other parasitic insects, particularly the
Microgasters and Chalcis-flies and the Tachinid and Syrphus
Flies, which attack caterpillars and other insects by laying
their eggs in them to hatch out there and destroy them. The
large Grape, Cecropia, Cynthia, etc., Caterpillars are often
thus affected. Generally before the caterpillar reaches the
pupal stage its parasites have run their larval course and,
boring their way out through the walls of the sick caterpillar,
spin their cocoons on its surface. The caterpillar quickly
dies from the effects. It is interesting to note that the
mother insect seems to use judgment in laying her eggs in
other insects. If the host is small only one or a few eggs
are laid in it. If large then a greater number, according
to the abundance of the food supply. The affected cater-
pillars sometimes manage to live until they form the chrys-

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE 229

alis, but they do not develop into butterflies or moths. The
caterpillars attacked by parasites generally are restless, and
show evidence of discomfort or pain. Often we find chrys-
alises, of the cabbage caterpillar, for example, with little
holes, or punctures, in the case. They had parasites which
came out through the holes. By these parasitic insects
many injurious caterpillars are kept more or less in check.
Biological relations in nature are very complex. Each
species must have nourishment, and this must constitute
some other form of life, plant, or animal. In this way a fair
balance is kept between the different kinds of life, one acting
as a check upon the other. Mr. F. S. Mathews1 quotes an
appropriate doggerel to express this idea in another way:

Little fleas have lesser fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,

And these fleas have lesser fleas ad infinitum.

Great fleas have greater fleas upon their backs to go on,

And these fleas have greater fleas, and greater fleas, and so on.

Some Good or Harmless Insects

The honey-bee has already been described on page 205.
Another domesticated insect, which is always interesting to
children, is the Silk-moth. Silk-worms are reared artificially
in a number of countries of Europe and Asia. The cater-
pillars are carefully tended and fed with mulberry leaves, and
when they have reached the pupa stage, they spin around
them a cocoon of a fine strong fibre, the silk which we use.

The fibre is derived from a gland in the body of the cater-
pillar, and issues from a spinneret on the lower side near the
mouth as a liquid, which, however, solidifies in the air.

In the silk culture the cocoons are collected and the pupae

1 " Familiar Life in Field and Forest."

23o NATURE-STUDY

killed. The silk fibre is then unravelled and reeled into
skeins, is spun into thread, then woven into cloth, and
dyed or left natural.

This is a profitable subject for a nature lesson in connection
with geography, when a silk-producing country is being
studied. The lesson should be well illustrated with silk,
cloth, thread, floss, pictures of the insect in different stages,
and if possible some real cocoons.

Professor V. L. Kellogg, of Leland Stanford University,
California, kindly agrees to send any teacher several dozen
eggs of the Chinese Silk-moth for five cents. Children would
be delighted to watch the development of the eggs and cater-
pillars. Eggs and cocoons may also be got from Mrs. Carrie
Williams, San Diego, CaL, and from the Division of Ento-
mology, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington.

Though the Ants may be sometimes troublesome in pan-
tries and on the lawns, on the whole we generally consider
them with a kindly interest. They have a community life
similar to that of the bees. This and their intelligent ways of
managing the colony, and many other interesting habits
make ants an entertaining subject of study.

There are queens, males, and workers in the colony. Ants,
like the bees, belong to the Hymenoptera (Membrane-
winged). The workers have no wings, but the queens and
males do. In the summer one may often see the winged queens
and males swarming, generally about some tree, during the
mating. After the mating the queen returns to the nest. Often
her wings are then pulled off by the workers or herself, and she
settles down to the business of laying eggs to increase the
population of the colony. The winged forms may often be
seen in disturbing some ant-hill, or overturning a stone under

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE 231

which there is a colony, or opening the home of a colony that
lives in a rotten log.

The homes of ants do not show the skill of architecture
that is manifested by the bees. The earth dwellers gen-
erally have labyrinthine subterranean galleries, tunnels, and
chambers, and those that live in logs sometimes com-
pletely honeycomb the wood.

When an ant-hill is broken open there is generally great
excitement among the inhabitants. They rush about with
small white bodies in their mouths, either eggs or cocoons,
which they are endeavoring to carry to a place of safety.

FIG. 77. Ant Cage.

The eggs are very small, and are not the larger white bodies
generally considered eggs. These are the cocoons.

The ways of ants may be very well studied in the school-
room by placing a lot of ants and cocoons in a dish covered
with a pane of glass. If the dish is not opaque wrap it in
opaque paper. Lay a flat stone, a chip, or piece of bark,
slightly raised, in the dish. The ants will soon collect the
cocoons and themselves under the cover, and this may be
removed occasionally and the progress of the colony ob-
served. Feed the ants with sweetened water, succulent herb-
age and fruit. They also like caterpillars and meat.

A convenient ant cage or formicarium has been devised by
Professor Comstock, which can easily be made and modified
to suit convenience. It is made by taking a plank about
1 6 x 1 8 inches, cutting a deep trench near its edge, and
making a moat of this by filling it with water. This moat

232 NATURE-STUDY

is to keep the ants in the cage. Place a shallow tin tray
about 10 x 10 inches on the plank. Lay a sheet of glass in
the tray. Then lay thin strips of wood or glass, a little
thicker than the height of an ant, around the edge of the sheet
of glass. Fill the inner space with fine earth. Then lay on
top of this another sheet of glass like the lower, but with one
corner cut off (about two inches on each side of the corner).
This opening will allow an entrance to the earth within. Then
lay a corresponding piece of heavy paper or, better, tin on this.
Now get your ants, being sure to get also a queen, and co-
coons, and some of the earth in which the nest was found.
(The queen is larger than the rest, has a thicker abdomen,
and usually wings.) Place these on top of the cage, re-
moving the excess of earth. Leave alone a day or so, and
the ants will have taken up quarters within the cage. By
removing the cover, the galleries, rooms, young and old
ants, cocoons and eggs may be seen. Do not let the nest get
too dry. Pour a little water into the tray occasionally. Such
a colony may be kept a long time if properly cared for.

Crickets also belong to the interesting and harmless, rather
than to the injurious, class. Occasionally, when they collect
in too great numbers in a house, they become annoying, and
they may sometimes do a little harm to field crops. They
are especially abundant in the latter part of the summer,
when they may be found sunning themselves in the meadows
and along the roadsides. Here also they are laying their eggs.
Crickets are preeminently autumn insects, and during the
day and the night the rather pleasant sound of their chirp-
ing may be heard. We speak of the cheerful crickets. Per-
haps it is their chirping that makes us feel so. Crickets have
always had a popular place in literature.

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE 233

Crickets are cousins to the locusts or grasshoppers. ' Gen-
erally they are black. They resemble locusts somewhat in
shape, but their wings are much shorter, the hind pair being
often useless. They do not fly much, but depend on jumping
and running for escape, and they are very nimble.

The males do the chirping by rubbing the edge of one front
wing over the outer surface of the other. On each outer
wing there is a
ridge with tooth-
like projections.
By drawing the
other wing over
this rough ridge it
is made to vibrate,
much as we make

Un by raw- FlG ?g Male Cricket Below> Female Egg Placer Above.

ing a card over a

comb. This chirping is the love song of the male. Presum-
ably there are female ears to hear it. Cricket's ears are not
on their heads, but on the first joint of their forelegs above the
foot. Here will be seen a little oval pit with a membrane
stretched across. The spot is somewhat transparent and is
easily found. Catch some crickets and put them in a cage
or jar; you will probably hear them chirp, and by approach-
ing quietly you may see how they do it. They make good
school-room pets.

The female cricket has a long slender organ at the end of
her abdomen which is the ovipositor or egg placer. By
means of it she can penetrate the earth and lay her eggs in
the soil.

Another cousin to the locust is named the Green Grass-

234

NATURE-STUDY

hopper to distinguish it from the common grasshopper or
locust. This resembles a cricket or a locust in general struct-
ure. It is found in grass and in the trees, hence its color for
the sake of protection is green. The Meadow Grasshopper
is a common kind. It is long and slender, with
wings that extend beyond its body. It has
very long antennae, and a pair of very long
jumping legs. This kind is seen m the tall
grass of meadows, clinging to the blades and
stalks. The male makes a chirping noise by
FIG. 79. Sounding rubbing the wing covers upon each other,
wing of cricket. The Katydid is another kind of grasshopper,

that lives in the trees, and in the quiet watches of the night
argues continuously, "Katy did," "Katy didn't." The
sound is made as by the other grasshoppers. The Katydid
looks somewhat like a cricket with long, broad wings.

On hot summer days we often hear a shrill, trilling sound
emanating from the tall
trees, a sound that resem-
bles a miniature snare-drum
or a miniature alarm-clock
going off and gradually run-
ning down. This sound is
made by the Dog-day Har-
vest-fly or Two-year Cicada,
or perhaps by the Seventeen-
year Cicada. These insects
are sometimes, but erroneously, called the "Locust." The
cicada is related to the Bugs (Hemiptera).

It is a rather large insect, nearly two inches in length, with
clear, strongly veined wings. It has a broad, triangular head,

FIG. 80.

The Ear of a Cricket on the Front
Leg.

( Photomicrograph.)

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE

235

FIG. 81. Katydid.

terminated by a stout, sharp beak, which is generally folded
under the head. The compound eyes are prominent, as are
also the three ocelli.

The song of the ci-
cada is produced in a
pair of elaborate drum-
like organs on the under
side of the abdomen.
Turn the insect over
and a pair of circular
covers will be seen just
behind the hind legs.
Lift these up and you
will see a cavity under
each. Across this cavity are stretched membranes which
are made to vibrate by the rapid contraction and relaxation
of attached muscles. The females have
no such sounding apparatus and are
therefore silent.

If cicadas are found that have dropped
from the trees they should be brought to
the school alive and kept in cages. Feed
them on succulent leaves.

The development of the so-called
seventeen-year cicada is interesting be-
cause the larvae grow very slowly, taking
from 13 to 17 years to mature. They
live in the ground, feeding upon tender roots. The two-year
cicada develops in two or three years.

Cicadas have been famed in poetry ever since the times of
Homer.

FIG. 82. Cicada.

236

NATURE-STUDY

Butterflies and Moths

The most beautiful of the insects are the Butterflies. These
airy, flitting, little beings always attract and cheer the eye.
They frequent the flower gardens, the roadside flowers, and
the flowers of the meadows and forest borders.

The Cabbage Butterfly is the most common of our butter-
flies. As its caterpillar eats cabbage and related plants and
also the nasturtium, it is considered a nox-
ious insect. It is seen in every vegetable
garden and in fields and meadows. The
male has one black spot on each fore wing;
the female, two.

A common butterfly similar to the preced-
ing, only yellow, is the Clouded Sulphur or
Clover Butterfly. This form is seen often in
clover fields where its larva feeds on the
clover. The wings are black bordered. The
fore wings have each a black, the hind an
orange, spot. The female is sometimes
white.

The Mourning Cloak is a rather common butterfly with
dark-brown, yellow-bordered wings. Its black spiny cater-
pillars feed upon the leaves of willow and poplar. Some of
these butterflies pass the winter in the adult stage, and
occasionally on very mild days in winter or early spring they
may be seen flying about.

The Swallowtails, of which there are several species, are
among the handsomest and largest. They are called thus
because the hind wings are drawn out into tapering ends.
They frequently visit flower gardens. The Red Admiral is

FIG. 83. Moulted Skin
of Cicada.

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE

237

a medium sized butterfly with purplish wings, the front pair

bearing a conspicuous orange or red band across their sur-
face. The larva feeds upon

hop and nettle.

In the latter part of the

summer the Painted Beauty

is commonly found on the as-
ters and other fall flowers. It

is a very nimble and active

butterfly. The upper surface

of the wings is blackish, with

orange and white spots. The

under side of the wings is the

finest, being marbled with

brown, gray, and white, with

rose-colored spots on the front

pair, and two eye-like spots on

the hind wings. It is one of the daintiest and most beautiful
of our butterflies. It measures about two
inches across its wing-tips. This butter-
fly, like some others, has the interesting
habit of playing dead when caught, com-
ing to life and making off quickly when
there is a chance to escape.

Another common butterfly is the Violet
Tip, so called from the violet border of
its brown wings. It is also called the
Comma Butterfly, because of a curved.

% just out of chrysalis. siivery sp()t on tne under side of the

hind wing. A very handsome and the largest of our butter-
flies is the common Milkweed or Monarch Butterfly. Its

FIG. 84. Monarch Butterfly Sipping Clover
Nectar.

FIG. 85. Comma Butter-

238

NATURE-STUDY

larva, which is a large, fleshy, yellow and black striped cat-
erpillar,, feeds upon the leaves of the milkweed, and forms a
beautiful green and gold chrysalis.

The adult has broad, brown wings, banded or nerved with
black, with several rows of white spots along the border. An
interesting thing about this species is that toward the close of
summer it migrates southward in vast swarms. I have
seen the sky full of these butterflies flying and drifting with

FIG. 86. Sphinx-moth.
(Note long proboscis. Scale in inches.)

the wind on their way South. Sometimes they will settle for
the night in the trees of the forest, when it is an easy matter
to collect them by the hundred.

A butterfly which, by most people not especially acquainted
with it, is taken for the monarch is the somewhat smaller
Viceroy. This butterfly illustrates the wonderful mimicry
that some insects and other animals are capable of. The
monarch butterfly is not eaten by birds, probably because
of a disagreeable odor and taste. The group to which the
viceroy belongs are generally purple and white, and are liked
by birds, but the viceroy by putting on a "lion's skin,"

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE 239

resembling the unpalatable monarch, escapes harm from the
birds. This is a remarkable case of adaptation for protection.
The viceroy may, however, be distinguished from the mon-
arch by the fact that it has a black band across the hind wings,
and some minor differences.

The caterpillar feeds upon willow leaves, and forms a
cocoon in a curled-up leaf.

Many of the Moths are beautiful. Many, though incon-
spicuous when at rest with folded wings, have bright colors on
their under wings and back.

The common Tomato-worm, feeding on the tomato plant,
is a large, green caterpillar, with a sort of tail-like projection
near the hind end, oblique markings upon its segments, and
a line down its back. The green color and the markings
very nicely imitate a curled-up leaf, with its veins and midrib.
The caterpillar is about three inches long. When ready to
pupate it burrows into the ground and forms a chrysalis, but
no cocoon. There is a peculiar, slender handle to the chrys-
alis, which is a special case for the very long tongue or pro-
boscis of the coming moth. In the spring the pupa wriggles
to the surface, and the moth emerges. This is a beautiful
insect with large, gray marbled wings, five yellow spots on
each side of the back of the abdomen, and large antennae.
The tongue is unusually long. It is generally kept curled up
like a watch-spring under the head, but when in use in sipping
nectar it is straightened out and then measures nearly four
inches in length. If such a moth is caught and killed, the
tongue may be straightened out with a pin or forceps, the end
gently clamped, and the moth suspended from this and
allowed to dry.

Such a mount of a moth with extended tongue is very in-

240

NATURE-STUDY

structive, and shows well how the insect is adapted for sucking
nectar from deep-tubed flowers, such as the honeysuckle,
lily, etc. The moth may be seen flying about the flower
beds toward dusk. Because the wings are kept in a state
of rapid vibration it is called the Humming-bird Moth.

It is about as large
as a humming-bird.
It is also- called the
Hawk-moth. It be-
longs to the group
of moths known as
Sphinx- moths.
Other common
moths of this group
are the Grape Vine
Caterpillar, the
White-lined Sphinx-
moth, and the Bum-
blebee-hawk Moths,
also called Clear
Wings from the
transparency of
their wings.

Another remarkable family of moths is that of the Giant
Silk-worm. This includes the Cecropia, Promethea, lo, and
Luna Moths, all of which are very large and beautiful.

The Cecropia-moth is the largest of our moths, measuring
sometimes over six inches from tip to tip of wing. Its
general color is dusky brown, with blending borders and
spots of black, red, and white. The body of the moth is
very thick and plump, and it has a pair of large feath-

FIG. 87. Caterpillar of Cecropia-moth.

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE 241

ered antennae. The legs are covered with hairs, and the body
also is hair-covered, especially the chest. The abdomen is
marked with white bands. The moth is nocturnal. Its
caterpillar is a large, fleshy creature of a dull green color, with
rows of blue tubercles at the sides, and yellow tubercles on
the back. It is about three inches in length. The cater-
pillar feeds upon butternut, walnut, cherry, willow, and
many other trees, and spins a large silken cocoon on the twigs
of the food tree. These cocoons are very conspicuous in the
winter on the bare trees and may then be collected. They
are made of a good quality of silk and are double walled.
At the top is Jeft a loosely covered opening, through which
the moth comes out in May or June.

Children should be instructed to bring in such cocoons,
which may then be hung up in the school-room. The emer-
gence of the moths may be seen in the spring, and will always
cause a mild excitement. It is very interesting to see the
moth coming out with soft, crumpled wings, and then proceed
to inflate them.

The lo or Bull's-eye Moth is a smaller species, called by
these names because of a large eye-like spot on the hind wing.
The female is brown, the male yellow, with shadings of pur-
ple, black, and red.

The Promethea-moth is also a common species. It
somewhat resembles the Cecropia, but is smaller, being about
four inches across from tip to tip. Unlike its cousins it is a
day flier. The female is reddish brown, with a wavy line of
white across both pairs of wings. There is a conspicuous eye
spot in the outer corner of the front wings. The male is
black. The wavy white line so noticeable in the female is
faint, but the eye spots are there. This moth has a very

242

NATURE-STUDY

short, useless tongue. It is said that it does not eat in the
adult stage. Its cocoon is found on fruit, nut, and other trees
where it has lived as a caterpillar. The cocoon is spun inside
of a rolled-up leaf. The caterpillar seems to know that the

FIG. 88. Luna-moth.
(General color apple-green.)

leaf may drop off in the fall, so it fastens the petiole firmly to
the twig with silk fibres.

One of the finest moths is the Luna-moth, whose caterpillar
feeds upon various trees, such as the walnut and the hickory.
The caterpillar is pale green, with a pearly head, yellow lines
transversely between each two segments of the abdomen, and
a yellow line along each side of the body. The adult moth is
of an apple-green color, with a border of brownish purple on
the wings. Each wing has an eye spot with a transparent

INSECTS, HARMFUL AND OTHERWISE 243

centre. The hind wings are drawn out into curving swallow-
tails. It is a nocturnal insect, and is often attracted by elec-
tric lights.

Protective Devices

We have seen that insects have many enemies. Some,
however, are especially adapted to escape them. A few,
like the flies and dragon-flies, depend upon their fleetness
of wing. Others, like the water-spiders and water-beetles,
escape by diving down into the water, carrying with them a
globule of air to breathe. Locusts and crickets are good
jumpers. Wasps and bees have a good weapon of defence
that we have learned to respect. Beetles have, in addition to
their naturally strong chitinous skin, a pair of hard wing-
covers that serve as a shield.

But more interesting are the modes of concealment prac-
tised, by many insects. The one that escapes observation the
best is the one that will escape being eaten by birds and other
creatures, or attacked by parasites. Very many insects
imitate not only the colors of their background, but even
the shape of leaves, sticks, and insects that are not attacked.
Plant-lice, leaf-hoppers, lace-wings, grasshoppers, and many
caterpillars have the same color as the leaves upon which
they live. Other caterpillars, moths, butterflies, beetles, and
bugs mimic the grays, blacks, and browns of the twigs and
bark of the trees or the earth. So effective is this mode of
concealment that they are generally not seen unless they
move, or happen to be on a differently colored background
from that upon which they generally stay.

The Walking-sticks found upon oak and other trees are
beautiful examples of protective mimicry. The long, slender,

244

NATURE-STUDY

jointed body is gray or brown or green to match the twigs of
the tree, and the long, thin body and legs are like thin, green
branches.

Many of the Canker-worms or Inch-
worms resemble twigs very closely,
and when disturbed assume motion-
less, twig-like attitudes.

One of the most striking illustra-
tions of protective coloration is the
Kallima, a South American butterfly,
which has blue and orange colors on
the upper side of its wings. This
butterfly, when resting, assumes a
leaf-like attitude, and the wings are
closed, exposing only the leaf -colored
under side. There are even lines that
mimic the venation of a leaf, so as to
make the illusion more complete.

A number of our native butterflies,
with conspicuous upper wing-surfaces,
conceal themselves on the leaves and
bark of a tree, the under side of the
closed wings mimicking the color of
these surfaces. Moths also are pro-
tectively colored, usually on the upper
surface of the first pair of wings.
In the description of . the viceroy butterfly, reference was
made to the fact that it put on, as it were, the livery of another
butterfly, which for some reason seems to be immune to
the attacks of birds, namely, the Monarch. Many other such
cases of mimicry may be mentioned.

FIG. 89. Walking-stick.

INSECTS, HARMFUL, AND OTHERWISE 245

One day I found on some goldenrods what I took to be a
new kind of bee. It was a beautiful, gold-banded insect, and
I wanted it for my collection. So I captured several in my
cyanide bottle, taking good care not to be stung. Later, on
closer examination, I found
that this was not a bee at all,
but a harmless fly which had
put on the dress of a bee,
probably to make other crea-
tures think that it, like the
bees, carried a dangerous,
concealed weapon. It was
one of the Bee-flies.

It is not intended to in-
timate here that these pro-
tective colors and forms
were brought about con-
sciously by the insects them- FlG" 9°- Protective Coloration of a Moth-
selves, as if they made an effort to develop along these lines.
It is certainly a fact, however, that they avail themselves of
these protective devices.

How these advantageous characteristics arose is difficult
to say. They did arise, however, in the course of evolution
in each case, and then the law of natural selection operated
and, in the struggle for existence, the forms not so well adapted
disappeared and the fittest survived. Those that were pro-
tectively colored or shaped to resemble twigs, leaves, dan-
gerous creatures, etc., were the ones most likely to survive.

CHAPTER XV
SOME LOWER ANIMALS

A FEW of the lower animals should receive some attention
besides those already discussed. Spiders, crayfish, lobsters,
crabs, clams, oysters, snails, starfish, coral, sponges, and other
related forms make very interesting nature-study material.

Most people probably think of Spiders as insects. Pupils
should be taught the chief distinctions between these two
classes. Spiders have eight legs, and their bodies are divided
into only two principal parts. The head and chest are not
distinct from each other, but the abdomen is marked off from
them. Spiders do not have compound eyes, but a variable
number of simple eyes. Furthermore, they have no wings.
Otherwise they closely resemble insects. Spiders have good
mouth-parts adapted for catching and eating insects. The
jaws or mandibles are especially large and terminate in sharp
fangs, through which a poison can be ejected into the victim
which kills or paralyzes it. This poison, however, is not
powerful enough to produce painful or dangerous results in
man, except in the case of the larger ground spiders, such as
the tarantulas, whose poisonous bite is painful, but not, as is
usually believed, fatal to man. The spider has a pair of
jointed palpi or feelers, which often resemble another pair of
legs.

Spiders make good school-room studies. Have the children

246

SOME LOWER ANIMALS 247

bring to school different kinds of spiders, and put them into
jars or cages. Feed them and observe their interesting
habits. Spiders may be found in attics, cellars, sheds,
and barns, on garden flowers, on fences and old walls,
under stones and boards, under the bark of decaying
logs, etc. In these places will also be found small,
round masses of eggs wrapped in silk cocoons. These
also should be gathered and allowed to hatch out in the
school.

There are many kinds of spiders, and each has its
peculiar ways of catching prey, building a home, etc.
Under stones, logs, and bark, are found ground and
running spiders, which are very nimble and catch their
prey by running. On old fences and walls are found
spiders that lurk for insects, and when these come near
enough they suddenly pounce upon them. These are
the jumping spiders. In the heart of many garden
flowers there lie in wait certain spiders that assume
the color of the flower, and catch unsuspecting butter-
flies and other insects. These, from their peculiar shape
and the habit of running sideways and back-
wards, are called crab spiders. They do
not spin webs to catch their prey.

But there is another class of spiders that
spin snares with which to entrap flies and
other insects. These webs are of different de- FlG QI An Orb
grees of beauty and perfection of construction. Weaver.

The housewife is worried by the appearance of cobwebs on the
ceilings and in the corners of her rooms. This is a web spun
by a spider. Cobwebs have no definite shape or plan. They
are simply loose or dense, tangled masses of fibres spread out

248 NATURE-STUDY

in sheets. The funnel spiders' webs are somewhat more
perfect. In the summer and early fall we often see the lawns
covered with dense masses of cobwebs. These are sheets of
web suspended from the grass, and centering about a funnel-
shaped hole of silk, at the bottom of which the spider lives.
When a fly falls into the web the spider rushes out to seize it.

The most beautiful webs are
made by the garden or orb
spiders. These webs are fre-
quently seen hung nearly ver-
tically among the branches of
garden plants, the angles of
fences, open windows and door-
ways, etc. It would pay to
make a study of the construc-
tion of such a web, especially if
one is so fortunate as to see the
spider making it. Note the sup-
Fic.92. Funnel web spider. porting threads, the radii or
spokes of the wheel, and the spiral thread. Note also that only
the spiral thread is sticky. Examine closely and see the minute
globules of viscid fluid that cover this spiral thread. Some
species of spiders rest at the centre of the web, others lie con-
cealed in some leaf or other nook near the web. A thread
running from the web is held by the spider, which can at once
tell when an insect flies into the net. Take the class out into the
gardens or fields and study some of these webs. Throw some
insects into the net and see what the spider does with them.
There is a curious little spider, often seen in the fall, which is
known as the balloon spider. It causes the air to be filled
with delicate gossamers or threads of silk. It is a small,

SOME LOWER ANIMALS

249

black spider, that may be seen running on the ground, on the
fences, or upon plants. It has a way of thrusting up the
abdomen and ejecting a thread of silk, which is carried along
by the wind. As the wind takes the thread, the spider spins

FIG. 93. Dewy Web of an Orb Spider.
(The spider lives under one of the lily leaves.)

out more, and, when the thread is several feet in length, the
spider makes a little leap and sails off on its silken balloon.
Pick up some of these spiders, and on letting them crawl up to
the end of a pencil or the finger you may observe this per-
formance.

At the rear of the abdomen is the spinneret, from which

250 NATURE-STUDY

the silk threads issue. This consists of a number of little
projections covered with minute, tubular hairs, through which
the threads come. The silk is at first liquid, but quickly
hardens in the air. The different strands are pressed and
twisted together into a strong thread. The spider uses its

hind feet in arranging,
guiding, and fastening its
silk.

Shake a spider from its
web. Notice that it is
still attached to the web
by a fine thread upon
which it again climbs
back.

Spiders are useful crea-
tures and destroy many

FIG. 94. Spinneret. .

insects. Out of doors

they ought to be protected rather than killed. Try to
counteract the prevailing prejudice against them.

Related to spiders are the Daddy-long-legs, or Harvestmen,
which also are useful in destroying mosquitoes and other
insects.

Centipedes and Millipedes possess the segmental character
of the body, the jointed legs, and the biting mouth-parts of
insects, yet are very different. They are found under /boards,
logs, and stones. Centipedes are flat, worm-like animals, with
a pair of legs to each joint of the body. They are carniv-
orous, living on other insects, worms, etc., which they catch.
The first pair of feet are modified into poison fangs. In
tropical countries there are large centipedes whose bite is
dangerous to man. Similar to the last is the millipede, or

SOME LOWER ANIMALS 251

thousand-legs. This, however, has two pairs of legs upon
each segment. It feeds chiefly upon decaying vegetable
matter. It is more cylindrical in shape than the centipede,
and is harmless.

In the cellar among the vegetables, under boards and
stones, we often find little flattened, jointed, insect-like animals
which have legs on all the body segments, and which have the
habit of curling up into a rounded mass when disturbed.
These are called Pill-bugs, or Wood-lice, but are related more
closely to the crayfish than to insects.

It is well also to call attention to the many minute forms of
animals that . swarm in the stagnant waters of pools and
sluggish streams, and in lakes. A jar containing such water
will show to the naked eye even these animalcula swimming
about, some barely visible, others large enough to be plainly
seen. Many of these consist of water-fleas and copepods,
animals related to the crayfish. With a compound micros-
cope a drop of water is seen to teem with animalcula. Let
the children know that these small animals are very important,
in that they form the food of many larger aquatic animals.
Fish are very fond of them. Put some minnows in a jar with
these animalcula, and see how eagerly they feed upon them.

The seashore is a rich field for the naturalist, and teachers
on the coast should make the most of their opportunity by
studying the plants and animals which the waves throw upon
the sands. In inland waters, though the life is not so varied,
yet there are some animals that we should study.

The Crayfish is very common in lakes and streams. Its
structure should be compared with that of the insects. The
articulated body and appendages should be noted. Study
the eyes, mouth-parts, the large claws and feet, the swim-

252

NATURE-STUDY

merets and the tail. What does the crayfish do with its
claws? How does it crawl? Observe the way it swims.
Note the hard shell. Crayfish grow by moulting their shells
like insects. We often find the little shafts or tunnels of
crayfish in wet meadows. They make these in digging
down for water or wet soil. Along rivers that are enclosed

by dikes or levees,

crayfish • sometimes
cause great harm by
boring through the
earth wall and thus
beginning a great
crevasse or break
that may cause much
damage. Crayfish
are scavengers and
live upon dead ani-
mals, fish, etc. The protective coloration of the crayfish
should be referred to. Correct the misuse of the word
"crab" for crayfish.

The Lobster and the Crab should be compared with the
crayfish as to structure. They are salt-water animals, and
are best studied at the seashore, where their life habits can
be observed. Lobsters are very much like large crayfish in
structure. Those seen in the markets are generally red,
but this is not their natural color, which is much like that of
the crayfish. The redness is due to the fact that the lob-
ster has been boiled. Crabs differ very greatly from the
crayfish in shape, and yet their relationship can be readily
recognized. Their bodies are short and broad, and their
abdomen is always bent under the thorax. They crawl

FIG. 95. A Crayfish.

SOME LOWER ANIMALS 253

backwards and sideways as well as forward. Vast num-
bers of lobsters and crabs are caught and eaten on the sea-
coasts.

Mollusks constitute another type of animal life. Clams,
oysters, and snails all are interesting creatures to study.
These animals as
a rule have a limy
shell which is se-
creted by the skin.

Snails are to be
found in ponds
and streams, on
sticks and stones,
and on water
plants. Some
kinds are found
on land, in gar-
dens, on bark, and
old logs. Some

Snails have a Shell FIG. 96. Land Snails.

of a cornucopia shape, and others have a flat spiral. Some,
like the slugs, have no regular shell, but only a small, scaly
mantle on the back. The shell is increased at the free edge
by the addition of new layers.

Many snails breathe air in the water by means of gills.
Among the aquatic snails the kinds that can close the opening
of the shell with a sort of flap or door are gill-breathers.
Other aquatic snails are lung-breathers, and must come to the
surface of the water periodically for more air. Land snails
also have simple lungs.

When a snail is "out of its shell" there will be seen a long,

254 NATURE-STUDY

fleshy portion, upon which the creature rests and with which
it crawls. This is the foot. At the front end are to be seen
some horn-like projections called antennae or feelers. Land
snails have four such, the second pair larger and bearing the
eyes. If the animal is touched on the antennae it quickly
retracts them, turning them inward, as we turn a glove
finger inside out. Water snails have only two feelers, and the
eyes are at their base. As land snails crawl over the ground
and plants they leave a track of slime.

Snails feed upon algae and other plants. Some of the land
snails do . considerable harm to the vegetables in gardens.
Watch a snail as it moves along on the glass of an aquarium.
On the under side near the front will be seen an opening, the
mouth. This is provided with a hard upper lip, and a rough,
rasp-like " tongue, " with which the snail scrapes and eats.

The Fresh-water Clam or Mussel is common on the sandy
flats of lakes and rivers. This shell animal burrows, or
rather ploughs, in the surface of the sand and makes long
furrows. It moves by means of a strong, fleshy foot.

Clams breathe by means of gills within the shell. Water
is kept constantly in circulation through the gills. This
circulation may be nicely shown by the following experiment
on a clam in an aquarium. Be careful not to disturb the
animal lest it close its shell. With a long pipette or fountain-
pen filler carefully drop some indigo, carmine, or ink solution
just behind the shell, at the end opposite to the foot, near the
sand. It will be seen that the colored liquid is drawn in, and
then later ejected from another part of the shell a little higher
than where it entered.

The shell is an interesting structure. It has a hinge of
elastic ligament, which naturally tends to hold it slightly

SOME LOWER ANIMALS * 255

open. The animal, however, has strong muscles on the in-
side with which it can hold the shell tightly shut.

The shell is increased by the addition of concentric layers,
which can be seen on the outside. Many mussels have a
beautiful, iridescent lining to the shell — the mother-of-pearl.
This is used in making buttons and ornaments. On the
Mississippi and its tributaries there flourishes a large in-
dustry of collecting clams for their mother-of-pearl. In
some clams and other mussels true pearls are formed as an
unnatural growth between the shell and the fleshy mantle
lining it. The nucleus of a pearl is generally some foreign
body, such as a grain of sand. Let the children read about
the Pearl Oyster of the Indian Ocean. Fine pearls are often
found in fresh-water mussels.

In comparison with these animals the common Oyster
should be studied. Get unopened oysters and make a general
comparison of structure with that of the clam.

Many creatures are called "worms" which are not strict-
ly so at all, but the Earth-worm is a true worm. A brief
study of the segmental body, the bristle feet, the life habits,
and the uses of this creature should be made. Worms,
unlike the worm-like caterpillars and grubs of insects, do not
change into some other form. For comparison a study may
be made of the Leech, or Bloodsucker, another worm that is
abundant in sluggish brooks, in ponds and lakes.

The Starfish and Sea-urchins, found on the seacoasts are
types of animals built upon the radial plan. The mouth is
at the centre, on the under side, and the various other organs
of the body radiate from this centre. Starfish have a number
of arms, on the underside of which are little, sucker-like feet,
with which the animal moves. Sea-urchins have a similar

256 NATURE-STUDY

structure. Both are protected with a calcareous shell pro-
vided with knobs or spines. When the animal is killed the
fleshy parts decay, leaving the shell, and this is all that we
see in the specimens often found in the homes as curios.

The Coral Polyp, being of so much importance in geography
and geology, should not be omitted. It is one of the lower
animals that in its fixed growth is almost plant-like. Essen-
tially this animal is a little fleshy sac, with an orifice or mouth
at the top, which is surrounded by a number of arms or ten-
tacles. These arms wave about in the water and draw minute
animals into the mouth. The coral polyp forms a hard
deposit of lime carbonate in the lower part of its body-wall,
and this is what remains after the death of the creature. It
is this part which is used for ornaments, and which builds
up great coral reefs and islands in the sea. Many large rock
areas in the earth are made of coral limestone deposited in
some former age. The branching of corals is due to the fact
that these animals have the power of producing buds on
their sides, which develop into other polyps and remain con-
nected with the parent animal.

Show pictures of the coral polyp, diagrams to show its
structure; and pieces of coral skeleton of various kinds. The
coral polyp is appropriately studied in connection with Florida,
or the islands of Polynesia, in geography.

In our fresh-water lakes and streams we have an animal
that resembles the coral in many respects, except that it forms
no skeleton. This is the Hydra, which may often be seen in
aquaria attached to the sides. If one of these can be found
it should be used to illustrate the general appearance and
habits of the coral.

Another very low animal, also of fixed location, is the

SOME LOWER ANIMALS 257

Sponge. A simple study may be made of it. Note how it
encrusts plants or rocks, the color, and the rough feeling due
to minute needles of silica. The horny or leathery skeleton
of the bath sponge is the chief thing to note. The method
of fishing for sponges and their preparation are also of
interest.

CHAPTER XVI
THE SCHOOL GARDEN

CHILDREN'S gardens are an important aid in education, not
only because of the practical, but also for the culture value
of such study. Gardens have been maintained for a number
of years in connection with many schools in this country.
At first they were mainly for the decoration of school-grounds,
but they have now been found to be a useful educational
material. Industrial schools, such as our agricultural schools,
the schools for the indigent, for the negro and the Indian,
etc., soon put the garden idea to more practical uses, both to
train the pupils mentally and morally, and to teach them
something that would help them to earn their livelihood.
The primary schools are beginning to work along the same
line, but the custom is not as prevalent as it should be. In
Europe school gardens are an established institution. At
first they were maintained to furnish the teachers with a part
of their support, but long ago they broadened out into real
educational lines.

The school garden should be a sort of outdoor laboratory,
a place for the outdoor study of growing plants, soil, insects,
weeds, etc., and for the application of the facts learned in
indoor nature-study. The garden should supply material
for such indoor lessons and for art study. It can be made

one of the best means to develop in the pupils thrift and

358

THE SCHOOL GARDEN

259

responsibility, gentleness, and a love for the beautiful and
for growing things. In many places it may be made very
practical, as a means for teaching gardening, elementary
agriculture, and horticulture.

Strange to say, the most successful children's gardens are
to be found in the larger cities. One of the most remarkable

FIG. 97. Children's Farm School, DeWitt Clinton Park, New York City.

is the Children's Farm in the DeWitt Clinton Park of New
York City. This is because the growing of plants is a
revelation and intense joy to city-bred children, whose nature
instinct has been starved. In such places the greatest
enthusiasm prevails among the little gardeners.

It has been found that children's gardening is one of the
very best ways of combating the evil moral effects of tenement
and slum life. In such centres school and vacation gardens
have worked a positive revolution in the habits and thoughts

26o NATURE-STUDY

of the children engaged in cultivation. Responsibility and
care for a little plot of flowers and vegetables has the best
moral influence upon such children, and develops a respect
for the property rights of others. Petty thieving, and wanton
destruction of flowers, trees, etc., have in numerous places
been overcome by encouraging the children to cultivate
gardens. The work of the Children's Farm cited above,
that of the Cleveland Home Gardening Association, and of
the National Cash Register Company at Dayton, Ohio, may
be referred to as such instances of moral betterment. The
pecuniary advantage in the crops to the poor, and the physical
benefit from the open-air exercise in the garden need only be
mentioned.

In cities the mere novelty and pleasure in seeing things
come up and grow and blossom may be a sufficient stimulus
to make the children wish to keep a garden, but in village
and country schools this is not quite enough. Every boy and
girl knows considerable about the cultivation of plants, and
will not be interested in the simple work in the school garden,
unless it can be made more useful and practical by the study
of the soil, the conditions of plant life, plant behavior, rela-
tions of insects to plants, nature and effect of weeds, etc., and
by using larger plots for individual beds, so that the value
of the product will be an encouragement. By emphasizing
the agricultural and horticultural phase of garden work, we
can make it attractive and profitable to country children.

As the agricultural industry is the largest source of our
national wealth, we should not neglect to train the future
workers in this great occupation. Unfortunately the rapid
development of manufacturing, transportation, and com-
merce has drawn many of our country youth to the cities;

THE SCHOOL GARDEN 261

furthermore, the proportion of immigrants that go to the
fields is not as great as it used to be. As a result the cities
have developed more rapidly than the country population, a
result that many deplore. As a partial check to the tide from
the country, it is hoped that a greater consideration of rural
life, its advantages, beauty, independence, healthfulness, etc.,
and the study of agricultural methods from a more scientific
point of view in the common school may prove beneficial.
Gardening in the rural schools makes farm life more interest-
ing, and enriches its intellectual content. Agriculture is the
mainstay of civilization. If it should cease we should
probably revert to savagery. When, through a series of
unfavorable years, the agricultural industry fails, then all other
industries are depressed. This shows how dependent we
are upon nature, even in this highly civilized age. Agri-
culture can be successful only with a thorough knowledge
and observance of the natural laws and conditions govern-
ing plant life and growth. The farmer must adapt his crops
to the nature of the soil, and to the temperature and rainfall
of the region, or he will meet with failure. Similarly the laws
relating to animal life must be applied in the practical man-
agement of farm stock. Hence the establishment of the
United States Department of Agriculture, our state agricult-
ural schools, county industrial schools, and private schools
for the same purpose. A proper study of the scientific princi-
ples that underlie farming and related industries would do
much to foster an interest in this great industry, and would en-
noble it. Even those who would not pursue farming as a voca-
tion would be benefited by such education. It would help
them in a practical way with making flower and vegetable
gardens in cities, would increase their love for plants in gen-

262 NATURE-STUDY

eral, and would help them to appreciate in a measure what
the farmer is doing for us.

Considerable of this sort of teaching can be done in every
country school, and where the plan of consolidation of dis-
tricts prevails, a generous provision should be made for such
work by providing land for an experimental farm, and fur-
nishing means for carrying on the work. The present ten-
dency throughout the country to establish elementary agri-
cultural schools indicates the demand for such training.
(See also Gardening and Agriculture in the course of study
under various grades.)

Our long summer vacations could be very profitably em-
ployed in the cities with outdoor schools of gardening. In
this way many boys and girls could be kept off the streets,
and be given healthful and moral entertainment as well as
instruction.

In this connection I would urge very strongly that the
children be encouraged to cultivate gardens at home. In
some places this is done in correlation with the school work,
especially where no space for a garden is available at the
school. Many children "have to" work more or less un-
willingly in the home garden. I believe that if they were
given ownership rights in what they raise, their interest in the
work would be greater. Let a boy have the sole care of a
garden and sell his produce to the family at market rates.
Or let him have the surplus not used by the family to sell to
the neighbors or to the markets. Then he would not need
much urging to do garden work, for it would pay. There
is so much care and hard work in gardening, that it is unrea-
sonable to expect children to keep at it spontaneously without
reward or encouragement.

THE SCHOOL GARDEN

263

How to Make a School Garden

There is probably no school in which some sort of garden-
ing cannot be done, be it nothing more than window gar-
dening. But wherever space can be secured an outdoor garden
should be attempted. Beds and borders and, best of all,
a considerable area for group or individual plots should be
set aside. The garden should not by any means infringe

FIG. 98. The Children's Garden.

upon the play-ground. In many places, where the school-
grounds do not afford any suitable location for a garden, such
may be found in vacant lots or fields nearby, which may
often be had for nothing, or for a small rental.

The garden should be in a sunny location, not under trees
or on the north side of a building, for plants need plenty of
light.

BEDS, BORDERS, AND GROUP GARDENS: If the garden
must be small, try border beds along the buildings, walks

264

NATURE-STUDY

and fences, or edge of the grounds. In such limited areas
individual beds are out of the question, unless the number of
children is small. Generally groups of children or classes
will have to be assigned to a bed or border, to have charge of
in common. These beds or borders should not be placed
in the lawn, unless intended for ornamental purposes, and
even then it is wiser to have them along the edges of the
lawn as borders, for a neglected or withered flower-bed is an
eyesore, and the green grass is much prettier. Do not place

Co*//

c.

f

WrAQ

vv/v

//7

5

I

K
ai

YSSC

IM

MOLL yno c *

FIG. 99. Suggestions for a Border Garden Along a Wall, Fence, or Mass of Shrubbery.

Plant taller plants and vines in rear, the low, trailing kinds in front. Vegetables are more easily cultivated

if planted across the border. Flowers look better in rows parallel with the border.

the borders along buildings, if the rain-water would drip on
them. The north side of a building or a fence will be suit-
able only for shade loving plants, such as ferns, many
wild flowers, and some foliage plants. If, however, there is
plenty of light reflected from neighboring walls, flowers may
sometimes be raised, especially the kinds not requiring so
much light, such as asters, pansies, forget-me-nots, violets,
lilies-of-the-valley, wild flowers, etc. Have the beds and
parts of the borders in charge of groups of children. These
little gardens may be made much prettier than the larger
garden with individual plots, and the children will take great

THE SCHOOL GARDEN 265

pride in them. But where the responsibility for the care of
the beds is so distributed as it is in a large group, the teacher
will have to see to it that the children do not forget to do
their share of the cultivation. If the beds are near the street
where they are in view, it would be better to devote them
chiefly to flowers. But along back fences or other more out of
the way places vegetables should also be raised, and the gar-
den should be used more for experimenting with plant life.
Such beds, though not as pretty as flower-beds, may really
be better as far as the real purpose of a school garden is
concerned. The little children could in such beds make
miniature farms, and raise special vegetables or experimental
crops. A bed or border should be set aside in some well-
protected place for a tree nursery. Many useful lessons
in soil preparation, planting, transplanting, tillage, etc., can
be given with these little gardens. ( For cultural directions
and lists of plants see following pages.)

INDIVIDUAL PLOTS : In a larger garden the individual plot
for children above the primary grade is the best plan for mak-
ing the most of a garden. Then the responsibility for the
care of a bed may be fixed and the moral benefit from the
cultivation is greatest. In case of neglect by the planter the
bed should be confiscated and given to some other child.
In some schools beds two feet square have been allotted, but
this is too small except in primary work. Larger beds make
a better show and encourage the children more. They also
give more of a return in flowers and produce, and may thus
be of some economical value. All the pupils need not be
required to take garden work. Those who have home ad-
vantages for gardening can be excused. In beginning a
school garden do not attempt too much, but start out with a

266 NATURE-STUDY

few willing pupils. The work should be in charge of an
experienced teacher, and in large gardens a specially trained
director should be engaged.

PLOUGHING AND FERTILIZING: If the garden is large it
should be ploughed; if small, spaded. Unless the spading is
done by some one else than pupils, the boys of the upper
grades should do it for the lower, these assisting in the finish-
ing and lighter work. If the soil has not been tilled and is
covered with sod, this should be turned down deeply.
Virgin soil will not need fertilizing for several years, but old
and worn out soils should be enriched. The character of
the soil must be taken into account. Very light and sandy
soil needs manuring especially, both for fertilizing and to
form a humus to hold the moisture better. Well-rotted
barn-yard manure is the best. In cities the sweepings from
the streets have been utilized. Manure from livery-stables
and streets should, however, not be applied too fresh, and
should be especially well mixed with the soil. Apply manure
before ploughing or spading and then turn under. Heavy and
clayey soils also need manure to make them more porous.
Frequent and deep tillage, however, renders soil more por-
ous. Application of lime keeps clayey soil from cracking.
Wood-ashes is a good fertilizer, and should be saved for that
purpose. A little mixed commercial fertilizer (consisting of
nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus compounds) may be
applied after ploughing or spading, and raked in. The rough
soil should be well harrowed or raked, all lumps broken and
stones, etc., removed. The ploughing or spading should be
done about the first of April.

PLANNING THE GARDEN: Begin early, in March or earlier,
to plan the garden. Decide upon the number of beds,

THE SCHOOL GARDEN 267

whether group or individual, and make a plan on paper of the
garden area. Measure the whole area to be used, and divide
it among the different grades that are to do gardening. The
lower grades do not need such large beds, and where space
is limited they may work on a bed as a class or by groups.
The children are to do the work of surveying, as it gives
them good practice in practical arithmetic and measurement.
Let them represent in a plan the whole school garden and
their particular portion. Then have them take the class gar-
den and divide it up among the children of their class who
are to do the work. The garden, if all in one piece and large,
should have a walk all around, from two to five feet wide,
and also walks of about the same width between the rows
of beds. The individual beds should preferably run east and
west, and be planted with crosswise rows, to give the best
distribution of light. The beds should be oblong rather
than square. Make them four or five feet wide and as long
as space will allow. The individual beds should be sep-
arated by walks about eighteen inches wide. Long and
narrow beds permit of easy weeding and hoeing from the
paths. The class garden, and individual or group beds,
should be well marked with stout stakes at the corners.
Use a tape-measure and marking-line , and be careful about get-
ting the lines straight and square. Later, after the seeds are
selected, let each pupil plan and mark off his own bed. The
beds should be named or numbered on one of the posts.
The little children will need a good deal of help in this, and
even the older ones will need watching to see that they follow
directions. A garden note-book for writing the various
directions for work would be useful. Be very specific in
giving directions.

BBBBBB
BBBBS

FIG. 100. Plan oi School Garden, 92 x 132 feet. Group Beds for First Three Years and

Kindergarten.

Forty-eight individual beds for Grade IV ; forty-eight for Grade V ; forty-eight for Grade VI ; forty-
two for Grade VII ; and several general experimental or ornamental beds. Where space is sufficient the
individual beds may be entirely surrounded by paths, and both beds and paths may be larger. Much
smaller beds will not be profitable as individual plots. In smaller quarters some of the paths may be

268

THE SCHOOL GARDEN * 269

TOOLS: The school should furnish good stout tools for
the garden work. These should include several light spad-
ing forks, several shovels, a number of ten or twelve tooth
rakes, a set of medium hoes, hand weeders, hatchets, marking
cord, measuring tape, watering pots, etc. These should be
well cleaned after using, and hung systematically in a dry
place.

SELECTING AND BUYING SEED: Early in March, or even
in February, make the selection of seeds. You will want to
start some in the house early, and the order may be delayed.
Let the children make the selection generally, but see that
they do not select seeds not suited to the purpose or to their
ability. Large seeds are best for the lower grades, and
the more rapid and hardy growers should be selected for
them. Send for seed catalogues. The magazines and fam-
ily journals will have numerous advertisements of seed
houses in their columns. Read up in books on garden-
ing. A number of magazines and farm journals usually
have garden notes,. Let the children have these catalogues,
etc., to look at.

It would be better and simpler for the lower grades at
least to make a uniform selection. Seeds may be bought
at club rates for about a cent per package, or they may be
purchased in bulk and distributed in school. The latter is
probably the better way with small classes, when each child
needs only a few seeds. The children should pay for them,
unless there is a school fund upon which to draw for

sacrificed by bringing the beds together at the ends. By placing the beds of Grades VI and VII in line
with the rest, a long, narrow' garden may be made, better adapted to the edge of the school grounds.
Whatever the shape or size of the garden a unit bed should be adopted. In this garden the bed is five
feet wide and varies in length with the grad^. A bed of this width can be easily weeded or hoed from
the sides. The rows should run across the btds. In this garden the rows run north and south, which
distributes the light best in the rows of plants. In the double beds it is well, for looks, to have the
plantings of the two beds match, as shown in lowest row, Grade V, the taller plants being in the middle.

270 NATURE-STUDY

the money. Well-equipped schools with large gardens
should furnish the money for the seeds. As a rule, seeds for
home growing should be purchased by the children them-
selves. In many cities there are associations or social settle-
ment societies that sell the seeds to the children practically
at cost. The local civic improvement society may be induced
to undertake such assistance. Such work is done notably
by the Cleveland Home Gardening Association, and also by
the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. On application
the United States Department of Agriculture sends out gratis
to schools a limited number of flower and vegetable seeds.
A useful bulletin on gardening also accompanies them.
Order early, and state definitely the kinds and the quantity
of seeds wanted. (See directions for different grades under
Gardening in the Course of Study.)

PLANNING THE PLANTING : Let each pupil or group arrange
the planting of the individual or group bed. Make a plan
on paper. A uniform plan should be required. The size
of the plant and the light conditions must be taken into
account. The flowers should be planted in the front, ex-
cept the very tall ones, which should be placed in the
rear of the lower or, at any rate,, on the north side, so as not
to cut off the light from the rest. Tall sunflowers, holly-
hocks, corn, etc., and vines, should be planted against the
fence or building, if the garden is there. The rows should be
at least wide enough to allow hoeing, and a foot apart would
not be too much for the average. The larger plants, such
as tomatoes, cabbages, and running vines must have pro-
portionate room. If planted between rows of the early
maturing kinds of vegetables, they may be given more room
later by pulling up the others.

THE SCHOOL GARDEN * 271

PROGRAMME : There is less confusion and fewer tools are
needed if the classes work at different hours or on different
days. A schedule of work should be arranged. Much of
the gardening can be done after school or on Saturdays.

PLANTING TIME: Get the soil ready about the last of
April, and procure the seeds early, < -^,,
but do not be in a hurry about plant-
ing. In general, seeds should not be
planted till about apple blossom, or
corn planting time. Seeds for the fall
flowers and vegetables really need not
be planted till later. Unfortunately
school will close before the plants are
in flower or the vegetables large enough
to eat. Candytuft and sweet alyssum
possibly will be just beginning to flower,
and lettuce and radish to be avail- —&* „.„.*.»..+ .

FIG. 101. Plan of Individual

able. For spring returns one will Garden where the ROWS

have tO depend Upon bulbs, peren- have to Run East and West.

nials, and flowering shrubs. It will be a great deal better to
plant for autumn returns in the school garden, unless the
work is to be continued as a vacation school. The usual
school garden will be the most useful for nature-study pur-
poses and look the prettiest in the fall. So do not be in a
hurry to plant, but wait till the frosts are well over. For
early results it is customary to use sweet peas, garden peas,
poppies, lettuce, radish, and onions as soon as the ground can
be worked, even before frosts are over. These are hardy.
Sweet peas planted late, however, will bloom longer in the
fall than those planted early, and these early ones will be in
flower by the time school closes for summer. Sometimes

272 NATURE-STUDY

by forcing seedlings in the house, cold-frame, or hot-bed,
some flowers, etc., may be had by the close of school.

For home and vacation gardens early varieties should be
chosen as well as late, so as to furnish flowers and vegetables
all through the season. By successive plantings at intervals
of several weeks several crops can be had.

How TO PLANT AND Sow: If the directions for sowing
are not upon seed packets for each pupil, give yery careful
instructions. The soil should be well pulverized. Lines
should be drawn straight across the bed, and furrows
made with the hand or the end of the hoe or rake handle.
Do not make the furrows too deep. Seeds may be buried
so deep that they cannot reach the surface. In general,
they should be planted at a depth equal to about three or
four times their thickness. Peas should be covered extra
deep, three or four inches. But the very small seed should
be simply sown on the surface and lightly sifted over
with fine soil, or washed in with a very fine spray of water.
This applies to such seeds as petunia, portulaca, and poppy.
Many seeds are benefited by a preliminary soaking over
night to hasten their germination. It is also a good thing
to firm the soil or press it tightly about the seeds. After
they are planted they need to be kept moist till they have
sprouted and have made a good start. Seeds will not ger-
minate in dry soil, so water regularly and thoroughly.
Do not sow too thickly, but fairly thin and evenly. Where
a few plants only are to be desired in a row or hill, it is well
to put in a few extra seeds to make up for those that will not
germinate. They can be thinned out later if not needed.
Beware of old seeds. Some seeds will germinate when several
years old, but most of them lose their vitality rapidly after the

THE SCHOOL GARDEN * 273

first year. It is not necessary to plant all the seeds at one
time. The less hardy ones should be sown later. Mark each
row with a wooden peg on which the name of the plant sown
is written. This will also help to tell where the last seeds
were planted.

CULTIVATION: Each pupil or group in charge of a bed
should be held responsible for its care. Weeds need to be
constantly pulled or hoed. Hoe in the walk and pull in the
rows. Teach the children to distinguish weeds from the
plants cultivated. Give lessons on weeding and hoeing.
It is best to hoe weeds on hot dry days, for then they will not
be so apt to strike root again, but will dry up. Weeding by
hand should be done when the soil is damp, for then the roots
of the weeds pull better. Make studies of the common
weeds as they appear. Teach how to recognize them in the
early stages, and describe their appearance later, the harm
they do, and the best way to get rid of them. Hoeing or
loosening the soil with the rake or hand weeder is necessary
even if there are no weeds, for this breaks up the hard crust
of earth and pulverizes it so that it retains the soil moisture
better. It acts as a kind of mulch and helps the roots in
penetrating the soil. After several years of good cultivation
the weeds will not be so abundant, especially if commercial
fertilizer is used. Manure that is not well rotted is apt to
contain many weed seeds.

WATERING: This may be necessary to make the seeds
sprout, but later it is not so necessary. In very dry
periods it should be done thoroughly. A little thin sprink-
ling on very dry soil does no good, and simply helps to cake
the surface. Put on plenty of water to thoroughly drench
the soil. It is better done at evening, for then the sun

274 NATURE-STUDY

does not harden the surface so much, and the change of
temperature is not so harmful to the plants. Watering is
needed more in sandy and porous earth. Loosening the soil
by frequent tillage is often better than watering. That is
what is meant by "watering with a hoe or a rake." A
mulch is thus formed that keeps in the moisture.

CARE DURING VACATION: This is the most serious prob-
lem with our American school gardens. Our summer
vacations are so long that there is great danger that the
garden will perish from neglect. An effort should be made
to get some one to look after it once in a while during the
summer. The janitor of the school often takes pride in
the garden, the lawn beds or borders, and will see that they
are kept in condition. Often children in the neighborhood
of the school may be got to take care of the garden during
the summer. They should be given the flowers and summer
crops as a reward. Yet I have seen country school gardens
doing fairly well and looking pretty during the summer
months, when they were left to shift for themselves. A last
thorough weeding may be given at the close of school, and
then, if the summer is not too dry and hot, the garden will
come out in a fairly good condition after all. Of course it
will be overgrown with weeds, and the plants will sprawl
over each other for lack of training; yet by carefully pulling
up or hoeing between the rows, and by cutting out with
shears the weeds in the rows, pruning the plants, tying to
stakes, and other "sprucing up" the garden will still be
very presentable, and be very useful in furnishing bouquets,
etc., for the school. In fact, a neglected garden may be
made to furnish some excellent lessons in the study of weeds,
overcrowding, insect effects, etc. So I would urge the

THE SCHOOL GARDEN * 275

attempt to make a garden, even where the conditions for the
summer are unpromising. Our field crops generally have
to get along without watering in the worst of droughts, and
the grains cannot be cultivated. Even so a school garden
can worry through the summer. In case no special care
can be given through the vacation, only the hardiest plants
should be planted.

STARTING SEEDS INDOORS: Time can be saved and
flowers and vegetables obtained earlier by starting seeds in
the house, cold-frame, or hot-bed. But though the seeds
are planted two months earlier than those sown outdoors,
the flowers will not appear that much earlier, perhaps only
half as much earlier. The checking on transplanting to a
cooler atmosphere usually retards the growth somewhat.

Pansies, asters, nasturtiums, lettuce, cabbage, cucumber,
tomato, etc., are thus started early in March. Sow the seed
in shallow boxes of earth, grape baskets, etc. Keep moist at
first by covering with a glass pane, and keep in a warm
place till germinated. After that give plenty of light and
not too much warmth, else the seedlings will grow spindling
and weak. On mild days set outside on the window ledge
or elsewhere, in order to make the plants grow stockier and
healthier. When -they have formed several leaves, not seed
leaves, they should be pricked out and replanted several
inches apart in new boxes or flats. This will give them more
room and develop a better root system. If set outside in
daytime do not forget to take them in at night.

COLD-FRAME : In many respects a cold-frame is more con-
venient than the indoor method of starting seeds, especially
where many are grown. A cold-frame is made by constructing
a rectangular box or frame, setting it in the earth, or banking

276 NATURE-STUDY

it up well, and covering it with a glass roof. An unused
storm window may be used for this. By that time storm
windows will not be needed on all the windows, and one
can be taken from the school. Plant seeds in the frame
about the first week in March or later. Keep the soil
well moistened. The sun's heat is kept in the frame and
forces the seedlings. At night it may be necessary at first
to put an extra covering over the frame. Later, on warm
days, the window roof should be raised and the air allowed
to enter. Still later the window may be taken off during the
day and replaced at night or on cool days. Plants raised
here are more hardy and healthy than those started indoors.
If too thick they should be pricked out and transplanted
to another frame. The plants started earlier indoors may
be taken up and set in the cold-frame.

HOT-BED: This resembles a cold-frame, only it is deeper
and has a thick foundation of about two feet of fresh horse
manure, under the growing soil of about four or five inches.
It is covered with glass. The purpose of the manure is to
produce an artificial heat by its decay or fermentation.
The box may be set deeply into the ground, or raised and
banked up with manure. At first the temperature may be
too warm for sowing, but after a few days, when the average
temperature is about 80 degrees, the seeds may be sown or
the seedlings transplanted to it. A thermometer should be
hung in the hot-bed, and when it registers more than the
above temperature, the glass should be raised more or less to
ventilate. As the hot-bed requires considerable care and
judgment, it is not advisable to let the little children grow
plants in it. Plants raised in a hot-bed often suffer a severe
setback in their development, unless very carefully hard-

THE SCHOOL GARDEN

277

ened by proper ventilation or gradual transplanting to cold-
frames. But for forcing early vegetables and flowers the hot-
bed is very useful. Hot-beds and cold-frames should be
placed in sunny situations, on the south side of houses or
walls. Start a hot-bed in the middle of February or in
March.

TRANSPLANTING: When the danger of frosts is over,
seedlings of flowers, lettuce, cabbage, tomato, etc., started
indoors or in frames, should be transplanted to the garden
beds. Transplanting should be done, if possible, on a cloudy
day or toward evening. Dig up carefully a seedling with
a good cluster of roots damaged as little as possible. Do
not shake off the earth on the roots, and do not pull the
seedling up. Place it in the ground at the same depth as it
grew before. Press the soil tightly around the roots and
water well. If necessary, protect from wilting by sticking
in shingles on the south side, or set a board on edge along
the south side of a row, or flat on pegs over the row, if
north and south. A cloth shade on sticks, or even a news-
paper pegged down over the plants, will answer for a few
days till they recover from the shock.

Some kinds of plants, such as the morning-glory and
cucumber, do not bear transplanting well. They may be
started in berry-boxes lined with paper, and the boxes
may be gently broken away and the plants set into the
ground without injury.

It would be well to put a few of the late flowering plants,
such as chrysanthemum and salvia, and the late maturing
plants, such as cotton, into pots, pails, or boxes that could be
taken up when cold weather comes, so that the plants may
continue to grow in the house. Such vessels can be sunk in

278 NATURE-STUDY

the ground. Geraniums, begonias, and fuchsias also should
be left in the pot, but sunk.

THINNING OUT: It is a great temptation to let all the
plants stand that come up. This, however, should not be
allowed if they grow thickly, for they will not all mature.,
and none of them may attain a normal size. Thinning
out should be done relentlessly. Consider the size of
the adult plant and thin out to accommodate that. This
does not mean necessarily that the pulled plants must be
wasted. If carefully pulled or, better, pricked out, they
may be given away to those who have none, or they
may be stuck in out-of-the-way places, and used for replac-
ing such as may have met with accident in the main beds.
As a ri&e, let the largest and best-developed plants stand,

EXPERIMENTAL BEDS: In large gardens considerable
experimental culture may be carried on: Certain varieties
of grain, vegetables, or flowers may thus be tried. Sugar beet
cultivation may be demonstrated, and the method of im-
proving corn by selection also shown. The beneficial effect
on the soil where alfalfa, and other legumes have been grown
may be demonstrated, or different methods of fertilizing may
be tried. Such experimental plots should be set aside for
general care, and be placed outside the individual bed area.
Likewise a bed or space should be devoted to a tree nursery,
and a small fruit patch should be set aside.

FRUIT GARDEN: Where space is available let an orchard
and a vineyard be planted. In the course of a few years
these would be very interesting and useful parts of the gar-
den and campus.

ORNAMENTAL BEDS: Where a garden is cultivated for
the practical lessons of planting, etc., attention should also

THE SCHOOL GARDEN 279

be given to the beautification of the school grounds with
flower beds, borders, etc. These should be filled with
bedding plants and left largely to the care of the pupils,
different groups taking care of different beds. Such beds
require changing of the plants when the first lot have
finished flowering. In the fall, bulbs should be set for early
spring flowering. They make a most beautiful effect when
placed rightly. After these have withered they should be
taken up, or later flowering plants should be set among the
bulbs. Sometimes it is more advisable to plant foliage plants
that are not conspicuous for their flowers, but produce ele-
gant effects with their beautiful large leaves. Place such
beds around the edges of the grounds, along the walks, in
angles of the buildings, along fences, etc. A very good
place for border beds is in front of shrubbery. In such beds
it is well to take into consideration color schemes. The
proper colors should be placed beside each other, comple-
mentary colors, as a rule, setting each other off to advantage.
Often it is better to have the beds just one color— white, pink,
or yellow. This is better than having a great variety of colors.
Low spreading plants like sweet alyssum, verbena, and portu-
laca are good for borders along the walks, and in front rows
of beds or borders along shrubbery or fences. Behind them
should come the taller forms in succession. In such borders
it would be well to select the plants so that some of them
would be in blossom all summer. Plants that have with-
ered or are through flowering should be removed or cut
off. It is generally better for plants to have the flowers
picked, for if allowed to go to seed they will stop blooming
sooner. This applies especially to sweet peas, nasturtiums,
and pansies. A few of the best developed of the earlier

280

NATURE-STUDY

flowers should be allowed to go to seed. These, when ripe,
should be collected by the children and saved for next year.
This is an important part of the gardening work, much
neglected in the home garden and at school. (See also
Chapter XVIII on the beautification of grounds. For lists
of bedding plants see page 296.)

BULBS FOR OUTDOOR CULTURE: The gorgeousness and
beauty of spring bulbs make them very desirable in school

FIG. 102. Bulb Diagram for Outdoor Planting.

gardens. While the garden is being prepared and the chil-
dren are waiting for the seeds to come up, they will be de-
lighted and encouraged by the growth and flowering of
these beautiful bulbs. They are so easy to raise that every
kindergarten ought to cultivate them. Tulips are the best,
as a general thing, and there are many different patterns
and colors of them. Crocus, daffodils, hyacinths, and Ger-
man iris are also excellent. It is best to set the bulbs in
September or October, and when the frosts begin, to cover
them with a mulch of straw or leaves for the winter. The
beds should be either raised or well-drained with broken

THE SCHOOL GARDEN 281

tile, bricks, etc., before filling with rich loam. In the spring
the litter should be nearly all removed, and when the leaves
come up the rest should be taken away. The bulbs should be
set at depths indicated in the accompanying diagram. The
children will delight in the fall planting, and will be looking for
the flowers in the spring. Bulb beds require no more care than
here mentioned. Tulip bulbs may be left in the bed for flower-
ing in other years, or they are sometimes taken up when
the leaves have withered, and their places filled with summer-
flowering geraniums, foliage plants, etc. They are stored
in not too dry a place, and planted again in the fall. If left
in the ground, small-rooted plants like pansies, portulaca,
alyssum, etc., may be sown or planted among the bulbs.

For summer flowering the gladiolus, canna, and dahlia
may be planted. Their bulbs or roots, however, are tender,
and must be taken up for the winter. The gladioli and the
large cannas are very showy. The dahlias are excellent
border plants, and bloom into the fall.

PERENNIALS, SHRUBS, VINES, ORNAMENTAL TREES:
(See Chapter XVIII, " Beautification of School Grounds."
Also see lists of plants for this purpose, page 296.) The plant-
ing of these is often about the only thing that can be done in
the way of school gardening except the window-box garden-
ing. Many a school ground could be beautified by the
planting of these easily grown plants, which, once established,
require no further attention than a little training, trimming,
and perhaps winter covering. As a rule, they should be
planted with some idea of the requirements of landscape
gardening. Never let them encroach upon the playgrounds.
They may be safely planted along fences, boundaries, build-
ings, and in the corners of the grounds. Here they will be

282 NATURE-STUDY

less molested and trampled, and will look better. They
should be selected so that some of them will be in flower at
different times throughout the season.

In this list may be placed many autumn wild flowers.
Clumps of goldenrod, wild asters, coneflowers, etc., are very
ornamental and appropriate in our gardens.

WILD FLOWER GARDEN: (See list, page 297.) The wild
flowers can give as great pleasure as the more aristocratic
and costly cultivated kinds. In shady situations, on the
north side of houses or fences, wild flowers may be grown
where most of the cultivated kinds cannot. To do well
they need, however, rich wood soil, and a mulching of leaves
or straw in the winter. Bring them in from the collecting
trips. They make a very useful botanical garden for lessons
on plants.

FERNERY: A plant need not have flowers to be called
beautiful. Every one would class the ferns with the beauti-
ful plants. Their lacy fronds, curious crozier buds, woodsy
fragrance, and somewhat tropical effects make them ad-
mirable for decorative borders. They will grow in shady
or damp places where other plants will not. Get ferns
from the woods and cliffs, in the dryer situations. Dig up
with abundant roots the underground stems of the bracken
fern, ostrich and cinnamon fern, cliff brake, and the maiden-
hair. Place them in a deep bed of rich wood soil, with pieces
of decaying logs, sawdust, peat, etc., well mixed with the soil.
It is well to dig deep first, and provide drainage with broken
brick, tile, cans, etc. Ferns look very well around the
school entrance, in corners, and among shrubbery. In the
fall they need some protecting litter, such as wood soil or
leaves.

THE SCHOOL GARDEN 283

ROCKERY AND BIRDS' TROUGH : In some far corner of the
grounds, where the birds are more apt to come, build a
mound of dirt, set boulders and rocks in the surface, place a
drinking trough on it for birds, and plant with ferns, wild
flowers, vines, nasturtiums, etc. A more permanent struct-
ure may be made with rocks and cement, perhaps provided
with a water pipe for a fountain. Potted plants could be
set about it, or put into pockets left for the purpose. In
many places wild birds would be attracted to it, to the de-
light of the children.

GREENHOUSE WORK: A few schools may be so fortunate
as to possess a real greenhouse. In that case the following
suggestions can be carried out more completely. But even
where no such conveniences exist much can be done.
The window garden can be utilized for such work, or
a small outside or inside bay-window may be constructed
of sash and used as a miniature greenhouse.

POTTING SOIL: For most purposes the following mixture
will do, — loam, manure (or wood mould), sand — equal parts.

FERTILIZER: Manure, commercial fertilizer, or bone ash
may be stirred into the soil about the roots of plants in pots
and boxes. Watering once a week with liquid manure is
also good for stimulating plants.

POTTING: Do not use too large a pot for flowers, and
allow about an inch all around the root mass of the plant.
Put some stones or broken pot in the bottom for drainage.
If in cans, punch holes in the bottom. The plant should
not be set deeper or higher than it grew before. Do not fill
the pot completely, but leave space for watering.

REPOTTING: This is necessary when the roots of the
plant have covered the mass of soil inside the pot with a

284 NATURE-STUDY

felt of fine roots. Before they turn dark the plant should
be transferred to a pot an inch larger. Tip the pot, hold
the hand over the earth, and slightly tap the edge of the pot
against a table to loosen it. Put into a new pot as directed
above, removing some of the old soil from the top and margin.

WATERING: Do not water except when the plant needs
it. Then give a good soaking. But do not allow the soil to
remain soggy all the time, for that injures most plants. The
roots need air as well as water. The soil should be moist,
but not soaking.

TURN THE PLANTS to make them grow symmetrically,
else they will develop mainly on the side toward the light.
Do not crowd the plants in a window so that they cut off
each other's light.

WINDOW-BOXES: These should be not less than eight
inches deep, about the same in width, and as long as the
window permits. Put drain holes in the bottom. A metal
tray to catch the moisture would protect the sill. Oilcloth,
however, will do as well, if the box is raised slightly on strips
of wood placed under it to allow the moisture to dry. The
boxes should be well made. They may be made of galvan-
ized iron, or more cheaply of wood. They should be painted
to prevent warping as well as for looks. Use the potting soil
given above.

These window-boxes may be used in a variety of ways.
To a certain extent the principles of gardening can be taught
with them. Germination studies, soil studies, starting of
plants for the outdoor garden, experiments on plant be-
havior, planting of tree seeds and pits, the propagation of
plants by slips, layering, and grafting — all these things can
be demonstrated in the little window gardens.

THE SCHOOL GARDEN

285

Where the school building is heated so that the plants will
not freeze at night or during holidays, this indoor garden-
ing can be done in the winter. Otherwise it will have to be
deferred till later in spring. Aside from the above practical
uses of the window-box it may be used for growing plants

FIG. 103. Plants Growing in the Laboratory Above an Aquarium.

for decoration and pleasure. It is always a pretty sight to
see potted and window-box plants in a school-room. It
looks cheerful and home-like. Even these plants can be
utilized in many nature lessons.

During the summer the box should be filled with plants,
set on the outside window ledge, and placed in charge
of the janitor. The plants will need frequent and thor-
ough watering, as their soil depth is not great. (For in-

286 NATURE-STUDY

door plants for pots and boxes as well as for outdoor
boxes see list, page 297.) The plants should be selected
according to the light conditions. Rooms on the north
side must necessarily confine themselves to such plants as
will flourish in the shade. It is generally out of the ques-
tion to try to raise flowers on the north side. A gera-
nium would probably starve there, and would certainly not
flower. I would suggest that, if flowers are desired, boxes
be placed on the south side till the flowers appear, and
then that they be transferred to the north room. There are,
however, a number of foliage plants that do fairly well on
the shady side, and these are given in the list on page 297.
To my mind a window with flourishing ferns, begonias,
periwinkle, 'and wandering Jew is just as beautiful as a box
of flowering geraniums. Aquaria with goldfish will give a
touch of color, if placed among these shade-loving flowers.

The boxes should be set with a variety of plants,
drooping kinds in front, climbing vines to train up the win-
dow at the ends, taller plants in the centre. Some set the
plants in the pots into the box and fill the space between
them with moss or earth. This permits the turning of
the plants. In dusty schools the leaves will need washing
often. Sometimes, if started in midwinter, annuals like
pansies, petunias, portulaca, nasturtium, and sweet peas can
be brought to flower in March or April.

BULBS: It is always a pleasure to raise bulbs indoors.
To do this plant them so that their tops are about an inch
below the surface. Plant them any time from September
to January. Set them aside in a cool, dark place, such as
a cellar or dark attic. Water them well at first, and after that
enough to keep them from drying out below. Leave for three

THE SCHOOL GARDEN ' 287

or four weeks for the roots to form. When these have been
well developed, bring the pots or box to the light into a
warmer room. When the tops appear, give plenty of light and
water. They will now grow rapidly and soon blossom.
Tulips, narcissuses, crocuses, hyacinths, freesias, etc., are
good for such culture.

CUTTINGS: Plants for summer bedding in 'the borders
may be started from slips or cuttings made in winter. The
best flowering geraniums are those started early in the winter
from cuttings. To make cuttings select such parts as break
with a snap, and cut pieces with about two joints. Trim off
large leaves or cut off half the blade to reduce evaporation,
set into clean, sharp sand in shallow boxes, and keep the soil
moist and warm. When the cutting has made sufficient
roots, in about four or six weeks, it may be taken from the
tray and potted. Coleus, fuchsia, carnations, and many
other plants can thus be propagated. Begonia leaves cut
into pieces, and partly covered with soil will form new plants
readily. An interesting experiment is to take a large leaf of
a bryophyllum plant and hang it up, preferably in a moist,
dark place. The leaf will form numerous buds around the
margin, which may be cut out and planted. Cutting a
potato into pieces for planting is similar to making slips.
The pieces should have one or two eyes.

Roses also may be grown from cuttings. The best wood
for such is taken from just below a flower. Cut the wood
into as many pieces as there are buds.

Willows, lilacs, grapes, and many berry shrubs are grown
from cuttings made of twigs, in the dormant condition in fall
or winter. Cut the twigs into lengths of from 8 to 1 2 inches,
each with several buds or joints. They should then be

288 NATURE-STUDY

buried in a cellar or some other place in well-drained sand
or soil, and the cuts allowed to heal. The next spring they
may be planted where wanted permanently, or first set in
temporary rows. Set vertically or slanting, so that only the
upper bud projects. Choose well-seasoned wood for such
cuttings. Many such cuttings may be had for nothing in the
fall pruning of vineyards or berry gardens. Raspberry,
blackberry, woodbine, ivy, etc., may be grown from root
cuttings in a similar manner.

LAYERING is similar to cutting, except that the branches
are first left attached to the parent plant, but are
fastened down to the ground and covered with soil at cer-
tain joints. At these places roots form, and, when well
established, the layer may be severed from the parent and
planted independently. Carnations, and other house-plants
may be treated thus, also currants, gooseberries, raspberries,
etc., grape, and woodbine. These should be layered in the
nursery or berry patch. Roses also may be propagated
in this way. Many plants, notably the strawberry, form
runners for a similar purpose. Practise the setting of
strawberries developed from runners.

GRAFTING: Akin to the above methods of propagation is
grafting, by which a stem or bud called the scion is made to
grow on a root or a stem of another plant called the stock.
The latter is usually a more hardy grower than the scion,
while the scion is of a choicer quality. Twigs or buds from
a very desirable fruit tree, such as the navel orange, may be
set on a wild variety, or on one inferior in fruit but very hardy.
This is extensively practised by fruit raisers for propa-
gating the best varieties of fruit. The seed of these fruits
cannot be depended upon to come true, hence the im-

THE SCHOOL GARDEN

289

-£>

portance of grafting. There are many different forms of
grafting. Several of the more common methods are given.
ROOT GRAFTING: This consists of growing choice scion
stems or twigs upon hardy
roots. The stocks are
usually grown from seeds,
and may be those raised
in the school nursery or
may be bought at slight
expense. The scions are
cut in the dormant state in
midwinter, and kept in
sand in a cool and moist
place till grafting time,
usually in March or
April. Let the children
bring twigs from choice
kinds of apples. Cut
pieces several inches in
length with three or four
buds. When ready to
graft, clean the scions and
stock. Cut pieces of root
six or eight inches long,
and about a quarter of an
inch thick. The stock of
the apple must be about two years old. The twigs of the scion
should be from well-seasoned wood of the last season's growth.
With a sharp knife cut the top of the root and the lower end
of the scion at the same slant. Select stocks and scions of the
same diameter if possible. Cut out a thin wedge from each

FIG. 104. Grafting Methods.

A. Tongue-grafting.

1. Stock and scion separate.

2. United.

3. Bound with grafting-cloth.

B. Plain whip-grafting.

C. Saddle-grafting.

29o NATURE-STUDY

surface, and press the scion firmly into the stock, as shown
in the figure. The inner bark of the two must fit together.
This is known as the tongue graft. Other methods are
suggested in the other figures, and may be tried. The two
pieces should now be bound tightly together. For this use
ribbons of cheese-cloth or muslin, made by covering with a
melted mixture of four parts common resin and one part
beef tallow. When cool, roll the grafting cloth, as it is called,
into the roll and use as desired. This cloth should be used
in strips about half an inch wide. Wind it spirally around
the graft to hold the two parts firmly in place. The cuts at
the end of the scion should be covered with grafting wax,
made of four parts resin, two parts beeswax, and one part
tallow. When cool pull like taffy till of a buff color. Form
into sticks. The grafted plants should then be set away in
cool, damp sand, in a cellar or elsewhere, to lie dormant till
spring, when they are to be set out in the nursery.

Twigs on trees or shrubs may be grafted in a similar
manner. Thus we may make different kinds of apples,
and even pears and other related species grow on the
same tree.

Technically the grafting of a bud on a stock is called
BUDDING. It is done in summer or early in September, when
the bark will still peel easily. Twigs from the desirable
trees are cut, and from these the buds are cut off with a thin
shield of bark and a little wood. Remove the leaf that is
beside the bud. Make a longitudinal slit in the bark of the
stock seedling on the north side, and cut across its top a hori-
zontal slit. Peel back the bark slightly, enough to allow the
insertion of the shield of the bud. Push the bud in and
press back the bark of the stock over it, leaving the bud

THE SCHOOL GARDEN

291

slightly exposed. Tie with soft twine or raffia to hold the
bud in place. After about two weeks the bud will be at-
tached, and the binding should be cut to prevent the stran-
gling of the stock. In the next season, when the bud has be-

FIG. 105. Budding.

A. Bud-stick with buds.

B. Buds cut out of stick.

C i. Bark of stock slit open.

C 2. Bud partly inserted under bark of stock.

3. Bark of stock tied over bud.

4. Stock cut off after bud has grown.

gun to develop, cut off the stock just above the inserted bud,
so as to give this all the nourishment, and to prevent the
other variety from forming branches and fruit. Cover the
cut with wax. Care must be taken that the stock does not
send out branches or suckers below the graft. If any form
they should be removed. Peach, apple, pear trees and roses
are thus budded.

292 NATURE-STUDY

Pupils will find grafting very interesting work. They
should be encouraged to continue to practise it at home.

COMPETITIVE CULTURE: It is an interesting experiment
to have the children cultivate plants at home to see who can
raise the finest. In lower grades this competition may be in
flowers and simple vegetables. In the upper grades, especially
in the rural villages and schools, this might be made very
practical. Here the boys, especially, could select seeds of the
best sort, and try different methods of cultivation or fertilizing
special crops, etc. A very practical thing would be to raise
corn or sugar-beets in competition. In such competitive cult-
ure it is to be understood that the children should have no
assistance from parents or any one else. A certain num-
ber of seeds, bulbs, or slips may be given to each, along
with specific directions for planting and for the care of the
plants. Then let each child be held responsible for their cult-
ure. Of course there will be many failures, yet even from
these sometimes valuable lessons may be learned, if not in
plant culture, perhaps in self-culture — persistency, regularity,
forethought, etc. In some cities there are public societies
that further such work by furnishing the seeds or giving prizes.

The different schools in the town might join in a com-
petition for the best general school garden, or the best borders,
or window-boxes, or the best arrangement of the shrubs,
beds, etc. Of course this will not mean much to the chil-
dren if the work is done by the teachers, the janitor, or some
hired gardener. It should represent the efforts of the pupils
of the school. Then they will take more interest and pride
in the work, and will look after it more. Committees should
be appointed to visit the various schools at different times
in the season to adjudge the reward.

THE SCHOOL GARDEN 293

Connected with this is the matter of EXHIBITS of the gar-
den products and related work. Soon after school begins
in the fall let there be a fair or exhibition of the plants raised
at home in competitive culture. Have the vegetables of
the school garden neatly displayed. Have bouquets of
flowers from the school garden artistically arranged. Util-
ize the window-boxes and the potted plants for ornamental
effects. Other nature work might be displayed at the same
time — art work based on nature-study, written work, note-
books, charts, etc. Also have collections of weeds from the
garden, with descriptions and remedies, herbaria of flowers,
insect collections, to show economic relations, life histories
of insects, cages with insects, etc. The patrons of the
school would be much interested in all this. Show them
what has been done in the garden. Write up the event in
the papers, take photographs of the exhibit and also of the
garden, etc. All these things encourage the children, and
serve to interest the public in the work of the school.

I suggest that the older grades be allowed to exhibit some
of their garden and horticultural work at the county fair
with exhibitors' privileges.

INTEREST IN AGRICULTURE may be aroused in the older
children by letting them read books, journals, etc., on the
subject. We have now many good books on elementary
agriculture. Put these into the hands of the pupils. A
good garden or farm journal would be a useful addition to
the school periodical list. The farmers' bulletins of the United
States Department of Agriculture should be utilized in this
work. Encourage the boys to send for them, and get the
bulletins from the State Agricultural Schools and Experiment
Stations, and the catalogues from these institutions and from

294 NATURE-STUDY

the County Industrial Schools. Many a boy should be en-
couraged to go to such a school, The older pupils should
visit such schools if near, and also attend some of the ses-
sions of local farmers' institutes. In this way the pupils
are shown the possibilities of farming, and also the advan-
tages of farm life.

BOOKS ON GARDENING: Seed and nursery catalogues, which
may be had free from any seed house or nursery, are full of
specific cultural directions for the different plants, and also
contain much general information about insecticides, fun-
gicides, etc. Some of the popular family and farm journals
have useful suggestions for gardening. Some of the best
books on gardening will be found in the reference list
in the Appendix, page 517.

INSECTICIDES AND FUNGICIDES: A complete list of these
need not be given here. Various eed houses have special
commercial preparations for different insects, rusts, etc., but
the following are among the most universally useful :

CUT-WORMS are very troublesome in the spring when the
plants are young and tender. Tomato, cabbage, sweet
peas, etc., are bitten off near the ground, and drawn into the
burrows by the worms. To kill them place a spoonful of
poisoned bran at the base of the plant and among the rows.
This is a bait the worms will generally eat, especially if
placed there before the plants are up or are set out, and there
is nothing else to eat. If the plants are few, then a stiff
paper collar may be pinned around the base of the plant and
set somewhat into the soil. The worms cannot climb over
this. Toads placed in the garden are useful friends of the
gardener. Let the children bring in the toads they find and
liberate them in the garden.

THE SCHOOL GARDEN 295

FOR LEAF-EATING INSECTS — apply with a sprayer :

i ounce of Paris green dissolved in six gallons of water.
FOR SAP-SUCKING INSECTS — apply with a sprayer:
Make a mixture — called emulsion — of the following:

2 gallons kerosene,

i pound of hard soap,

i gallon water.

FOR RUSTS, ROTS AND BLIGHTS — PLANT DISEASES:

i pound of unslacked lime,
i Yz pounds of copper sulphate.

Dissolve each separately in about six gallons of water. Use wooden
pails. Mix thoroughly and apply with a sprayer.

This may also be made an insecticide by adding to the mixture about
two ounces of Paris green.

Plant Lists jor Different Purposes
VEGETABLES, etc., suitable for the school garden:

(Those marked * are easy for the little ones.)

FOR SPRING: Lettuce,* radish,* onion sets.*

FOR SUMMER: Peas,* beans,* beets,* turnip,* sweet corn,*
cucumber, muskmelon, watermelon, tomato, egg-plant, early cabbage,
cauliflower, carrot,* onion, late lettuce, pepper, grains,* cotton, flax,*
sugar-beet, sorghum,* potato.*

FOR AUTUMN: Field corn,* pop-corn,* pumpkin,* squash, sweet-
potato, celery, tomato, pepper, cabbage (late), carrot, beets* '(late),
turnips* (late), onion, parsnip, sugar-beet, peanut, cotton (plant some
in pots).

ANNUAL FLOWERS:

(Those marked * are easy to grow for the little children.)
SPRING FLOWERING: Sweet alyssum,* candytuft,* bachelor's but-
ton.* Must be started early.

SUMMER FLOWERING- Pansy, balsam,* portulaca,* sweet alyssum,*
candytuft,* bachelor's button,* morning-glory,* California poppy,*
sweet pea,* petunia,* mignonette, amaranth, pink,* poppy,* stock,
scabiosa, castor bean,* calliopsis (or coreopsis),* single and double

296 NATURE-STUDY

sunflower,* scarlet runner,* cosmos,* verbena,* nasturtium,* salvia,
four o'clock, prince's feather, calendula (pot marigold),* African or
French marigold,* phlox,* canary-bird vine, nicotiana,* wild cucum-
ber,* zinnia,* early aster.

AUTUMN FLOWERING: Pot marigold,* zinnia,* cosmos,* nas-
turtium,* marigold,* verbena,* nicotiana,* calliopsis,* chrysanthe-
mum (in pots set in ground), mignonette, castor bean,* cosmos,*
prince's feather, scarlet runner,* sweet pea,* salvia* (plant some in
pots), aster, stock, pansy, petunia,* canary-bird vine, morning-
glory,* larkspur,* kochia (mock cypress).

GOOD FOR BEDDING:

(Spring flowering marked s; summer flowering not marked; autumn, a.)

ANNUALS: Balsam, stock, petunias, zinnia a, aster a, pansy,
nasturtium, verbena a, poppy, California poppy, pink, phlox,
salvia a, portulaca, candytuft, sweet alyssum, calendula a, castor
bean, kochia a (mock cypress), marigold a.

BIENNIALS AND PERENNIALS : Hollyhock, phlox, larkspur, peony s,
golden glow, tulip s, crocus s, hyacinth s, daffodil s, lily of the valley 6,
German iris s, day lily, Oriental poppy. The following must be
taken up for the winter: Geranium, fuchsia, begonia, canna, dahlia a,
gladiolus.

FOLIAGE BEDS: Castor bean, caladium, coleus.

PERENNIALS :

SPRING FLOWERING: Tulip, crocus, German iris, lily of the valley,
bleeding-heart, columbine, peony.

SUMMER FLOWERING: Larkspur, phlox, golden glow, feverfew,
Shasta daisy, white day lily, yellow day lily, grass lily, tiger lily,
perennial poppy, clematis, honeysuckle, foxglove.

AUTUMN FLOWERING: Yucca, dahlia, wild aster, wild sunflower,
wild cone flower, golden rod, blazing star.

Must be taken up for winter: Geranium, begonia, fuchsia, canna,
dahlia.

VINES :

ANNUAL: Wild cucumber, morning-glory, scarlet-runner, canary-
bird vine, nasturtium, sweet pea, ipomea.

THE SCHOOL GARDEN 297

BIENNIAL: Allegheny vine.

PERENNIAL: Clematis, virgin's-bower, hop, honeysuckle, wistaria,
bittersweet, wild grape, woodbine, Boston ivy, green brier, moonseed,
English ivy where hardy.

WILD FLOWER GARDEN:

(Those that grow in the shade marked *.)

SPRING FLOWERING: Dandelion, blood-root,* trillium,* spring
beauty, bellwort,* violet,* columbine,* Jack-in-the-pulpit,* dog-
tooth violet, Dutchmen's breeches,* . wild phlox,* false Solomon's
seal,* waterleaf,* lady's-slipper,* wind-flower,* hepatica,* pasque
flower, fleabane, puccoon.

SUMMER FLOWERING: Pitcher plant,* red lily, virgin's bower, wild
cucumber, daisy, aralia,* Solomon's seal,* yarrow, thimble anemone,
catnip, horsemint, butterfly weed, milkweed, iris, harebell, bellflower,
lobelia.

FALL FLOWERING: Wild sunflower, cone flower, compass plant, cup
plant, aster,* goldenrod, blazing star, monkey flower,* eupatory,* mul-
lein, evening primrose, fireweed (epilobiumj^emp, butter-and-eggs.

PLANTS FOR WINDOW-BOXES AND POTS:

INDOOR:

SHADY WINDOWS: Mainly foliage plants — begonia, dracaena, palm,
wandering Jew, asparagus "fern," true fern (Boston), vinca vine,
English ivy, coleus.

SUNNY WINDOWS: Geranium, fuchsia, bulbs, salvia, pansy, chrys-
anthemum, sweet alyssum, primrose, azalea, carnation, marguerite,
petunia, cineraria, palm, English ivy, asparagus "fern," heliotrope,
smilax, Kenil worth ivy, feverfew, ageratum, coleus, vinca, umbrella
plant, Boston fern,, cactus, century plant, camellia, rose-scented ger-
anium, bryophyllum, oxalis, India-rubber plant, abutilon, calla,
Easter lily.

OUTSIDE: Only the more hardy of the above can be used for this
purpose.

SHADY SIDE: As above.

SUNNY SIDE: Geranium, ageratum, feverfew, coleus, salvia, sweet
alyssum, marguerite, petunia, palm, asparagus "fern," fuchsia, pansy,
chrysanthemum, tulip, crocus, vinca, wandering Jew.

298 NATURE-STUDY

SHRUBS :

SPRING FLOWERING: Forsythia, lilac, snowball, syringa, flowering
currant, hawthorn, rose (including wild), mock orange, mountain
laurel, rhododendron, currant, raspberry, blackberry, gooseberry,
barberry.

SUMMER FLOWERING: Bush honeysuckle, weigelia, privet, wild elder,
rose, sumach, dogwood, spiraea.

FOR AUTUMN: Hydrangea, barberry in fruit, elder (red berried) in
fruit, witch-hazel.

WINTER EVERGREENS: Juniper, holly, rhododendron, balsam fir.

CHAPTER XVII
LESSONS WITH PLANTS

THESE lessons are intended to acquaint the child with
the life and nature of plants, with the conditions under which
they grow, and with the functions of the various organs.
The plants should be studied as living creatures, not merely
as dead specimens. There is a practical side to this study,
as it should teach the child how to cultivate plants.

Plant lessons are easy to give. Plants are clean and
not repugnant. There is an element of beauty in the work
that appeals to children, and this fact should be taken
advantage of. There is an abundance of illustrative mate-
rial, easily obtained, which changes with the seasons.

Many of these lessons should be given or applied in the
school garden, where much material may be obtained. In
fact, the garden should be a sort of botanical laboratory for
this work. Therefore read the suggestions in the previous
chapter.

Germination

It is a traditional custom in nearly all schools to plant
seeds in the spring and to see them grow. Generally this
is not very profitable as usually conducted. The planting
of seeds and the observation of their development may be
made to teach valuable lessons in gardening and the con-

3°°

NATURE-STUDY

ditions for plant life. Most people love flowers and would
like to know how to raise them.

These germination lessons may be utilized to teach the
children how to prepare the soil, the use of fertilizers, and the
proper temperature and moisture conditions necessary for
germination and growth. Older pupils should try some
instructive experiments. Let them compare seedlings grown
in cold and warm temperatures, with sufficient, too much,

FIG. 106. Germinators for Observing Seeds and Seedlings.

and too little water; in fertile and sterile soil; in loam, sand,
clay, and mixtures of these.

Most people are apt to plant seeds too deep. They can
be buried so deep that the seedlings will fail to reach the sur-
face.

Very small seed, such as petunia, should be lightly sprinkled
over the surface of the soil and kept moist. Some very fine
soil may be sifted over thinly. Larger seeds may be planted
deeper, from three to four times their thickness. If started
in boxes they will germinate better by keeping a pane of
glass over the box till the seeds are up, when the glass should
be removed. Be sure to get fresh seed.

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

301

Plant corn, wheat, peas, beans, sunflowers, squash, radish,
etc. These germinate well, and the plants from them can
be used for many observations and experiments on plant
life and behavior. Also let the pupils sow flower seeds
and raise plants that they will care to keep.
In this way pretty window-boxes of flowers
can be raised, or the seedlings may later be
set out in beds. Let the pupils take home
the plants started in school. Encourage the
cultivation of a vegetable garden and flowers
at home. Sweet alyssum, candytuft, portu-
laca, dwarf and climbing nasturtiums,
phlox, pansies, pot-marigold, zinnias, and
asters are excellent plants for the purpose.
Morning-glories cannot be transplanted well,
and should be raised where wanted. If the
boys feel that flower culture is too effeminate
for them, which is not the case, however,
rouse their interest by getting them to plant
vegetables, and plants like cotton, flax,
tobacco, peanuts, and others not so com-
monly seen. Also let them plant the seeds of apples,
plums, cherries, oranges, and lemons, and other fruit
trees; of acorns, butternuts, walnuts, and other nuts;
of elms, maples, basswood, pines, balsams, etc. These
tree seedlings might be distributed to the children to
plant at home. If they raise any of these to maturity
they will always take a peculiar pride and interest in
these trees. A cherry tree planted as a seed by a boy six
years old will yield bushels of cherries by the time he is a
man.

FIG. 107. An Oak
Seedling.

302

NATURE-STUDY

A

**g

The older children should make a simple dissection of
the seed and learn the function of seed coats, seed leaves,
rootlet, and bud. They should understand that seeds are
young plants given a store of food as a start in life by the
mother plant. They should compare the sprouting of dif-
ferent kinds of seeds, and note the inter-
esting ways in which a seedling gets
out of the seed coat.

The germination of seeds can be very

^^v Jk 7 we^ seen *n sPec*al vessels f°r the Pur~

•jr . pose, called germinators. A simple form

consists of a deep and narrow box with
glass sides. Fill with soil or sawdust
and place the seeds close to the glass.
Darken the sides with opaque paper.
After a time the paper may be removed
and the sprouting seeds may be seen.
Another form consists of two sheets of
glass, with cotton between them. A
black paper or cloth over the cotton sets
the seeds off well. Keep the cotton moist.
A simple germinator is made of a tum-
bler treated in a similar manner. A
very pretty way to show the germination
of small seeds, such as radish, etc., is to place a piece of
flannel or blotter in a saucer. Place the seeds upon this, and
cover with a tumbler, slightly raised at one side to admit
air. Keep the blotter moist and the seeds will soon show
the cotyledons and the root, the latter all covered with a
glistening fuzz of root-hairs by means of which the root ab-
sorbs moisture.

FIG. 108. An Experiment.

One of the bean seedlings has
its cotyledons removed and
does not grow as fast as the
other.

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

3°3

Plant Organs

The principal organs of a higher plant should be studied
in order that children may get a general knowledge of the
structure and functions of a plant, and that they may know
how it lives. Only the gross structure need be studied
in nature-study, but attention should
not be confined to structure simply; the
adaptations and the functions of the
structure should also be taught.

The root is the organ of absorption
and anchors the plant firmly in the soil.
The little root hairs that may be seen
on seedlings germinated on a blotter
are the essential organs in absorbing
the soluble minerals and the water and
organic matter from the soil. These
root hairs should be examined with a
microscope. They are seen then to be
prolongations of the epidermal cells of
the root. They are very delicate, and
are torn off 'when a plant is pulled up Fic. 109. Germinating Com.
from the ground and hence not seen.

Let the children dig up carefully different plants and note
the extent of the root growth, the shape of the roots, and
their branching. In a grain field pull up a hill of grain and
note the root extent. Then dig a hole or trench and wash
away the earth from the roots, exposing them carefully.
The root extent is then found to be surprisingly great, ex-
tending to a depth of several feet instead of only five or six
inches, as simply pulling up the plant would seem to in-

304 NATURE-STUDY

dicate. A similar experiment may be tried at a road-cut or
hillside cutting, where the roots of plants may be exposed
in the same way. Tree roots may be followed long dis-
tances where they have been exposed by erosion. This
may help to give the children a better idea of the importance
of roots. In a general way we may say that the root growth
below the surface of the soil equals that of the stem and
foliage above.

Try this experiment : Cut off close to the root the stem
of a seedling like a squash or sunflower and note the sap
flowing up from the root. This illustrates the power of roots
to send up moisture.

Fleshy roots, such as the beet, turnip, carrot, and others
are devices of the plant to tide over some unfavorable period
of cold or drought. The first year the large cluster of leaves
produces a store of food which is placed in the thick root.
The next year the plant sends up rapidly a tall stem with
flowers, and goes to seed. From this habit the plant is
called a biennial. Sometimes some of these plants will
complete their cycle in one season. Examine different
fleshy roots. Refer to the supply of food in the root pri-
marily intended for the plant itself, but which we make use
of for ourselves.

Plant some turnips or carrots and see what they do. Note
the softening and shrivelling of the root as the plant grows.
Account for this. Dig out the core of a carrot or turnip
without injuring the crown of buds at the top, so as to form
a little bucket. Fill with water and hang up in the window;
let it develop. Try one with the hole made in the other end
and hung upside down.

Stems conduct the sap and hold the leaves and flowers up

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

305

to the light. Annual plants have soft or herbaceous stems.
Perennial shrubs, vines, and trees have hard and woody
stems. Compare them. Cut across a young, herbaceous
stem like a cornstalk and note the thread-like strands that
run through it. These may be
shown better by cutting through
the hard outer layer of the stalk
and breaking and pulling apart
the rest, when the strands will ap-
pear as threads projecting out
from the stalk. These strands
are found in all stems and are
very important. They consist
partly of strong cells that give
rigidity and strength to the stem,
and partly of duct-like or tubular
cells that allow the sap to flow
through them. These strands of
strengthening and conducting tis-
sues are called, technically, fibro-
vascular bundles, and serve as a
sort of skeleton for the plant and as its circulatory system.
Some ducts convey sap up, while others let it down to the
root.

In plants that have two cotyledons or seed leaves in the
seed, as for example, the pea, bean, sunflower, geranium,
squash, box-elder, lilac, etc., the fibrovascular strands are
arranged in a ring around a central pith. Cut across a
young sunflower stem or young lilac shoot and this can be
seen. Press the stem and see the water exude from cer-
tain parts of the ring. Here are the tubular conducting

FIG. no Fibrovascular Strands in
Plantain Leaf.

306 NATURE-STUDY

ducts. Outside of the tubular part of the stem is the bark,
not yet hard in young tree shoots and in herbaceous plants.

In cornstalks, lily stems, palm stems, and grasses, the
strands are not thus arranged, but are found distributed
throughout the pithy substance of the stem.

If we cut across a twig of a tree that has become woody,

FIG. 1 1 1 . Section of Corn Stalk Showing Fibrovascular Bundles.
( Photomicrograph.)

we shall see that the woody part is distinct from the bark
on the outside and a pithy portion at the centre. In the
spring the bark can be easily peeled from the wood. This
is because there is then a layer of especially thin-walled cells
between them which can be easily torn. In making a whistle
of willow or basswood, boys beat upon the bark to crush this
layer of cells and thus loosen the bark. It is in this layer,
called the growing zone, that the new growth in the thick-

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

3°7

ness of the stem takes place. Wood forms on the inside and
new layers of bark on the outside. As the wood within gets
larger, the old bark coat becomes too small and cracks into
fissures or peels off in layers. This is seen in all old trees.
In each species there is a characteristic mode of fissuring
of the bark by which
alone we are often en-
abled to distinguish the
tree. The plum and the
birch peel off around
the stem. The soft
maple bark splits off in
long strips up and down
the stem. In other
trees the bark wears
away less conspicuously,
though just as truly.

In sections of stems
or twigs of more than
one year's growth there
is seen a concentric ar-
rangement of the wood.
This is called the annual rings, by which, as a rule, we can
tell the age of the stem, one ring being formed each year. In
the spring the cells of the new wood are thinner walled and
larger than the cells formed in the later growth of the sum-
mer. Hence each spring's growth appears lighter and more
porous than the growth formed in the preceding fall.

Bring in pieces of firewood or go to a sawed-off tree and
determine the age by counting the rings.

MODIFIED STEMS FOR PROPAGATION: After the typical

FIG. 112. The White Elm.

3o8

NATURE-STUDY

stem has been studied, modifications of stems should be
considered, to show how an organ may become adapted for
an entirely different function.

Strawberry runners are long, slender branches sent out
above the ground by the plant, which radiate from it, strik-
ing root and sending up
a cluster of leaves at the
joints. In time, if left
naturally, the connecting
runner would die and
decay away, thus leaving
a number of separate
plants that at one time
were all one. This is a
device for propagation.
The gardener utilizes this
artificially in obtaining
new plants for setting
out.

The long, drooping
branches of currants,
raspberries, and other
plants touch the ground with the ends and strike root there,
thereby starting another plant by a method similar to that
employed by the strawberry.

Try some simple experiments in layering, slipping, and
grafting. (See last chapter.)

UNDERGROUND STEMS: There are other peculiar modi-
fications of stems for the purpose of propagation. Many
plants have underground shoots and stems which help them
to tide over a period of cold or dryness, or by which they

FIG. 113. The White Birch.

LESSONS WITH 'PLANTS

309

are multiplied. One of these is the root-stalk, so called
because it looks like a root. Bloodroots, Solomon's-seal, many
common grasses and other plants have such organs. In the
first two mentioned cases, the true roots spring from a root-
stalk which is thick with a supply of food. Common June
grass and many other grasses have long, slender root-stalks.

FIG. 114. Cross Section of White Elm Showing Bark, Sapwood,
Heartwood, and Yearly Rings.

Pull up some June grass root-stalks, examine the joints,
scales, and roots, and note the spears of grass rising from the
joints. Cut the root-stalk into as many joints or sections as have
rooted, and plant each to see if it will grow independently.
By means of such stalks the grass spreads rapidly. Golden-
rod and the cultivated goldenglow have fine root-stalks.

The Jack-in-the-pulpit has a short, rounded root-stalk,
called a corm.

310 NATURE-STUDY

The onion and lily bulbs are also modified stems. Cut
an onion through lengthwise, and note the thickened leaves
that surround a kind of central bud, the whole forming a
condensed leafy bud. The scales on the outside serve for
protection, those within to store nourishment. Examine
also tulip and amaryllis bulbs. Raise some hyacinth bulbs
in water.

The potato is another sort of underground stem, a short

FIG. 115. Rootstalk of Solomon's Seal, a Storehouse of Food.

and rounded root-stalk. The eyes represent buds, each of
which is capable of sprouting and forming a new plant. Cut
a piece of potato containing only one eye, plant it, and raise
a plant. Set a potato in a glass or can of water and note
the shoots that arise from the eyes. The potato is com-
posed mainly of water and starch. Show with the iodine
test that it has starch. Show starch made from potato.
Examine some starch grains under a microscope. This
starch was made by the leaves of the plant and stored away

LESSONS WITH PLANTS 311

in the tubers or potatoes. We use this supply of starchy
food intended primarily for the plant. Similarly other
underground stems and bulbs are storehouses for food.
This is generally used the next season in making a rapid
growth. Most of our very early spring flowers are enabled
to bloom so early because they have a supply of food
ready. Dig up a number of the earliest spring flowers and
this will be seen to be true.

Buds

One of the first signs of spring is the swelling of the pussy-
willow's buds. They may be found in wet meadows and
sloughs, in company with poplars and red osiers. Let the
children bring some to school. Set the twigs in water and
watch them develop. These pussies are flower buds.

A little later collect twigs of lilac, cottonwood, soft maple,
boxelder, and horse-chestnut and place them in water. Let
the children study the changes from day to day. First the
buds swell, then the little brown, dry scales with which the
buds are covered are pushed apart or entirely crowded off,
and a little bundle of delicate leaves, or a flower cluster, or
both, appear. In a few days more the leaf buds have elon-
gated into short stems with the leaflets arranged alongside.
From such a study it will be seen clearly that a leaf bud or
a flower bud is a condensed or miniature stem with leaflets,
packed away in the protecting scales. In the course of a
season, the buds on young trees may grow to the length of
several feet, though the growth is much less on the older trees.

Note the bud scales, their thickness, texture, stickiness,
or hairiness. They serve to protect the buds from mechan-
ical injury and prevent the drying out of the tender leaflets

NATURE-STUDY

within during the winter. Do not tell the pupils that the
scales are warm, cozy blankets or jackets that prevent the
freezing of the buds in winter, for that is not true. In weather
20 below zero or more these thin scales would be scant pro-
tection against freezing. Ask the children if they would
want nothing more on in such weather. In fact the buds

do freeze within.
Providing the
freezing, and es-
pecially the
thawing out,
proceed slowly,
a frozen ear will
not be perma-
nently injured.
Frozen apples
and potatoes
can be restored
in good condi-
tion if thawed slowly, but if thawed rapidly become flabby
and soon decay. It is somewhat the same with vegetation
in winter. The artificial covering that we put over the
pansy and strawberry beds in winter does not prevent the
freezing of these plants, but it does prevent sudden freezing
and thawing. The nonconducting litter over the plants per-
mits these changes to take place only slowly. So also the
scales on the buds are nonconductors and serve a similar
purpose. The natural litter of leaves and grass protects many
seeds, roots, and stems of plants in winter. Even the snow
is a protective covering in this sense, preventing the killing
of winter wheat and clover and many wild plants.

FIG. 116. Buds are Condensed Branches.

The two upper twigs show young branches that have come from buds as
short as those on the two lower twigs. Lilac.

LESSONS WITH PLANTS 313

Note the position of the bud on the branch. Immediately
below it we generally find a triangular scar or mark which
shows where the last year's leaf has
fallen off. This is called a leaf scar.

Remove the bud scales all around a
large bud. Note the circle or girdle of
scars that is produced thereby. This
is called a girdle scar. A similar girdle
forms naturally when a bud unfolds
in spring and the scales drop off, and
will be found at the very base of the
shoot of that season. Begin at the
tip of a twig and trace back till you
come to such a girdle scar. The in-
terval from the tip to the scar marks
a year's growth. Trace farther down
the twig and find perhaps other such
scars. In this way the age of a twig
or a tree may be told. The internodes
between such scars are often quite
long in young trees or shoots, but
sometimes half an inch or less on the
older parts of a tree.

Let the pupils gather different kinds
of twigs and draw them.

T FIG. 117. Cottonwood and

leaves Butternut Twigs.

. , , Mil f (To show buds and yearly growth.)

Ask the pupils what leaves are for.

Unless they have been taught they will probably answer that
they do not know. Some may say, "To look pretty," "To
give us shade." Much older people often can give no better

314 NATURE-STUDY

answers. Though we may find pleasure in the beauty of
the foliage and enjoy its shade, this is not the reason why
plants have leaves.

A plant breathes, perspires, makes its food, and also does
other useful things with its leaves. Looked at in this way a
leaf is a very important organ to a plant.

While the full meaning of a leaf cannot be made clear to
grade pupils, yet its general function can be taught them by a
few experiments.

Plants wilt because they lose water from their leaves.
This is called transpiration. It may be very easily shown
by cutting from a geranium or other plant some leaves,
covering the cut end with vaseline or wax so as to prevent
the escape of moisture through these ends, and placing the
leaves under a tumbler in the sunlight or other warm place.
In a short time drops of moisture given off by the leaf will
be collecting on the inside of the glass.

This water must come out of the leaf elsewhere than from
the cut ends. It is exhaled as vapor from minute openings,
called breathing pores, in the skin or epidermis of the leaf.
These pores are visible readily under a compound micro-
scope; and on the leaves of the Wandering Jew they are
visible with a simple magnifying glass. On the common
liverwort, marchantia, though not a leafy plant, the breath-
ing pores are visible easily to the unaided eye. If speci-
mens like these can be got, the pores should be shown.
At any rate, diagrams should be made giving a leaf in
cross section, to show the loose, spongy tissue of green
cells within the leaf, the conducting strands (veins), and
the breathing pores. Show also surface views of the
pores. Through these pores the moisture escapes, and when

LESSONS WITH PLANTS 315

a plant cannot supply itself rapidly enough with fresh water
from the roots it wilts.

Place a cherry, maple, or other leafy twig in a bottle of
water. Note the height of the water. Close the mouth of
the bottle to prevent evaporation. Note the rate at which
the twig absorbs the water and the leaves give it off to the
air.

This current of water flowing through the plant is neces-

FiG. 118. Transpiration.

sary, in order that fresh mineral matter may be brought in
from the soil for the nourishment of the plant.

Leaves are green. Why? Bring in some celery stalks,
or some potato or carrot sprouts that have grown in the
cellar in the dark. Note their blanched condition. Lay a
board a few days upon the green grass, and on removal note
the yellowish or bleached place left by the board. Note
that the grass turns green again in the sunlight. Place some
of the cellar-grown sprouts in the sunlight to grow. Note
the greenish color that appears after several days. Sunlight

3i6

NATURE-STUDY

is thus seen to be a condition necessary for the formation of

the green color of plants.

This green color is not due to a green liquid in the cells

of the plant, but to little green grains called chlorophyll —

leaf-green. These may be seen nicely in moss-leaves under

the compound microscope.

Make a little paste, in water, of cornstarch or wheat

flour, and add a few drops of a solution of iodine with

a little potassium iodide
* added, or of a tincture
of iodine. On the ap-
plication of this solution
the starch of the corn-
starch and flour turns
deep blue. This is a
test for starch. Test

for starch in a kernel
- . ,

of corn, in a grain of

* FIG. 1 19. Diagram of a Section of a Green Leaf .

ep., epidermis; c., cells with chlorophyll grains; i., intercel- WnCat, Or in a
lularspaces; a., air chambers ; *.>.. breathing pores. *^QW

gated leaves, such as those of the white-bordered geranium.
Boil a few minutes in water, and then soak in strong al-
cohol for several minutes. This dissolves out the chloro-
phyll. The solution with the alcohol may have to be re-
peated before the leaf is quite bleached. Now place the
leaf in the solution of iodine and potassium iodide. The
part that was green before will now turn blue, while the
former white border will remain so. This proves that
the starch was formed only in the green part of the leaf.
Starch forms where there is chlorophyll, and as a rule not
elsewhere.

Chief functions of the leaf:
Photosynthesis.
Absorption of gases.
Absorption of the sun's energy
Transpiration.

Important functions of the
leaf in common with other
plant parts:

Synthesis of proteids.

Respiration.

Digestion.

Absorbed by the leaf:
Sun's energy.
Oxygen for respiration.
Carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.

Given off from the leaf:
Oxygen from photosynthesis.
Carbon dioxide from respiration*
Water by transpiration.

Absorbed by the roots:

Oxygen.

Water.
Salts of:

Potassium.

Calcium.

Magnesium

Iron.

Nitrogen.

Sulphur.

Phosphorus.

Given off from the roots:
Carbon dioxide. Possibly in some in-
stances organic acids and enzymes.

FIG. 120. Longitudinal Diagram of a Plant.

In this diagram the dotted highway is the water conducting area, and the black highway is the area
for conduction of the food made in the leaf. The arrows indicate the direction of flow in these highways.
From Steven's " Introduction to Botany," copyright, 1902, by D. C. Heath & Company. Used by
permission.

317

3i8 NATURE-STUDY

To show that light is necessary for starch formation, and
that the chlorophyll alone is not sufficient, place a geranium
or nasturtium in a dark room or in a light-tight box for a day
or so. Then test as before and no starch will be found in
the leaves.

These experiments show that starch is formed in the green
parts of plants, and in the presence of sunlight. This shows
the great importance of sunlight to plants. Why do we
place house-plants in the window? Plants like geraniums
placed in dark or shady places would be in a starving con-
dition. Explain.

The leaf absorbs carbonic acid gas from the air, and water
is brought to it from the root. Out of these substances the
leaf cells make the starch. The leaf, therefore, is a very
important organ to the plant. The explanation of starch
formation as it takes place in the leaf need not be given in
the grades. Let it be sufficient to show that the leaf does
make starch. A figurative explanation may, however, be
given in this manner: "The leaf is a mill where the raw
materials taken in by the plant are ground and prepared.
The raw materials are water and carbon dioxide. The
millstones are the chlorophyll grains, and the power that
turns them is the sunlight." The figure is very apt.

The starch is used by the plant as food, and is readily
converted into sugar, and vice versa. Thus we have the
sugar in sugar cane and fruit. By the addition of the mineral
salts (nitrates, potash, lime salts, phosphates, etc.) taken in
by the roots, other food substances (proteids) are made by
the plant.

Sometimes the food is not all used up immediately by the
plant but is stored for a time as a reserve. Thus we find

LESSONS WITH 'PLANTS

starch in tubers, roots, root-stalks, and other parts as a
reserve supply. Seeds also contain reserve food, sometimes
in the form of starch as in grains, sometimes in the form of
oils as in many nuts, and in other forms. It is chiefly in
this form that man utilizes the food
obtained from plants.

As a by-product in starch-making,
plants give off oxygen gas. They
absorb for their food the carbon di-
oxide which is harmful to animals,
and return to the air the oxygen which
the latter need. Animals, on the other
hand, in breathing give off carbon
dioxide.

The oxygen given off by plants
during starch-making may be shown
by the following pretty experiment :

Collect a mass of green pond scum
or other water plants. Place in an
aquarium in a sunny window. Set a
glass funnel over the plants in the water, and over the tube of
the funnel slip an inverted test-tube filled with water. Let
stand several days and note that the bubbles of gas given off
from the green plants rise into the test-tube. After a consid-
erable quantity has collected, the tube may be removed care-
fully, closing the opening with the thumb to prevent the
escape of the gas. Then with a glowing taper the gas may
be tested. If the taper bursts into a flame when it is thrust
into the test-tube the gas is oxygen.

The above experiments on the function of a leaf may be
performed in any of the grammar grades; even in the sixth

FIG. 121. Giving off Oxygen.

32o NATURE-STUDY

grade of the intermediate the children will appreciate much
of their meaning. In the primary grades also a little can
be done to show the children the necessity of leaves to the
plant, and the need of sunshine to make it grow. Cut off
the leaves as they appear on a plant and note the effect on
the growth. Place a plant in the dark for several weeks,
and note then its sickly, spindling condition. Plants need
sunshine as much as little children.

Primary children may also collect leaves of different
forms, study their shapes and venation, and make draw-
ings of them. In the autumn let them gather colored leaves
and paint them.

The relation of plants to light is seen also in their attempt
to arrange their branches and leaves so as to give all an equal
chance at the light. Go out on the school lawn and note
the beautiful arrangement of the leaves of a dandelion or
common plantain. They are arranged in rosettes. Examine
the twigs of maple, horse-chestnut, and other trees, and
you will see that in general they grow so that they do not
shade each other. Go into the forest or a thick grove and
note how on account of the lack of light the lower branches
of the trees are weak and dying. Note that plants which have
plenty of light do not grow so tall and slender as those that
grow in the shade. In the shade, plants grow tall in trying
to reach up to the light. This is also seen in trees. Com-
pare a maple or pine that has grown in the open with one
grown in a dense forest where it was shaded by its neighbors.

MODIFIED LEAVES: Sometimes the leaves of plants are
modified for secondary functions. For example, the pitcher
plants have curious hollow leaves that generally contain
some water into which insects fall and drown. The plant

LESSONS WITH PLANTS 321

absorbs the solution of their decayed bodies. These plants
grow in tamarack swamps. Dig up some of them, plant in
a pot, and grow in the school. They are very pretty and
interesting.

The sweet pea, common peas, and vetches have the mid-
rib of the leaves modified into long tendrils that are sensitive
to touch. When they reach a support they curl around it
and hold the plant up. The common thistle has its leaves
covered with spines. A similar thing is seen in many other
plants, notably in the Russian "thistle." Bud scales are
also modified leaves, serving a special protective purpose.
The bud scales on the lilac become true leaves.

Leaves sometimes function as storehouses of food. This
is seen in the thickened bases of the leaves of an onion.

The older children can understand that the flower parts,
the floral envelopes, and even the stamens and pistils are
simply modified leaves. Occasionally "green" flowers
appear on roses and other plants, which show plainly the
reversion of some floral structure to the green leaf -like state.
The calyx generally retains its green and leafy appearance.

The Flower

The flower is the most beautiful and wonderful organ of
a plant. It is also very important in that through it the
plant reproduces itself. The flower should be regarded as
the seed maker. Generally it is simply thought of as some-
thing fragrant and beautiful, and the other fact is lost sight
of. A child cannot get the full meaning of the complex
process of seed formation, but he can and should know
in a general way what a flower is for.

One of the earliest spring flowers is the Dwarf Trillium

322 NATURE-STUDY

growing in rich moist woods. Pull the plants up by the
roots and observe that they spring from a rounded, bud-
like rootstalk. This was formed last summer and filled
with a store of food that the plant might make an early start
in the spring. There are three large leaves in a circle around
the stem just below the flower. These will have to make
the starch with which next year's rootstalk is to be filled.

FIG. 122. Wake Robin or Dwarf Trillium.

Look at the flower. On the under side and surrounding
it are three green, leaf-like parts. These are the sepals.
Taken together they are called the calyx, which means cup.
This cup-like appearance of the calyx is seen better in some
other flowers, as, for example, in the morning-glory. Next
within are three white parts, shaped like the sepals. These
are called the petals, and all together they form the corolla,
meaning crown. The corolla is more crown-like and golden
in some other flowers, as, for example, the buttercup. In-

LESSONS WITH 'PLANTS

323

side the corolla are six knobbed stalks with yellow heads.
These are the stamens, and the knobs on the top are anthers.
The anthers are split open along the sides and a yellow
powder may be seen crumbling out. This powder is called
pollen and consists of minute grains. Bees like to eat it and
carry it away to their hives. In the centre of the flower is

FIG 123. The Pasque Flower or Hairy Anemone.
(One of the very earliest.)

still another structure, shaped like an angled cone, greenish
in color, and with three little projections on top. The whole
thing is called the pistil. The swollen lower part is the
ovary, and the slender projections on top are called stigmas.
The ovary contains the rudimentary seeds. If it is cut
across the middle the ovules or young seeds will be seen in
three cavities. These ovules will not develop into seeds
unless the pollen from this or some other trillium flower falls
upon the stigma of this pistil. Pollen is an essential thing

324 NATURE-STUDY

in seed formation. When the flower goes to seed the pretty
corolla fades and withers, and the stamens also fall off. The
ovary grows larger and changes into a fleshy red fruit that
contains the ripe seeds.

Make a large diagram on the black-board to show the
flower plan. Also make enlarged views of the stamens,
pistil, and section of the ovary. Let the children draw simi-
lar diagrams after a study of the flower.

Dig up a lot of budding-plants and plant them in a dish.
They will open in the school-room and make a pretty dis-
play.

The above is a suggestion for the method of studying a
plant in general, and a typical flower in particular. After
a typical, perfect flower has been studied take up modified,
irregular, and imperfect flowers. These should be studied
with reference always to their peculiar adaptations. In
many flowers the sepals grow together, and the petals unite to
form a tubular corolla. In many the number of stamens
is either increased or reduced, and their shapes vary much.
There may be only one or several pistils in a flower. Some-
times they may unite into a single compound pistil, though
the number that united may generally still be seen by out-
side grooves or by cutting across the ovary and counting the
cells or cavities. The stigmas vary greatly in appearance.
Sometimes they are borne at the ends of long slender stems
called styles. In many flowers the sepals or petals are
irregular or unsymmetrical in shape. These modifications
are generally an adaptation to compel visiting insects to
enter the flower in a certain way, and thereby come in con-
tact with the stamens and pistils, bringing about cross-
pollination, considered below. Sometimes either the calyx

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

325

or the corolla, or both, are missing. Sometimes flowers have
stamens and no pistils and vice versa. This also is a device
for cross-pollination. Types of flowers illustrating these
modifications in structure should be shown.

Let primary children study flowers chiefly with an aesthetic
interest. Xeach them to recognize the parts of a perfect

FIG. 124. Staminate and Pistillate Flowers of a Squash Cut Open

flower. Also let them watch window or outdoor plants and
see that the flower goes to seed. The process of pollination
may be briefly studied. Watch the bees and other insects
crawling in the flowers and see how they become dusted
with pollen. Let the pupils begin to identify the common
wild flowers.

In intermediate grades other points may be taken up.
Study the floral organs more in detail, particularly the stamens

326

NATURE-STUDY

and pistils. The children should now be taught the mean-
ing of the perfume, nectar, and beautiful colors. These are

not meant for us but
primarily for the
benefit of the plant.
They attract the
passing bees, butter-
flies, and other in-
sects. The colors and
odors are simply con-
spicuous signs that
here is insect refresh-
ment to be had. The
insects in exchange,
though unconscious-
ly and unintention-
ally, of course, pay
therefor by carrying
pollen from flower
to flower. Though
there were no hu-
man beings to ap-
preciate its beauty
and fragrance, still
full many a flower
would not be born

FIG. 125. Sweet Pea.

to blush unseen and

waste its sweetness upon the desert air, if it did attract
insects that would cause cross-pollination. Let the chil-
dren examine more closely the way insects enter flowers and
how they carry the pollen to other flowers. Consider a few

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

327

simple cases of cross-pollination, such as the sweet pea,
the morning-glory, sweet clover, etc. Try this experiment:
Tie over a sweet pea bud or a red clover head a paper
or muslin bag. The flower
so treated will not form
seeds. In many flowers
there is provision, however,
for the pollen to come in
contact with the stigma of
the same flower. Self-pol-
lination thus takes place
and seeds will form. A
better experiment is this:
Select some flowers that
have pistillate and stami-
nate flowers separate, where
self-pollination is impossi-
ble. The squash, pumpkin
or cucumber is very good
for this. Cover the pistil-
late flower so insects can-
not get at the stigmas, and
no seeds or fruit will form.
This will bring out well
the importance of the sta-
mens and pistil and also of the process of pollination. Re-
fer to the subject of cross-pollination as treated under In-
sects, page 224.

In these grades also a simple study may be made of another
method of pollination, namely, by the wind. Get the pen-
dulous catkins of cottonwood and butternut, the staminate

FIG. 126. Pollination in Sweet Pea.

328

NATURE-STUDY

catkins of pines, or the drooping staminate flower clusters
of the boxelder or hard maple. If they are not quite ripe
place them in water for a few days. Then the anthers will
be open and the slightest jarring of the branches will shake
out great clouds of fine, yellow pollen which floats upon the
air. Make a study in a general way of these plants, noting

FIG. 127. Development of Sweet Pea Flower into Fruit.

the way pollination is brought about. As a rule these flow-
ers are not pretty, yet very interesting on close examination.
The study of the details of structure of these flowers may be de-
ferred to higher grades. But here the fact should be rec-
ognized that these peculiar flower clusters produce an abun-
dance of very light and dry pollen which the wind can shake
out and carry away. Note also the large and often hairy
stigmas of the pistil, and see how well they are adapted for
catching the pollen as it drifts by.

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

329

Later in the summer, grasses should be studied. It will
be seen that here also the wind is the chief agent in pollina-
tion.

Have the children realize that trees, grasses, and weeds
are also "flowers."

In grammar grades still more may be done with the study

of flowers and r ..

pollination. Pe-
culiar modifica-
tions of flower
structure to en-
sure cross-polli-
nation should be
considered, such
as the lady's-
slipper, Jack-in-
the- pulpit, and
other flowers.
Here we can re-
fer to the pur-
pose of cross-
pollination; namely, that by it rather than by self-pollination
larger and better seed, and consequently better and stronger
offspring, are produced. Most plants seem to try to effect
cross-pollination, while many, like the plants that have only
stamens or only pistils in a flower, make self-pollination
impossible.

Let the pupils try some experiments in pollinating flowers by
hand . With a small water-color brush or a feather take off some
pollen from a flower and transfer it to another flower of the
same kind. Pollinate in this way differently colored varieties

FIG. 128.

Pistillate and Staminate Flowers from Separate
Boxelder Trees.

33°

NATURE-STUDY

of geraniums, sweet peas, pansies, tomatoes, corn, etc.
In this way seed will be formed which, if properly ripened,
will produce plants that have the combined or blended char-
acteristics of the parents. This is called making hybrids.

Many choice flowers
in greenhouses and
gardens and new va-
rieties of fruit are
thus formed by the
cross-pollination of
nearly related, but
different, plants.

These pupils are
old enough to make
a study of the uni-
sexual flowers of
trees. Begin with
the willows and cot-
tonwoods. These
come out early in
the spring before the

FIG. I29. Jack-in-the-pulpit. fc^ appean The

flowers are quite small, and are arranged in long drooping
clusters, which are called catkins. On some trees there
are only staminate catkins, and on others only pistillate.
The staminate flowers consist each of a little scale, under
which are borne a number of short stamens. At first
the scales are closely overlapping, but as the flowers ma-
ture the scales separate, and the stamens with their dust-
like pollen appear. This is wafted to the pistillate flowers
on other trees. The pistillate flowers similarly consist of

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

a scale and large pistil. These flowers, compared with a
flower like a rose, are very incomplete, yet they have the essen-
tial things necessary for seed making. The pistillate cat-
kins become long clusters of green berry-like fruit. Later in
summer the pods ripen, become papery in texture, and final-
ly split open, let-
ting out a mass
of down-covered
seed which floats
away.

Compare with
these the flow-
ers of trees like
the butternuts,
walnuts, and
oaks. These have
staminate flow-
ers very similar
to those of the
willows and cot-
tonwoods, but in
these the pistillate flowers are not in catkins, but are in clusters
of a few or singly, and nearly sessile on the twig. They are,
however, rudimentary in structure and do not possess a
corolla or stamens. The acorns (ripe ovaries) are set in a
scaly cup. Some acorns, like those of the red oak, require
two years for ripening. Hence we find on the fruiting
branches pistillate flowers and also year-old acorns, but on
wood of different years.

Study the flowers of boxelders. These are not in catkins
but in clusters and drooping masses, each floweret on a sep-

FIG. 130 Staminate Catkins of Cottonwood.
(Pollen carried by wind.)

332

NATURE-STUDY

arate peduncle. The pistillate flowers have on the ovary
curious expansions, which later develop into large wings for
aiding in the distribution of the fruit.

The flowers of many other trees are worthy of study.
Many are really very pretty when closely examined. Elm,
ash, birch, basswood, and the conifers are all generally dis-
regarded in na-
ture-study, but
should not be
neglected. Pu-
pils are else apt
to forget that
trees with such
inconspicuous
flowers are true
flowering plants.
Of course, such

FIG. 131. Pistillate Flowers of Cottonwood. trCCS clS have

large, showy flowers will be studied anyway, as the apple,
plum, cherry, hawthorn, locust, horse-chestnut, etc.

In the autumn wild asters, wild sunflowers, coneflowers,
coreopsis, golden rods, blazing stars, eupatories, thistles, and
still some belated dandelions are in bloom. They consti-
tute the chief glory of the early autumn in the fields, mead-
ows, waysides, and wood clearings. In our gardens we
have at this time cultivated asters, zinnias, dahlias, bache-
lor's-buttons, marguerites, daisies, gaillardias, cosmos, cal-
liopsis, and marigold. The golden-glows and common
tall sunflowers have probably gone to seed. All these
plants belong to a great family called the Composites, which
the pupils of the upper grades should not only learn

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

333

to recognize but understand
way.

The common sunflower is
the structure of com-
posites. A few belated
specimens may still be
found in the fall when
school begins. But the
single garden zinnias,
and single asters, the
wild sunflowers, and the
daisies will do very well.
At first thought one
would think that what
is generally called a sun
"flower" is really a sin-
gle flower, but closer ex-
amination will reveal
the fact that this is an
aggregation of hundreds
of very small flowers
massed together in a
flat head. Note first the

the structure of in a general
perhaps the best for teaching

FIG. 132. Pussy-willows.
(The pussies are flower buds.)

green calyx-like leafy
scales on the outside of
the whole. This is not a true calyx, but is called an in-
volucre. Note how the scales are in several overlapping
rows. Next within the green involucre comes a circle of
flat, ribbon or strap-shaped, colored parts that are often
wrongly called petals. They are not petals, but whole flow-
ers. Pull out some of these flowers. Note that the flat

334

NATURE-STUDY

band is rolled up and grown together at the lower end into
a little tube. In fact, the band may be considered a little
tubular corolla like the morning-glory slit open on one
side nearly to the base. In the sunflower and many other
such composites these outer strap-shaped, or ray, flowers,
as they are called, are merely for show, as they have neither

pistil nor sta-
mens, and there-
fore do not form
seed. But in the
daisy, zinnia, and
many other flow-
ers they are not
sterile, but form
seeds. In the
central part of
the head are
other flowerSj
small and tubu-
lar, with both
stamens and pis-
tils which pro-
duce seeds. Note the two branched stigma projecting from
the centre of the little flower. Tear the corolla open and
note the circle of brown or yellow stamens surrounding the
style. The stamens open on the inside, and the style pushes
out the pollen as it grows out of the corolla; but it is not
self-fertilized thereby because it is not yet ripe or ready for
pollination.

The "flowers" of the sunflower, aster, daisy, and other
similar composite are thus seen to be composed of a large

FIG. 133. Sunflower.

(Not a single flower, but a head or cluster of many small flowers.)

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

335

number of small flowers closely grouped together in a flat
head. On account of this structure the head is called a
composite flower. This grouping is a device to make more
of a show than if the little flowers were scattered separately

FIG. 134.

A section of a sunflower showing- involucre bracts, rayflowers, and small tubular flowers standing-
on the flat receptacle. The central flowers are still closed. Then come several showing stamens,
and the outer ones have gone to seed.

over the plants. Thus insects are more apt to be drawn to
them.

The above named composites have two sorts of flowers,
the ray flowers at the margin and a centre of tubular flowers.
But there are modifications of this type. Some composites,
like the dandelion and double aster, chrysanthemum, daisy,
and zinnia, have only strap-shaped flowers throughout the

336

NATURE-STUDY

head. On the other hand, the thistle and bachelor's-but-
ton have only the tubular flowers. Compare these with
the sunflower.

The dandelion and the thistle and other composites have
hit upon a very ingenious device for scattering the seed, that

is, by producing silken para-
chutes attached to the seed.
Examine a dandelion or
thistle head gone to seed.
Blow off the downy mass
from the dandelion and see
how the "seeds" float away
in the air by means of the
little umbrella-shaped para-
chute.

Go out into the fields
and roadsides and into the
flower gardens with the
class and pick out the com-
posites. Also note such as
FIG. 135- Thistle. 1^^ the parachute device

for scattering the fruit. Some, like the beggar 's-ticks (pitch-
forks), form spurs at the top of the fruits, with which they
stick to the clothes of man or the fur of animals. Note the
bees and butterflies at work pollinating the composites.

Studying the Common Flowering Plants

There is a peculiar pleasure in roaming about the fields
and woods searching for wild flowers. Who does not de-
light at the sight of the first anemone or bloodroot in spring ?
To find a pink lady's-slipper or the Indian-pipe gives one

LESSONS WITH PLANTS 337

the feeling of the discoverer of a rare treasure. This pleas-
ure in plants increases as our knowledge of, and familiarity
with, them grow; most people know the names and habits
of but very few plants. If a systematic study were made
of our common, wild, flowering plants in our schools this would
not be the case. Suppose the pupils were required to learn
the names of, say, ten new plants each year, then by the time
they passed through the eight grades of the common school
they would know at least eighty plants, and this number
could be easily increased.

In the lower grades it is stimulating to observation to
have a flower calendar in the spring. This should give the
dates when the flowers open and where they are found, that
is, in what kind of places. Go out with the children and
study the flowers where they grow, and gather some for
indoor study of the structure. The children should learn to
associate each plant with the habitat or kind of place in which
it lives.

The chief purpose of the study of the common flowers is
to be able to identify them. But many other general lessons
may be taught with them, as to the function of typical organs
and their modifications, as to the adaptation of the plant to
its habitat or its mode of life, as to methods of pollination
and the adaptation of plants to insects, also the means of
seed dispersal, and the uses or harmfulness of the plant.
Let these points be kept in mind in the study of each plant.
It is not at all necessary that each point should be discussed
with every new plant, but any notable characteristic in these
respects should be observed and discussed. In this way the
children will get much more than simply the name of the
plant; they will learn a good deal about plant life in general.

338 NATURE-STUDY

Use pictures and black-board diagrams to illustrate the
structure. In the upper grades a magnifying glass should be
employed, and occasionally the compound microscope may be
used to good advantage. There should be plenty of material
for illustration. The whole plant, root and all, should be
brought in. In case the plant is rather rare and is one of
our choice wild flowers, it would not be right to gather too
many specimens or to destroy the root.

There has been a good deal of harm done in the name
of science. In the more densely settled regions of our country,
in the neighborhood of cities, our native wild flowers are suf-
fering great destruction. Much of this is due, no doubt, to
the collecting of plants for school study and for herbaria.
In a course of nature-study it is not necessary to press plants,
unless it be for a school herbarium. The wild flowers should
not be ruthlessly destroyed.

In studying "flowers" do not limit yourself to the con-
spicuously colored and showy kinds, but include others
equally wonderful and instructive, such as trees, grasses, and
weeds. Many people make a distinction between these and
"flowers." But all of them are flowering plants.

Again, do not forget to study the late summer and autumn
flowers, mainly composed of the composites.

Movements oj Plants

Plants are so much regarded as passive things that it is
well to show that they are fairly active and can actually move.
The larger and higher types, of course, cannot move from
place to place, but that is precisely what many microscopic
plants can do. In the higher grades a drop of water con-
taining some diatoms, found in the sediment of brooks and

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

339

ditches, may be shown with the compound miscroscope.
These little unicellular plants have the power of locomotion.
On moist earth in ditches there is often a coating of bluish-
green algae, the Oscillatoria, which also have some power
of movement. There are
spore-cells set free by
many plants that swim
actively about, and are
reproductive devices.

Though the larger
plants may not move
about, yet they can move
their various parts. A
few observations on
growing plants will show
them to be thoroughly
alive and active.

In a glass germinator
(see p. 300) notice how
the roots of seedlings
grow down. Invert the
germinator. Note that
in a day or so the roots
have turned and now grow downward again,
know enough to grow down.

Note also how a rootlet bends away from and around an
obstruction, such as a pebble placed in its course. The
root is sensitive to touch and responds by a curvature.

Plant a sunflower or other seedling in the drain hole of a
small flowerpot full of earth and hang it up somewhere. Note
that soon the stem curves upward. The same may be shown

FIG. 136. Squash Seedling Laid on its Side has
Straightened up Again.

They seem to

340

NATURE-STUDY

by simply laying a pot of young plants on its side. Grain
that has been blown down or lodged in the fields will often,
if not too ripe, grow upward again.

Plants generally turn toward the light. Set a box of seed-
lings in the window. In a very short time, if the light is
strong, the plants will all be bending toward the light. Turn

FIG. 137. Plants Turning Toward the Light.
( Squash seedlings.)

the box around and see how long it is before the plants have
again bent toward the light.

Most plants hold their leaves toward the light and tend
to grow in that direction. Notice this in the geraniums,
nasturtiums, and other window plants. Why do people turn
their window plants around occasionally?

The sunflower has apparently a special fondness for the
sun. Observe the top of a young plant outdoors at dif-
ferent times in the day, and see how the head follows the
sun in its course.

Visit the edge of a grove or forest. Note how the outer

LESSONS WITH PLANTS 341

trees lean toward the lighter side. This is an effect of one-
sided illumination.

Many plants assume definite attitudes during the night,
as if they went to sleep. Note the position of the leaves of a
young bean exposed to the light. Compare with another
kept in the dark for a number of hours. In the dark the
leaflets are more or less folded down and together and held
closer to the stem. The oxalis, sweet clover, and other
plants have similar habits.

Many flowers open and shut under the influence of light
and darkness. We all know that the morning-glory opens
early in the morning. The dandelion " wakens with the
dawn." The four-o'clock remains shut until late in the af-
ternoon.

The opening and closing of flowers may be partly due to
the light and darkness, but not entirely so. Some plants
seem to be regulated by the time of flight of the insects de-
pended upon for pollination. Some flowers that open only
at night are pollinated by moths and other nocturnal insects.

Instead of closing at night, many flowers simply droop
or nod, and they do this also in the daytime to keep out the
rain.

Some plants are excellent climbers. Some, like the peas,
hold themselves to their support by means of tendrils.
These are sensitive to the touch, and when they feel the
support as they wave around in the air in search for it,
will quickly curl around it. Other interesting tendrils are
those of the wild cucumber and of the Virginia creeper or
woodbine. One variety of the woodbine, the "self-clinging"
kind, has tendrils that, as soon as they touch the support,
spread out at the tip into little sucker disks that attach

342

NATURE-STUDY

themselves firmly. The climbing nasturtium has no ten-
drils, but its long leaf-stalks twist themselves about the
support and hold up the plant.

The morning-glory, the hop, and other
twining plants should be observed as
they climb on their supports. A young
morning-glory may be seen to apparently
feel around for something to climb upon.
When it touches such a support, as it
swings around with its tip, it seems to
feel, and then grows spirally around the
same.

The extreme of sensitiveness in plants
may be seen in the plant very properly
called the sensitive plant. This may be
obtained at the greenhouses, or raised
from the seed. Slightly touching one of
the leaflets will cause it and the other
leaflets in the compound leaf to fold to-
gether against the midrib. By greater
agitation the whole plant may be made
to fold up.

Plant Distribution and Seed Dispersal

Plants have their wanderings and mi-
FIG. 138. Moming-giory. grations just as the races of men. That
many plants produce motile spores, and that . some algae
have the power of locomotion, has been mentioned. But
the higher plants, though they may remain fixed as individ-
uals, still make extensive wanderings as a race or species.
The races of man have become distributed over nearly

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

343

the whole earth. This migration may have been due to
circumstances, such as the unfavorable conditions of life in
the old home, the encroachment of more powerful neigh-
boring races, or the attraction of a region affording better
living, more freedom, etc. In many communities the con-

FIG. 139. Sensitive Plant.

( The leaf at the left was touched and was slowly closing during the exposure of the
negative. Hence the blurring.)

ditions for making a living become intolerable or very diffi-
cult. Then the younger generations go to "pastures new."
Many of them are assisted by their parents financially and
by education to make this change. Generally the old peo-
ple cannot leave their homes and finally die there. Thus a
stock of people may die out -in one place and appear again
in another.

344 NATURE-STUDY

Much the same thing is seen in plants. There is a mi-
gration of species which is accomplished in many inter-
esting ways. Generally the parent plants give their chil-
dren a good "send off" and a travelling equipment that
enables them to make the journey. Many provide also a

FIG. 140. A Neglected Corner is a Good Place for the Study of Seed Dispersal.

store of food upon which the young plant may make a start
in life.

A simple way of distribution is by the formation of runners,
suckers, stolons, rootstalks, tubers, bulbs, and roots. These
have already been referred to as means for propagation.

Many of the lower plants multiply and are distributed by
what are called spores. These are small cells set free, often
in very great numbers, which float in the air or actually
swim in the water. Bacteria, algae, fungi, seaweeds, mosses,

LESSONS WITH PLANTS 34$

and ferns possess spores. Being so small and light, spores
float great distances with the wind, and it is thus that the

FIG. 141. Pretty Seed Pods.
(" Butterprint " weed.)

germs of disease, of decay, of fermentation, the mosses and
lichens, the fungi, and the ferns are so widely scattered.
Of greater interest are the devices for seed dispersal. The

346

NATURE-STUDY

simplest treatment of the seed by the parent is to let it
fall upon the ground and trust that it will roll away or be
blown or washed farther. But in this way the young plants
are apt to come up too thickly at the base of the parent plant
and thus choke each other. Some plants, however, have
pods or capsules arranged in such a manner that the seeds
cannot drop out directly, but are cast out to some distance

FiG. 142. Russian " Thistle " — A Tumble Weed.

by the swaying of the elastic stem of the plant. This is seen
in the garden pinks and poppies.

The wind is the chief agency in seed dispersal for a great
variety of plants. The Russian " thistle," the tumbleweed,
and others break off as a whole close to the root and are
carried by the wind over the hills and plains, scattering hun-
dreds of seeds at every bound. This mode of dispersal
accounts for the rapid spread of the Russian thistle since its
introduction into this country a few years ago. Examine

LESSONS WITH 1>LANTS

347

a ripe Russian thistle and note how it rolls before the wind.
Note the numerous seeds in the axils of the leaves.

The tickle grass (panic grass, old witch's broom) breaks
off its feathery heads, which are carried away by the breezes.

In many plants the fruit is provided with special flying
or soaring devices. This is well seen in our basswood, elm,
boxelder, maples, ash, and in parsley and dock. Throw into

FIG. 143. The Wing Fruit of the Elm.

the air some of these fruits and see how easily they sail. Some,
like the maple and basswood fruits, spin while drifting through
the air. This helps to sustain them longer.

Some plants, like the clovers, the hop, blue beach, iron-
wood, and bladder-nut, have a bladdery envelope around
their fruit as a sailing device.

But perhaps the prettiest and neatest arrangement for
sailing is found in the down of many composite plants. The
common dandelion, asters, goldenrods, and thistles have

343

NATURE-STUDY

beautiful downy parachutes, which are extensions and
modifications of the calyx of the little separate flowers.
The calyx in its free upper portion is split up into fine fibres
that constitute the parachute. This carries away more than

a seed. It is a seed plus a
close fitting ovary and sur-
rounding calyx. Hence
it is not merely a seed,
but a fruit. Provided
with such an excellent
device it is no wonder
that the composites are
so widely dispersed and
so abundant. Witness the
rapid covering of a burnt-
over area with the fire-
weed (horseweed).

Some of the grasses and
sedges also have similar
silken sails. So have the
cat-tails. The Pennsyl-
vania anemone has its
fruit covered all over with

FIG. 144. Dandelion Gone to Seed. goft d()wn iQ enable ft iQ

float on the air. The fruit of the hairy anemone (pasque
flower) and the wild clematis (virgin's-bower) has long hairy
tails for the same purpose.

But in many instances the seed, and not the whole fruit,
is provided with wings for dispersal. The milkweed seed
illustrates this well. Each has a tuft of silk. So, too, our
useful cotton is covered with soft fibres intended for aiding

LESSONS WITH ^LANTS 349

in dispersal. We have made use of them in another way.
Cottonwoods, poplars, and willows have fruit with similar
cotton-covered seeds. In summer we can often see the air
full of the floating seeds of the cottonwood, and they cover
the earth like snow under the trees. Where a fire has de-
stroyed the pines or other forests, these trees with cottony
seeds, poplars especially, quickly reclaim the region.

The fruit and seeds of the catalpa are interesting. The
fruit is a long pod, inside which are many flat seeds with
each end fringed with a sail or wing.

Pines and other conifers have a similar plan. Their seeds
lie on the inner face of the scales of the cones. When the
cone is ripe the scales spread apart and the seeds loosen from
the scale, taking with them a thin membranous wing for
flying.

Water is another agent of seed distribution. Rains and
running streams carry the seeds of many plants. The seeds
of the knotweed (Polygonum) are provided with bladdery
wings that enable them to float. Sometimes we see the pink
knotweed occupying the whole length of a roadside ditch.
That is because a few plants originally scattered their seeds
upon the water which carried them along. Many other gut-
ter weeds are distributed in like manner.

The seeds of willows and cottonwoods swim well and lodge
along the banks of rivers and the shores of lakes. That is
one reason why we find these trees in such locations.

The aquatic plants, of course, depend chiefly upon water
currents for the scattering of their seeds.

Animals, though generally unwittingly, are great agents
for the dispersal of seeds. All burs are intended to be carried
away by animals. These burs are the fruits of plants and

350

NATURE-STUDY

are covered with spines, recurved hooks, etc. to catch into
the fur of animals and the garments of people. Plants with
burs are found abundantly where animals go, in the past-
ures, along the fences and roadsides, around barns. There

we find cocklebur, bur-
dock, sandbur, pitch-
forks, beggar's-lice, tick-
trefoil, etc. Even the
barbs or beards of
grasses and grains act
like burs. This is well
seen in barley and in
the squirrel -tail grass.
In the latter each grain
is provided with several
long, slender, barbed
awns. When the head
is ripe it breaks up into
the separate grains.
Passing animals catch
the barbed awns and the
seed is scattered. The
wind, however, may
blow these light grains, the barbs acting as sails. Along
almost every country lane and the roadways leading from
the cities into the country we may see these bur weeds migrat-
ing. The cattle, sheep, horses, dogs, and men passing along
assist them on the way. Burs have learned the trick of steal-
ing rides.

Man has carried the seeds of cultivated plants from one
end of the globe to the other. Wherever he epes he takes

FIG. 145. Cocklebur.

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

with him such food and other useful plants as can be raised
in the new region to which he moves. Thus wheat and other
grains have been brought westward from the cradle of civiliza-
tion in Central Asia, and our Indian corn, potato, and to-
bacco have been carried to the eastern hemisphere.

But with the intentional introduction of useful plants the

\

FIG. 146. The Bright Scarlet Fruit of the Waahoo Remains on the Bushes
Long after the Leaves have Fallen and thus Attracts the Birds.

seeds of harmful weeds have also been brought in. Thus
the Russian "thistle" was brought over from Russia with
some seed wheat. Many other weeds such as daisy, dan-
delion, hemp, plantain, and corn-cockle were brought from
Europe, generally unintentionally.

Water-fowl no doubt aid in the distribution of many marsh
and water-plants. The wild rice, for example, is carried on
the feet, bills, plumage, in the crops of ducks, geese, and other
water-fowl, and is scattered on their wanderings.

352

NATURE-STUDY

The rosy-cheeked apple, the purple grape, and the luscious
cherry all are excellent eating — all but the seeds or pits.
These we throw away. Perhaps they will spring up some-
where.

The attractive colors, the fragrance, the delicious flavor,
the edible pulp are all intended to attract animals to eat the

fruit. The seeds are either
not eaten or pass through the
digestive tract uninjured.
Birds, especially, help to dis-
seminate seeds in this way.
Along fences where birds are
apt to rest, we find grape-
vines, gooseberry, raspberry,
blackberry, elder, sumach,
hawthorn, red cedars, and
other vines, trees, and shrubs
that bear fruit. Squirrels and
other animals also scatter fruit
seeds and nuts. Many squir-
rels have a way of burying acorns and walnuts either
singly or in large piles. Some of these are pretty sure to
germinate.

The burning-bush or waahoo is an interesting illustration
of a plant dependent upon birds for scattering its seed. In
the fall the bright red fruit remains on the bushes long after
the leaves have fallen off. This makes the fruit all the more
conspicuous.

There are a few plants that do not rely upon the accidental
agency of wind, water, or animals to scatter their seeds.
They have devices of their own for forcibly throwing the

FIG. 147. Explosive Pods.
( Sweet Pea and Balsam.)

LESSONS WITH PLANTS 353

seeds to a distance. The sweet pea when ripe splits open
and quickly curls the two halves of the pod into spirals,
thereby snapping off the seeds. The pansy does a similar
thing. Other plants also have such methods for snapping
out the seed.

The common garden balsam and its wild cousin the touch-
me-not have seed pods that when ripe and slightly touched
split up into spiral parts, thereby throwing the seeds some
distance.

Who will say that plants are uninteresting and stupid
things ?

Grasses and Cereals

Teach the pupils that grasses and grains are flowering
plants. Let them bring early in summer, timothy, wild
rye, June grass, and any grains that happen to be in flower.
With a magnifying glass and with diagrams, study briefly
the structure of a grass flower. Note that the more showy
parts of flowers in other plants are here replaced by incon-
spicuous green bracts. Generally the anther filaments are
slender and long, so that the anthers hang -out of the flower
and shake in the wind. Similarly the stigmas of grass flowers
are long and feathery, so as to catch the pollen which is
brought to them by the wind. The flowers of grasses are
small and are generally clustered together in heads or
spikes. Note the general appearance and growth of vari-
ous grasses. Note the hollow stems, the solid joints, and
the slender clasping leaves. Many grasses have large root-
stalks.

Though it may be impossible to name all, it is instructive
to collect as many different kinds of grasses as can be found

354

NATURE-STUDY

in a neighborhood. It will show the great variety there is.
In the meadows and pastures are June grass, timothy, red

top, bent grass, blue joint, and
on the western prairies the buf-
falo grass, all valuable fodder.
Millet is often sown in the fields
for fodder. In our northern
swamps and lake and river bor-
ders is wild rice. Some grasses
are considered more as weeds:
Squirrel-tail, old-witch's grass,
wild rye, and sand bur are road-
side weeds. Pigeon grass, green
foxtail, and quack grass are
common in the fields and else-
where. Barnyard grass is tall
and coarse, growing around
barnyards and rich, low places.
The lawns are made unsightly
in midsummer by the low,
spreading crab grass.

The cereals should be studied
from the botanical as well as
from the commercial standpoint.
Compare them with the grasses
and it will be seen that they have the narrow, clasping
leaves, the hollow stems, the solid joints and, also, the flow-
ers of grasses. In fact they are grasses, cultivated for their
seeds. Even our Indian-corn or maize, sorghum, sugar
cane, and the bamboo are grasses.

A good time to study grains is in the fall. It may be

FIG. 148. Timothy Grass in Flower.
(Notice the long pendulous stamens.)

LESSONS WITH PLANTS

355

possible to find some belated plants still in

flower. If so, the study of the flower will

prove very interesting. Note the scaly floral

envelopes, the feathery stigmas, and the

pendulous anthers. Like the grasses the
grains are wind polli-
nated.

Make a brief com-
parative study of the
botanical features of
the different common
grains, including rice.
Their commercial as-
pects can be taken up
in the geographical
work, but here is a
good chance for corre-
lation. Refer to the or- FlG- I49' GrassFlower-
igin of grains and their cultivation in an-
cient times, in Babylonia and Egypt. In
all civilized nations the cereals are the
staff of life.

Study the wild rice of our northern
lakes and swamps. This interesting
plant produces grain that was used by
the Indians. Aquatic birds, like the
wild ducks and geese, and the various
marsh birds feed much upon this wild
grain. The seeds of many other grasses

are eaten by many birds.

Indian corn is worthy of special study, on account of its

FIG. 150. Indian Corn.

356

NATURE-STUDY

curious inflorescence. The tassel at the top is a cluster of
staminate flowers. Note the great quantity of pollen that
shakes out when they are ripe. This is carried by the wind
to the silk, which forms the stigmas
of the pistillate flowers. The ear is
really a stalk (cob) on which are
ranged in rows the pistillate flowers,
which, however, are reduced to al-
most nothing but the pistils with the
very long stigmatic styles, the silk. This
cluster of pistillate
flowers is enclosed in
a protecting sheath of
leaves (the husks).

Sorghum, sugar cane,
and bamboo may be
studied in comparison with the other
grasses.

Usejul Plants and Their Products

A series of interesting and profitable
lessons maybe given upon the plants that
furnish us with food, clothing, and shel-
ter. These are especially appropriate
in the lower grades, and can be nicely
connected with the geography work.
Take up such plants as the grains, in-
cluding rice and Indian-corn, sorghum FIG. 152. Ear of Com,
and sugar-cane; tea, coffee, and cocoa;
fruit and vegetables; the fibre-producing cotton; flax and
hemp, and the useful woods. Illustrate with as much of

F.O. „,. a

ers from Tassel.

LESSONS WITH 'PLANTS 357

the plant as possible, pictures, the products in different
stages of preparation, etc. It would be interesting for the
children to correspond with others living in the countries
where these plants are raised, in order to make exchanges
of plants and other nature or geographical material. Hemp
and flax are easily obtained, and some of the children would
no doubt ^be interested in trying to treat these plants for the
preparation of the fibres. The cotton plant can be easily
raised in the North. It may be grown in a window box in
the school. I have several seasons started cotton in March,
transplanted to the garden, and grown the plant almost to
the maturity of the pods. If taken in before the early frosts
such plants can no doubt be ripened in the house.

It is often surprising what ignorance is shown concerning
the common woods used for furniture, buildings, and fuel.
It would be well to have the children learn to recognize the
most common kinds. A good time for this study is in the
winter, when the boys are sawing wood for the family use.
Let them cut thin sections of the different kinds of wood. Per-
haps specimens may be obtained at a furniture factory, or
other place where much wood is used. Some of this should
be polished to show the grain. Collect pine of different
kinds, fir, cedar, red and white oak, hard maple, white-elm,
ash, birch, hickory, basswood, poplar, walnut, mahogany,
rosewood, ebony, etc. Label these properly and place in
the school cabinet. Note the hardness, color, grain, elastic-
ity, strength, and other properties of the wood, and refer to
the uses to which it is put, and the special properties that
make it useful for these purposes. Such lessons would be
especially desirable in connection with manual training.

CHAPTER XVIII
TREES

TREES are the giants of the plant world. They consti-
tute a large element in the beauty and grandeur of the land-
scape, and they have always had a great influence upon
man's existence and his development.

The tree should be studied as a flowering plant. As such
it has the usual organs and functions.

Trees send their roots into the soil for anchorage and for
the soluble minerals and water. Some have large tap roots
that strike deep into the ground, the oak and butternut, for
example. Others, like the spruce and birch, let the roots run
out laterally not far beneath the surface. Hence they are
easily uprooted in storms, while the oak proverbially with-
stands the blasts. The root extent of trees is surprisingly
great, being about as large as the part of the tree above
ground.

The wood of a tree is made up of concentric layers, which
on cross section appear as rings, called annual rings. The
age of a tree may approximately be told thereby. For the
origin of annual rings see page 307. The older heart wood
and the young sap wood generally show a difference of color,
the former usually being darker. The sap wood is still
active in carrying water, and storing sap, but the heart wood,

though containing moisture, does not enter any more into

358

TREES ' 359

the life of the tree. The heart wood may decay out and the
tree will still flourish, though, of course, weakened mechan-
ically.

The bark is separated from the wood by a thin zone called
the cambium or growing layer. This makes new wood on the
inside, and new bark on the outside. In spring it is especially

FIG. 153. The Forest.

active and large and can be easily broken, as is seen when
the bark is slipped from a willow twig in making a whistle.
The bark also forms annual rings, but because of the
wearing off on the outside, it is usually not very thick. In
some trees it wears away fast and the bark remains thin.
In others, notably the cork oak, it becomes thick. On
account of the growth of the woody part of the stem, the
old bark becomes too small and is fissured in a manner
characteristic of each tree. The bark on the young trees,
and on the branches and twigs of old trees, generally has a
different color from that of the old, and is of course not so

36o

NATURE-STUDY

thick. It is also smoother. When the trees feel the touch
of spring, these thin-barked branches show a flush of color,
red, brown, yellow, etc., that produces a pleasing effect in
the yet leafless forests.

The branching of trees also is characteristic, nearly every

species possessing its pe-
culiar type or mode of
branching. The spruces
hold their branches hori-
zontally and, the upper
branches being younger
and shorter, the whole
tree has a tapering, coni-
cal appearance. The soft
maple has a short stem
which soon divides into
several long main
branches that make a
rather small angle with
each other, giving the
whole tree a fan-like ef-
fect. The hard maple
with

branches has a very different aspect,
a very characteristic form due to the way in which the
branches grow. The typical form is with several main
spreading branches which droop somewhat at the ends,
although there is another common form with more rounded
crown and irregular branching.

One ought to be able to distinguish the trees by the bark
and mode of branching alone.

FIG. 154. Red Oak.

its numerous
The elms have

TREES 361

Winter buds are best studied on trees. The subject of
buds, their protection and their development, was discussed
on page 311.

It should be remembered that the foliage of trees has the
usual function of leaves, namely, to carry on transpiration
and to make starch. (See page 313.) Place branches of
different kinds of trees, such as cherry, maple, elm, and
others, in vessels containing equal quantities of water. The
twigs should have very nearly the same leaf area. It will
be noticed that different quantities of water are absorbed,
and also that some of the twigs will be wilted sooner than
others. This illustrates in a very rough way the rate of
transpiration for the different species. The quantity of water
given off from a tree is enormous. Mr. Ward in his study
of the oak estimates that an oak may have 700,000 leaves,
and give off during the summer no less than twelve tons of
water from its foliage. This makes apparent the need of a
large root system and also of plenty of rainfall.

The leaf arrangement is interesting. There is a prevailing
symmetry and orderliness in the position of leaves. Study
their arrangement on an elm twig and a maple, and
compare.

The leaf mosaic, or arrangement, so as to cover all open
space and yet not shade other leaves, should be studied in
different trees. The effect of one-sided illumination should
be noted in trees growing at the edge of a forest, or where
shaded elsewhere.

For purposes of identification and for its beauty, study
the venation, and also the leaf form in different species. A
study of the terms: netted- veined, serrate, crenate, palmate,
etc., for definition merely, is not nature-study. If these things

362 NATURE-STUDY

are studied it should be with some application in view, as the
use of these forms in identification of trees and other plants.

The important function of the leaves of a tree being real-
ized, it will be seen why a tree should suffer from the destruc-
tion of its foliage by cankerworms, as often happens.

In the autumn, as the soil is cooled and the roots are chilled,
the flow of the sap is diminished, and the leaves are thereby
affected. The life processes are accordingly checked. Most of
the still useful substances in the cells of the leaf are absorbed
and stored in the neighboring twigs and buds. The leaf
cells are thus slowly dying, and undergo chemical changes
that destroy the chlorophyll and reveal the reds, yellows, and
other colors that were there before, or are now produced
by the processes of decay. Thus the leaf puts on the gor-
geous colors of autumn. Though there is a great variety
of hues in the forest as a wnole, yet the individual species
as a rule have certain colors peculiar to them. Sometimes
there is a gradation of colors through a certain gamut. Elms,
soft maples, and poplars put on clear yellow. Hard maples
have yellow, orange, and red. The red oak turns a choco-
late brown. Conifers, on the other hand, retain their green,
though with subdued intensity, in the winter.

It is commonly said that frost causes the bright autumn
colors. This is not strictly true. The chilling of the roots,
even without a frost, begins the work of the fairy painters.
The most brilliant colors of the forest are produced in cool,
moist weather, with no frost. A severe frost will turn the leaves
sere and brown, instead of orange, red, and yellow.

In cold latitudes the trees shed their leaves before winter.
The leaves would freeze anyway and, if not, the too great
transpiration when the roots were furnishing so little sap

TREES 363

would cause the death of the tree. So it is a good, though
to us rather pathetic, thing that the leaves fall. Leaf fall
is preceded by the formation of a corky, waterproof layer
of cells at the base of the leaf-stalk. In due time the leaf
falls off. It is not simply torn off by the wind. The corky
layer referred to serves to sever the leaf from the tree. Some
trees, like the maples and boxelder, shed their leaves early;
others, like the white oak, retain them sometimes even
till spring. Conifers as a class do not shed their leaves all
at once. They do, however, lose their needles, which are
falling more or less all the time as they mature, or are shaded
too much by the younger growth. But since they retain
most of their leaves green through the winter we call them
evergreens. The tamarack, a conifer, however, sheds its
leaves in the fall. In the warmer regions of the earth trees
other than conifers retain their leaves in winter, and only
shed them gradually like the conifers. The live oak of the
southern states is an evergreen, but its northern relatives
must shed their foliage in the fall.

Trees are flowering plants. This is very evident to all in
the case of the apple, plum, hawthorn, locust, and other
showily flowered trees. Yet the elm, oak, willow, and bass-
wood, the cedar, and the pine, all have flowers. Though
minute and inconspicuous, they are still very interesting
when closely studied, and often very beautiful. Some tree-
flowers were described on page 331.

There is a great diversity in the ways in which trees dis-
seminate their fruits or seeds. Some fruit is edible, and
animals thus scatter the seed. Some of this fruit is pulpy
and juicy, and others are hard nuts with edible kernels.
Some fruit is dry and inedible, and is then generally pro-

364

NATURE-STUDY

vided with wing-like devices for dispersal, or else the seeds
are thus provided. Elm and maple fruits have wings. The
seeds of the catalpa have feathery wings, and the cotton-
wood seeds are covered with a mass of down. Seeds and
fruits of trees also float upon the water and may be thus
scattered. Through the agency of man, orchard and shade

FIG. 155. White Elm in Flower.

trees are planted, and on our originally treeless prairies there
are now on nearly every farm planted groves.

Trees, like other plants, are dependent upon temperature,
moisture, light, and soil. Temperature is one of the chief
conditions determining the distribution of species. Conifers
as a class prefer the colder northern regions or the higher
altitudes on mountains. There are, however, southern and
lowland species. The deciduous hardwood trees also abound
chiefly in the colder temperate regions. Some, like the wil-

TREES

365

lows and birches, extend far northward. Mahogany, teak,
and the palms flourish only in the tropics. Oranges and
lemons thrive in California, but not in Minnesota. Each
species has a certain range to which it is limited principally
by the climate. On the borders of these ranges the trees do
not thrive so well. In high altitudes, or far northern lati-

FiG. 156. Cottonwoods, Soft Maples, Boxelders, Elms, and Willows Like to Grow
Along the Rivers. Their Seeds are Carried by Wind and Water.

tudes, the trees are stunted in their growth, and finally a
limit is reached beyond which trees do not grow — the tree
line.

Moisture is probably the next most potent condition de-
termining the distribution of trees. Some trees, like the
cypress of the southern swamps and our northern tamaracks,
can grow only where they can stand with their feet in the
water or water-soaked soil. In northern Minnesota one may

366 NATURE-STUDY

ride fifty miles or more through pure tamarack swamps.
The soft maple and the willows prefer wet soil, and hence
do best at the edges of streams, lakes, and sloughs. Elms
also like a rather moist soil, and grow very large in the bottom-
lands of rivers. But many trees can endure a dryer soil.
The black oak and Jack pine will grow in very dry soil, but
there is a limit even for these.

In a region where the annual rainfall is less than twenty
inches trees grow only with difficulty, or not at all. The
eastern half of the United States was originally forest covered.
But as we go west we gradually see that the Big Woods are
less luxurious and flourishing. The trees are smaller and
stand farther apart. On this dividing line are straggling
scrub oaks and poplars, and these also eventually disappear.
In the valleys of streams and on the borders of lakes, there
still manage to exist on the prairies various species of hard
woods.

The principal reason for the treeless condition of the prai-
ries is lack of rain. It is only under artificial culture
that the young trees can become established. Once well
rooted they manage to grow, though not as large as in better
watered regions.

A visit to a forest will teach us much about the life of the
individual trees, and the forest as a community of trees.
In our northern or central wooded regions we find generally
a mixed stand of hard woods, such as elms, oaks, maples,
ironwood, hickory, butternut, poplar, etc. The trees are
of all ages, from germinating seedlings to patriarchs cen-
turies old. There are mature trees with leafy crowns 50
to 100 feet high, that have won in the struggle for light.
There are younger trees in the shade of the older. Young

TREES

367

growth as a rule can endure more shade. There are also
some low species, as the blue beach, the dogwoods, and others,
that are shade loving. These shade-loving shrubs and the
young growth constitute
the underbrush, which
in more open forests
may be a veritable
jungle.

In time the tree
reaches a period of old
age, when its vitality
begins to diminish, and
it is subject to the at-
tacks of fungi and bac-
teria of decay or dis-
ease. The effects of
insects, such as canker-
worms that eat the foli-
age, and the bark and
wood boring larvae, are
also more serious then.
The heart-wood decays,
perhaps, the branches
die from the attacks of fungi and insects, and fall. Gradually
the tree dies. Decay is hastened. The trunk and roots are
weakened, and a storm uproots or breaks down the tree. We
see many broken limbs, fallen tree trunks, and old stumps lit-
tering the forest floor. There they gradually rot and return to
the soil the mineral matter and to the air the gases that were
used in their upbuilding. In this process of decay many
fungi and bacteria take an active part. We see shelf fungi,

FIG. 157. A Shelf Pore-Fungus.

(The chief part of the fungus is inside the tree, causing

death and decay.)

368 NATURE-STUDY

toadstools, fungous incrustations, and lichens growing upon
the dead logs and stumps, and even on the sick, yet living,
trees. The noticeable fungous growth which we see on the
outside is merely the fruiting portion, which is a part of
a larger mass of fungous fibres and filaments that spread
under the bark and within the wood of the tree. This
invisible part of the fungus is what does the chief work of
decay. Sometimes by removing the loose bark of a decay-
ing log the white vegetative part of the fungus may be seen.
Fungi perform a useful work in removing the dead timber
that otherwise would so litter the ground that no more growth
could come up. Besides the fungous decay there is also
chemical oxidation of the wood which hastens the disin-
tegration.

The ground beneath the trees is covered with a thick
deposit of matted and felted leaves. Dig up this leaf mass.
Notice on the surface the recently fallen leaves, then, below,
the leaves of former years more aged and decaying. Still
farther down the leaves are crumbling, and soon the leaf
form can no more be made out. The lowest part is com-
posed of a light porous mass of black material, which is the
result of the decay of the leaves. This black substance is
called leaf mould, and consists largely of carbon, which
gives it its black color. This mould is very fertile, and is
used by gardeners for potting and bedding plants. A forest
thus fertilizes itself by the fall and decay of its leaves.

The trees in a forest influence each other's growth. A
tree grown in the open, with plenty of light from all sides
and elbow room, is not as tall and slender as it would have
been had it grown among other trees. In the forest the
trees contend with each other for the light, and try to over-

TREES

369

top each other. The one that succeeds will get most light,
and therefore grow the best. In the forest the lower branches
of the trees are killed by the shade of other trees, and in time
they fall off. The wound left by the branch, the knot hole,
generally heals over with a new layer of wood and bark.
In the forest the lower branches may not be within thirty

FIG. 158. An Open Grove of Hard Maples.
(The trees have rounded crowns, low branches.)

or forty feet of the ground, while in the open the same tree
would have had a short thick trunk with branches growing
low, and rounded crown.

For the first ten years, the rate of growth of trees is slow.
It is most rapid for several decades after this, and slower
again later. How long do trees live? That depends upon
the species. Some, like the poplars, are short lived, a hun-
dred to a hundred and fifty years. Maples and oaks live

370 NATURE-STUDY

several centuries. The cypress lives five hundred years.
The giant sequoias of the West probably saw the light
before the Christian era.

Forest Influences and Uses

Forests exert some important physiographic influences.
It is still a moot point how far the presence of forests affects
the rainfall of a region. It is probably more correct to say
that there are trees because it rains, than that it rains in
places where there are forests. The cooling effect of the
transpiration of a forest may hasten the precipitation of
passing clouds. But on the whole the rainfall has not
been noticeably affected in this country by the clearing
away of the forests, or the planting of trees on the prairies.
The cases of Persia, Spain, and other countries usually
mentioned to show that the absence of extensive forests
causes aridity of climate are now considered rather doubt-
ful illustrations, as it is not well proved that those lands ever
had extensively wooded areas, in historic times.

Forests temper the force of the winds, and are very useful
as windbreaks for the hot winds of summer and the cold
winds, in winter.

Forests protect the soil from erosion. In level regions
this is not so evident as in hilly or mountainous countries.
The hills should be capped with forest growth, not only to
keep the soil on the hills and to prevent their being gullied
with water courses, but also to protect the fertile valley lands
from the gravel and sand that would otherwise be carried
down upon them.

Forests conserve the rainfall. The spongy, porous mass of
leaf mould on the floor of the forest very materially acts as

TREES 371

a check on the flow of the water, and it tends to hold it ab-
sorbed a long time. In this way, especially in hilly and
mountainous countries, the forests check the rapid off-flow
of the water, thus preventing disastrous floods in the rivers,
and also making^the streams of more constant volume. The
water seaps out slowly under the leaf mould, or is absorbed
by the earth and given up slowly in springs, long after the

FIG. 159. A Denuded Hill Showing Effects of Erosion.

rains have ceased. Hence the intermittent rainfall will
appear as a steady supply of the rivers, which therefore have
a more even stage of water, a very important point in the navi-
gation of many of our streams and in irrigation. This effect of
forests is perhaps the most important. In recognition of this,
the government has set aside great forest areas in the head-
water regions of many western streams. Try this experiment :
Place one end of a broad board or trough in a sink, or pail,
and raise the other end. Pour water on the upper end from
a sprinkler. Note how quickly it runs off the board. Now

372 NATURE-STUDY

place a mass of cotton batting on the board and repeat the
experiment. Note how much more slowly the water runs off,
but how much longer it continues to trickle out. By placing
some leaf mould on the inclined board the experiment may
be repeated and the retarding effect of the same noted.

One other fact should be mentioned in this connection.
Forests on the hills are a perennial supply of fertility for the
lowlands. The waters that seap through the leaf mould
take up soluble matter and convey it to the fields below.

In primitive times man was very dependent upon forests
for fuel, shelter, fruits, nuts, roots, and game. And man to-
day makes much more use of forests than did his primitive fore-
fathers. Forests are used to-day as windbreaks and shelter for
man and beast, as game preserves, as pleasure parks, and
as summer and health resorts. The wood is used for fuel
for our homes, factories, and kilns. The fuel value of our
forests is enormous. Even coal, derived from plants, may
be considered under this head.

The railroads require millions of ties and telegraph poles.
Vast amounts of timber are used for telephone poles and for
fence posts. Large timbers are used for bridge and founda-
tion pilings and for supporting pillars in mines. Small,
slender saplings are used by the million for hoops, bean and
hop poles.

A number of industries are dependent upon forests. The
charcoal industry, once very important, is one. Oak and
hemlock bark are used for tanning leather. In southern
states the pitch and turpentine industry flourishes in the
pitch pine regions. In the northern states the maple sugar
industry is carried on in forests of hard maple. Different
kinds of nut trees afford profitable industries in various parts

TREES 373

of the land. Every year great numbers of balsams, spruce,
and other evergreens are cut and sold for Christmas trees.
Forests are used for pasturing cattle, sheep, and goats.

A great deal of cheap paper, used especially in newspapers,
is now made from wood pulp. Soft woods, such as poplar
and spruce, are cut into small pieces, and macerated or
ground into a pulp which is pressed and rolled into paper.
Considering the uselessly large size of our metropolitan pa-
pers, we can readily see that in order to supply the demand
for paper large areas of forest land are being denuded.

The greatest use we make of forests is for lumber for build-
ings, bridges, fences, boxes, sidewalks, furniture, and many
other purposes. This demand is rapidly destroying our
forests. We use over 30,000,000,000 feet of lumber per
year in this country, of which 75 per cent, is pine and
other conifers. This is three times as much lumber per
capita as is used by Europeans. Our " frame" houses
illustrate the great use we make of lumber. When our
forests are gone, more costly yet more enduring brick and
stone will be used. But this may force into rented tene-
ments or apartment houses a large part of our population,
who otherwise would have built separate wooden dwell-
ing-houses. The destruction of our forests may thus be
seen to have an important social effect.

White pine is the king of the lumber trees. It is common
in Minnesota and other northern states and in Canada.
Maine is called the Pine Tree State, but it is no longer
so in fact, for the great white pine forests there have been
practically destroyed. Later, Michigan held chief place in
white pine production, then Wisconsin, and now it is Minne-
sota, though even here the end of the industry is in sight.

374 NATURE-STUDY

White pine is so valuable because it is light, soft, and easy
to cut and nail, durable, and insect proof.

In the South the Georgia longleaf, and the North Carolina
hard pines are the chief woods used for lumber. These are
often used in the North for interior finishing, ceiling, and
flooring. They are yellow pines.

The cypress of the southern swamps is also extensively
used now for lumber. In the North the spruce is a common
building stuff, and hemlock, though poor in quality, is also
used. In the western coast forests the redwood is the
chief lumber tree. It is brownish, soft, and very durable,
and is largely used for shingles.

The hard woods are more difficult to saw, plane, and nail,
but they are stronger, and tougher than the pines, etc., and
therefore find many applications. They also show a fine
grain, and take polish well, hence they are much used for
interior finishing and for furniture. Heavy oak timbers
enter into the construction of buildings and bridges.

These are some of the chief uses of lumber. The industry
in its various stages is an interesting one to study. Chil-
dren like to learn about lumber camps, the felling of the
trees, the dragging of the logs to the rivers, the driving
down the streams, the log booms, the saw-mills, lumber yards,
the shipment of the lumber, and the various uses to which
it is put. It would be instructive to trace a white-pine tree
from the forest to the various purposes for which it is used.

Arbor Day — Beautifying School- grounds

Arbor Day is now universally and fittingly observed by
the schools. Secretary Wilson in his report in the 1899
" Year Book of the Department of Agriculture " says : " Prom-

TREES 375

inent among the agencies for interesting the children in
forest matters is the observance of Arbor Day. Instituted
in Nebraska in 1872 by Hon. J. Sterling Morton, Secretary
of Agriculture, 1893-1897, Arbor Day has made its way from
state to state until, at the beginning of 1900, provision for
its observance has been made in every state and territory.
Its central idea is the planting of trees by school children on
dates fixed by the governors of the various states or by other
authorities. The planting is usually accompanied by ex-
ercises, sometimes elaborate, intended to impress upon the
children the beauty and usefulness of trees, and to encourage
the care and preservation alike of shade trees and forests.
While the planting accomplished may have very little eco-
nomic value, the institution of Arbor Day may fairly be said
to exercise immense influence in exciting affection and
respect for trees in the coming generations, and so to prepare
a body of sentiment which will assist powerfully hereafter to
bring about the general practice of conservative forestry."
The broader purpose and the great practical importance of
Arbor Day is thus seen from these words of Secretary Wilson.
But Arbor Day has another and more direct value.
Through its observance the grounds of many schools can
be improved and beautified. In a circular addressed to
the county superintendents, the State Superintendent of
the schools of Illinois, in 1903, makes the statement that
there were in that year still over two thousand schools with-
out a single shade tree. Probably a much greater number
were sadly in need of improvement as far as the grounds
were concerned. The conditions of the country, and even
village and city, schools are similar throughout the United
States. Not enough has been done to make the school-houses

376 NATURE-STUDY

and grounds attractive or * even respectable. There are
many "ragged beggars" still sunning at the country cross-
roads. Many jails have finer grounds, and consist of more
substantial, and elegant buildings than our country and
village schools. Most farmers surround their homes with
groves and flowers, but the country school across the road
where their children go is barren and ugly. No wonder

FIG. 160. A Typical Country School— in Need of Shade Trees.

that so many children dislike to go to school. Make the
school-houses attractive inside and out, surround them with
shade trees, shrubbery, flowers, and grassy lawns, and the
pupils will be drawn to such schools rather than repelled
by their barrenness and ugliness.

Since the regular observance of Arbor Day much has
been done to make the surroundings of the rural and town
schools more attractive. Much, however, has been done
poorly and without system. The way to improve a school-

TREES

377

ground is to begin at the beginning. The ground should
first be properly graded and levelled, so that it is even
and the drainage right. Stumps and stones should be
removed. Perhaps it is necessary to bring good, black
earth to put on poor soil, if it is desired to grow grass. There
should be a grass plot, at least, directly in front of the school-
house. The children should be required to respect this

FIG. 161. A Beautiful Farm Homestead Just Opposite the School.

area and permit the grass to grow. On the playground
proper the grass will probably not grow. This should be
well drained and covered with sand or gravel, so that even
in wet weather it will be possible to play upon it without
tracking much dirt into the school.

The preparing of the grounds and the planting of trees
should not be simply a matter for the teacher and pupils,
but to ensure success the school officers and the patrons of
the district should help. There should be a system agreed

378 NATURE-STUDY

upon by the patrons at a district meeting. Competent men
should be employed to prepare the ground and to select
and plant the trees, for the teacher and pupils are gen-
erally not good tree planters. The teacher should take an
active interest in all this. She may be of great influence in
the community, and by tactful suggestions she may get the
people of the district to assist her in the work of improve-
ment. If all cannot be aroused, perhaps a few may be.
These could bring their teams, with ploughs and scrapers,
some Friday afternoon or Saturday, and with the help of the
children could prepare the grounds fairly well.

The tree planting should not be done in a haphazard or
promiscuous way, but should be well thought out. The
kinds of trees to be planted should be well chosen, not
with a view to rapid growth alone, but to the beauty and
suitability of the tree in after years. Too many school-
grounds have short-lived, undesirable soft maples, boxelders,
and cottonwoods planted upon them simply because they
grow fast. In general, trees should not be planted upon the
playground proper, where they would interfere with the games
of the children, but should be placed along the boundaries
of the school-grounds and around the unsightly outbuildings.
On the prairie, where the winds of winter and spring are
strong and penetrating, there should be thick belts of trees
on the windward sides. These will act as windbreaks.
Here the trees should be planted in several rows. In plant-
ing trees on the edges of the grounds, spaces or gaps should
be left for viewing the landscape beyond, especially on the
lee sides. The trees may be planted in straight rows, or
arranged irregularly in clumps, to give a more natural effect.
The latter is best on large grounds. The front of the grounds

TREES

379

should not be planted with continuous belts of trees so as to
obstruct the view of the school-house.

Shrubbery is very effective on school-grounds. It may
be grown on the borders of the belts of trees, and in the
corners and around the outhouses. Hedges also of low
shrubs may be grown along the front of the grounds.

In selecting trees be careful to take those adapted for the
soil and moisture conditions that prevail on the grounds.
Among the trees best adapted to various soils, and beautiful
and long-lived, are the elms, maples, and oaks. Walnut,
butternut, chestnut, beech, birch, mountain ash, pines, bal-
sams, cedars, and spruces should also be planted for variety
and beauty. If the grounds are extensive other trees may
be planted for study and experimental purposes. The trees
on the schoolgrounds furnish many topics for nature lessons.
On a large school-ground fruit trees of various kinds could
be grown. It is a good plan to plant some of the trees by
groups, that is, have clumps of elms, maples, pines, etc.
This makes a more beautiful and striking effect. Ever-
greens especially should be planted in groups. These look
well in the corners at the back of the grounds and around
the outhouses, and they also afford shelter and nesting places
for birds. In beginning a school-ground plantation there is
no objection to the planting of fast-growing trees like box-
elder, poplars, cottonwood, and catalpa, providing these
are not the only kinds. If other more lasting and beautiful
trees are planted at the same time, the more rapidly grow-
ing kinds will afford pleasant shade while the slower growing
kinds are small. But as these grow tall the less desirable
kinds should be cut out.

There are many ornamental shrubs that may be planted.

38o NATURE-STUDY

The elder, gooseberry, dogwood, waahoo, hawthorns, holly,
and roses are pretty wild shrubs. Among desirable culti-
vated shrubs are lilacs, snowball, flowering currant, bush
honeysuckle, barberry, spirea, hydrangea, etc.

Vines also may be very effectively used in hiding unsight-
ly buildings, old stumps, fences, etc. Our common wood-
bine or Virginia creeper is one of the most easily grown and
hardy. The variety that forms adhesive disks at the ends
of the tendrils with which it holds to the walls, etc., is the
best, as it does not need artificial support. The bittersweet
grape-vine and climbing honeysuckle are other excellent
vines. The berry-bearing shrubs and vines attract the
birds.

It is best to get trees for planting from a nursery. If the
whole plan is to be carried out in one year the planting must
be done by experienced men hired by the school-board for
the purpose. If only a single tree or a few trees are to be
planted, it would still be better for one who understands to
do the work. But in case it is impossible to get such prac-
tised assistance, the teacher and pupils, by observing strictly
the following rules, may succeed in successfully raising a
tree. Too often the Arbor Day planting is simply an illus-
tration of how not to do it, and there are too many dead or
dying trees thus planted that are simply an irony on the
occasion. Great care should be taken to transplant a tree
so that it will not suffer too much injury, but even under the
best conditions' transplanting is a severe shock to it. If trees
are bought at a nursery they will probably be properly dug
up and prepared for transplanting. They may be got from
the forest as well. In general, younger trees are more suc-
cessfully transplanted. For windbreaks, trees two or three

TREES ' 381

years old should be planted. For other purposes older
trees, from one to two inches in diameter, are better. In
digging up a tree, try to keep roots of from one to two
feet in length. Mutilate the roots as little as possible, and
leave many small rootlets. Cut off broken or injured
roots, and cut off most of the branches, as otherwise too
many leaves would be produced for the roots to supply
with water. Elms may even have all the branches removed
and present the appearance of bare poles.

Trees are best planted in the dormant condition in early
spring, before the leaves are out. For this reason, Arbor
Day is usually set in April or early May. It is not at all
essential, however, that the school planting be done upon
the day set by the governor.

The place where the tree is to be planted should be ready
for the tree as soon as it is dug up. The hole should be
large enough to give room for the roots to lie in their natural
position without being cramped. Unless the soil is very damp
the tree should be set from one to three inches deeper than it
grew before transplanting. If the soil is very hard and clayey
it should be broken up well below the tree for some distance,
and also around it, so that the roots may penetrate more easily.
By digging extra deep and throwing in broken tile, stones,
etc., and then covering with good loamy soil, both proper
drainage and good soil are provided for the young tree. In case
the soil is very sandy and poor, a larger hole should be dug
and filled in with good loam to give the tree a proper start.

The tree to be transplanted should be quickly transferred to
the new location, after being dug up, for it is very important
that the tender roots and rootlets should not become dry and
thus be killed. If far to carry, cover well with moist straw,

NATURE-STUDY

excelsior, or burlap. Small trees may be carried in a pail
or other vessel of water. Set the tree in the prepared hole.
Throw in fine soil well among the roots. After the roots are
covered several inches press the soil down
well with a rammer or with the heel. If
the soil is very dry, several pailfuls of
water should now be poured on. Repeat
the process of throwing in several inches
of earth and stamping. The last two or
three inches should not be put in hard,
but left as loose as possible, to serve as a
mulch to prevent the evaporation of the
moisture about the roots. A surface ap-
plication of well-rotted manure acts as a
good mulch and also as a fertilizer.

The trees must not be too much
crowded, else they will become slender.
They grow more stocky and with more
rounded crowns if they have plenty of
room and light. In general, trees should
be planted not closer than twenty or
thirty feet, unless close grouping is es-
pecially desired. As the trees get larger
they may have to be thinned out, the
finest and most regular being retained.
After a tree is planted it should not be neglected and
allowed to die. In seasons of prolonged drought newly
planted trees are very apt to die from lack of moisture.
Daily watering, a pailful or so, is not of much use. When
trees are watered they should be given about a barrelful at
a time, every two or three weeks. Careful cultivation and

FIG. 162. Wild Cherry
Healing Wounds.

( Cuts wantonly made to
remove staples holding
a barbed wire fence.)

TREES ' 383

loosening of the ground between and around the trees will
keep in the soil moisture, and do more good generally than
watering. Perhaps a neighboring patron or his boys will
agree to take care of the transplanted trees on the school-
ground, during the critical period of the first summer.

Trees close to the playground, where they are apt to be
injured in the play of the children, should have guards placed
around them. The children should be taught to take a per-
sonal interest in the school-ground trees, and feel a desire to
take care of them. In general, they may be safely trusted to
respect the improvements made on the school-grounds.

I would suggest that some of the seedlings of oaks, wal-
nuts, elms, maples, pines, and fruit trees started by the
children in the window boxes be transplanted to the grounds.
If these little trees can be safely raised to a self-supporting
condition, it will speak well for the interest and care of the
pupils in their development. If a record of these seedlings
could be kept in the school, it would be very interesting in
subsequent years to those who took part in the planting.

Arbor Day may be made the occasion also for pruning
and trimming the trees already planted. Perhaps there
are enough trees on the grounds. Perhaps there are too
many. If the grounds and the house are too much shaded
some of the trees should be removed. Too many trees about
the school-house are often as bad as too few. In many cases
school-houses are built in the woods. Then the work be-
comes one of clearing the grounds. This should be done
with judgment. Not all the trees should be cut away, but
those on the edges of the ground and elsewhere, if desirable,
should be left. Preserve the best ones.

If nothing remains to be done in the way of tree planting,

384 NATURE-STUDY

Arbor Day may be utilized for a general cleaning up of the
grounds. Rake up the rubbish, burn or remove it. Repair
the fences, etc., make flower-beds, and transplant the flowers
started in the window-boxes. (See page 258 on school gard-
ening. Flower lists, page 295.)
An excellent thing to do on Arbor Day is to plant perennial

FIG. 163. A Street Beautified by Shade Trees.

plants, such as bleeding-heart, peony, larkspur, honey-
suckle, columbine, iris, tulip, lily, golden-glow, holly-
hock, etc. These will do well with very little atten-
tion, and come up year after year. The bulbs or roots
may either be bought or contributed by the children from
their home gardens. (See list of perennials and bulbs
page 296.)

It is customary on Arbor Day to render a special pro-
gramme relative to the planting and the uses of trees. This
may either wholly or in part be given in the open. This

TREES « 385

might be made an occasion for inviting the patrons and
civic authorities, and good might be accomplished outside
of the school in the way of civic improvement in beautifying
streets, lawns, and parks. The following are suggestions for
Arbor Day programmes : Purpose of Arbor Day. Origin of
Arbor Day. * Our forests. Uses of forests. Uses of differ-
ent kinds of woods. Destruction of our forests. Forestry
laws. What is forestry? Ornamental and shade trees.
Windbreaks. The nursery. Descriptions of certain trees.
Trees on city streets. Trees and school-grounds. The
beauty of trees. Pleasures derived from trees. Trees and
literature, with selections. Trees and history. How old
some trees are. A development lesson on a certain tree.
These topics may be presented by the pupils as essays or
recitatiqns. On the grounds perhaps there might be pro-
cessions and tree planting songs. Let there be talks by
practical tree planters, farmers, nursery men, and others
interested in the raising and preservation of trees. Perhaps
an illustrated lecture on trees or forestry may be arranged
for in the evening, to which pupils and parents could come.
In graded schools several rooms, or all, may unite in these
exercises. An excursion to some picturesque wooded spot,
or a park, would be very appropriate. Remember that
Arbor Day can, and should, be made an opportunity for
disseminating a knowledge of trees and forestry, and for
cultivating, in the patrons as well as the school children, a
desire for home and city improvement by planting trees and
flowers.

Teachers should send for the following pamphlets on Arbor
Day: " Arbor Day: Its History and Observance," by N. H.
Eggleston, and " Tree Planting on Rural School Grounds, " by

386

NATURE-STUDY

Wm. L. Hall, both of which may be secured free of charge
from the United States Department of Agriculture at Wash-
ington. Bulletin 160, " Rural School Grounds," is also help-
ful, and may be secured from the Cornell Agricultural experi-
ment Station, Ithaca, New York. These have important
suggestions for tree and flower planting, and also for pro-

FIG. 164. Trees and Vines Improve a House.

grammes. Send also to your State Superintendent of Schools
for circulars on Arbor Day. The state superintendents,
of Wisconsin, New York, Illinois, and others have issued
for years interesting and suggestive circulars for Arbor
Day programmes.

In many schools the features of Bird Day are very appro-
priately combined with those of Arbor Day.

TREES 387

PLANTING A TREE

What does he plant who plants a tree?
He plants a friend of sun and sky;
He plants a flag of breezes free;
The shaft of beauty towering high;
He plants a home to heaven anigh
For song and mother croon of bird,
In hushed and happy twilight heard —
The treble of heaven's harmony —
These things plants he who plants a tree.

What does he plant who plants a tree ?
He plants cool shade and tender rain,
And seed and bud of days to be,
And years that fade and flush again;
He plants the glory of the plain;
He plants the forest's heritage;
The harvest of the coming age;
The joy that unborn eye shall see —
These things he plants who plants a tree.

What does he plant who plants a tree?
•He plants in sap, and leaves and wood,
In love of home and loyalty,
And far-cast thoughts of civil good —
His blessings on 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.

— RICHARD WATSON GILDER.

CHAPTER XIX
FLOWERLESS PLANTS.

A BRIEF study should be made of the commoner and typi-
cal flowerless plants. Most plant species belong to this class,
yet, on account of their generally small size and inconspicu-
ous appearance, they are far less noticed by the average
observer than the more showy flowering plants, such as
"flowers," grasses, weeds, and trees.

It is impossible to teach children the detailed differences
between flowering and flowerless plants. This essential dif-
erence, however, should be brought out, that the former
generally have conspicuous flowers — seed-forming organs,
while the latter reproduce more prominently by means of
cells, called spores, which are not formed like seeds. The
advanced botanical student, however, knows that there is a
less conspicuous process of reproduction in the flowerless
plants which is essentially the same as seed formation in
higher plants.

Ferns are the largest common flowerless plants, and there
is a great and beautiful variety of them, brakes, spleenworts,
shield ferns, maidenhair, polypody, etc. It is a pleasant
thing to collect and study ferns in their native haunts. Brakes
and maidenhair ferns flourish abundantly on rich, wooded
hill-slopes. With their great fronds the brakes add a trop-
ical effect to our northern woods. The beautifully curled

FLOWERLESS PLANTS

389

"fiddleheads" of the young fronds are interesting. On
rocky ledges and cliffs are found various spleenworts and
cliff brakes, and in the marshy lowlands are shield ferns and
others.

Ferns make fine herbarium mounts. As far as possible
get the children interested in col-
lecting, pressing, and naming the
ferns of their locality. Have
them notice well the habitat of
each. Let them dig up fern root-
stalks and plant them in a shady
corner by the school-house or at
home. The north side of build-
ings is a good place. The ground
should be rich, containing much
decayed wood. Chips, sawdust,
leaves, or rotten logs and stumps
should be buried in the soil where the ferns are to grow.
Maidenhair, and other wood ferns, and the cliff brake do
well in window-boxes.

Examine the rootstalk and note the young shoots. Observe
the way the frond is lobed and dissected. Examine the
under side of a ripe frond, and note the little spots on the
lobes. These are spore (not seed) cases. Shake out some
of these spores on a sheet of white paper and note their
minuteness and great number. Try to raise some fern from
the spores. Sow the spores on some earth in a flower pot,
and wash them in by sprinkling with water. Cover with a
piece of glass and keep moist and warm.

A curious plant often found on sandy, or gravelly, wet banks
along rivers and railroads is the Horsetail or Scouring Rush

FIG. 165. Spore Dots on the Under

Side of a Fern Leaflet.

( Photomicrograph.)

390

NATURE-STUDY

(Equisetum)t Early in the spring there arise from a creep-
ing rootstalk flesh-colored stalks with cone-shaped struct-
ures on top. The stalk is jointed and at the joints are circles
of scale-like leaves. The cone at the end bears the spores.
These can be shaken out when ripe. There is another kind

of stalk sent up
later in the sea-
son when the
spore-bearing
stalk is dead.
This is green, is
also jointed, and
in the common
field horsetail is
much branched
at the joints.
The stem and
the branches
bear small scale-
like leaves which,

FIG. 166. A Moss-covered Boulder. however, are not

adapted to form starch, as they are not green. The stem
is green, and it makes the starch which is stored in the
rootstalk and in the new buds or shoots of the spore-bearing
stalks. One species of Equisetum has unbranched stems,
which ,are jointed and grooved and have a very gritty feel-
ing due to silica in the tissues. On account of this gritti-
ness the plant was formerly used for sandpaper, and was
called the scouring rush.

The mosses constitute another great class of flowerless
plants. Gather with the children mosses of different kinds.

FLOWERLESS PLANTS

391

Note the great variety of form and also the great variety of
habitats, that is, the places and conditions where they grow,
on trees, on moist ground, on rocks, on cliffs. Note the
general leafy structure, the hair-roots, and the varied spore-
cases at the top of the
stems. Examine these
cases with a magnifying
glass and note the inter-
esting ways in which the
cases open, by valves,
chinks, and lids. Can
you see the spores ?

Growing in wet places
on ledges and cliffs, and
on boards near springs
or in damp ravines in
shady places, are flat,
lobed plants, the Liver-
worts. These are at-
tached by numerous
hair-roots. On the up-
per surface may be seen

plainly the large breath- FlG-l67- Liverwort Encrusting a Dark, Moist Cliff.

ing pores. The surface of the plant is marked off in diamond-
shaped areas, the breathing pores being at their centres.
At maturity one will find umbrella-like projections growing
on the plant. These are the spore holders. There also
may be little cup-like structures with egg-like masses in
them. These also are reproductive devices, the little egg-
like masses breaking off, washing away, and germinating
into new plants.

392

NATURE-STUDY

Another interesting flowerless plant, of which there are
many forms, is the Lichen. These are usually flattened
plants growing upon trees, rocks, earth, and cliffs. Gener-
ally they are of a bluish-green color, but often they are yel-
low, red, and black. Many form an irregular crust; others
are much branched and dissected. Some forms present a

tufted or thread-
like structure.
Visit a pile of
cordwood and
note how many
kinds of lichens
may be found
on the bark.
Note that cer-
tain species are
found only on
certain kinds of
trees. A visit to
a forest or to a boulder field will show many other kinds
of lichens. The faces of old weathered cliffs are often cov-
ered with them.

There is a great class of flowerless plants called Fungi. A
fungus has no chlorophyll, and therefore cannot make its own
food (starch), and derives it from the living or dead tissues of
other plants, or from animals.

The most conspicuous fungi are mushrooms, or toad-
stools, and puff-balls. It is well that pupils should learn
a little of the general structure and habits of these peculiar
plants. We speak of mushrooms growing in a single night,
but in reality where mushrooms appear thus suddenly there

FIG. 168. Agaricus Campestris.
(Common mushroom — edible.)

FLOWERLESS PLANTS 393

has been a long period of growth and preparation under-
ground, or below the surface. The body of a fungus gen-
erally consists of a collection of fibrous threads or filaments
growing in the decaying bark or wood of trees or in the soil.
These are the vegetative part of the plant. They may often
be seen by stripping the bark from rotten logs, or by care-
fully removing the soil around a growing toadstool. Then
masses of white threads ramifying in all directions are seen.
These are the vegetative or nourishing part of the plant,
feeding on the decaying organic matter in which they grow.

FIG. 169. Development of Mushroom. Fungus Filaments, Buttons and Caps.
Edible Agaric.

At maturity or under proper conditions there arise peculiar
fruiting structures, the parts which we generally see exposed
and call the fungus.

Collect some of the common field mushroom (Agaricus
campestris) found in fields and pastures and along road-
sides. This is umbrella-shaped. Under the conical cap
are many radiating plates called gills. On these gills the
spores develop in great numbers. Lay a ripe fungus (one
whose gills are brown) gills downward on a piece of
white paper, and protect with a bowl or bell glass from the
air currents. Leave several hours. A beautiful " spore-print "
will be formed. Note in the field mushroom that there is a
ring of membranous appearance around the upper part of

394

NATURE-STUDY

the stem. Compare with younger plants. In these there
is a membrane stretched across the gills from the cap to the
stem which later tears away from the cap, and adheres as a
ring to the stem. The spores and gills are at first white,

then, as the mushroom becomes
older, turn pink, then brown. In
the field agaric there is no mem-
branous cup at the base of the
stalk. Note this by carefully digging up a
plant so as to get all of the stem. This
species and hundreds of other fungi are edi-
ble. Their nutritive value, however, is not
very great.

Technically there is no distinction between
"mushroom" and "toadstool." The unsci-
entific, however, generally limit the term
mushroom to the edible forms, and the lat-
ter term to the non-edible and poisonous.
A number of fungi are very poisonous, and
many people are killed by carelessly gather-
ing and eating them. One should not at-
tempt to gather mushrooms for eating, un-
less thoroughly acquainted with the common
FIG. 170. Amanita. edible and dangerous kinds. There are
only a few poisonous mushrooms. A com-
mon very poisonous form, the deadly amanita (Amanita phal-
loides) usually grows in the woods, though it may occur in pas-
tures and fields with edible mushrooms. This fungus looks
much like the edible field agaric, but may be distinguished
from it by the fact that its spores are white, not brown, in ma-
turity. Moreover, it has a cup-like envelope around the stem

FLOWERLESS PLANTS

395

at the base. Though there are exceptions to these rules, the
beginner at collecting fungi for the table should not take
immature fungi whose true character cannot be told.

Reject fungi with enveloping cups at the base of the stem.
Reject brightly colored fungi. Do not take fungi with gills
white at maturity. Do
not take toadstools that
have tubes or pores on
the under side. Do not
take fungi with a milky
juice. Before eating the
fungi the novice should
show them to an expert
collector.

Puff-balls are globu-
lar fungi whose spores
develop inside the mass
and escape when the FlG' 171' Wood^roying Toadstool.

ball ruptures. Some attain a large size, a foot or more in
diameter. One form has a thin rind which bursts at the
top and, when pressed, emits a cloud of fine spores. Puff-
balls are found in fields and pastures and are edible in the
white stage.

Some fungi form shelf -like projections on trees and fallen
logs, and on stumps. Some of these have gills (shelf agarics) ;
others have myriads of small pores or tubes in which the
spores form (Poly pores'). Others again have numerous
fine teeth on the under side on which the spores form (as in
Hydnum of the hedgehog fungi) ; in others the spores are borne
upon branching surfaces, as in the coral-like Clavaria. Some
fungi spread out on stumps and logs in gelatinous masses.

396 NATURE-STUDY

Fungi play an important part in the economy of nature.
Many species grow in the wood of trees. They generally
enter the tree as a spore by some wound, as a scar, or broken
branch. From this point the vegetative fibres of the fungus
ramify through the wood, killing the living tissues, weaken-
ing and rotting the wood, so that it is often ruined for tim-
ber. Such fungous decay generally results in the death of
the tree. The fungus continues its work, until finally the
tree is so much weakened that it is blown down in some
storm. Still the work of the fungus goes on. The fallen
tree decays, crumbles, and is added to the mould on the
forest floor. In time the substance of the tree is practically
entirely decomposed and returned to the air and the soil
from which it originally was derived. In this work of decay
fungi are really beneficent agents. Though it is pathetic to
see a fine tree decay, yet every tree reaches a period of ma-
turity and then declines, and should finally make room for
new growth. If it were not for the work of the fungi and
bacteria of decay, the dead trees would so choke the forest
that no new growth could develop.

PART III
A COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY

CHAPTER XX
A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY

IT requires some temerity to select and arrange the material
for a graded course in nature-study. The author recognizes
his inability to plan a course that will meet the wishes of
every teacher, and the impossibility of making any plan that
will stand for all time, even if that were desirable. Any
plan, however perfect to-day, might not fit to-morrow under
a changed curriculum or under the new conditions imposed
by the demands of a society having different views of educa-
tion from those held to-day.

And yet the greatest evil in our present-day teaching of
nature-study is that it is unrelated and unorganized. It is
too scattering. A teacher in a certain grade will teach her
nature-study without reference to what has been taught in
previous grades or what is to come. As a result there is
much repetition, and there can be no proper development
of the study. There should be a continuity and a unity in
the different branches of nature-study, not only for a partic-
ular grade but for the whole course. For example, in botany
the work in the lower grades should serve as a foundation
for that in higher grades. The subject should be naturally
and logically developed throughout the course. A certain
number of common flowers or trees should be learned the

400 NATURE-STUDY

first year, the next year a few new ones, and so on. In
this way the child will have a knowledge of quite a list of
trees or flowers when he is through with the eighth grade.
But this can only be done by the different teachers agreeing
among themselves what to teach — generally entirely out of
the question — or else by adhering more or less closely to a
well-arranged outline, planned by some one who had in mind
the requirements of the whole course. Where there is a
supervisor of the nature-study, or where the superintendent
makes such a course, nature-study is generally efficiently
taught. Unfortunately, there is not enough such super-
vision. We would not think of teaching our arithmetic
without organizing it into a graded course. Tradition and
long experience with this subject have evolved some kind of
system in it, and it has been formulated into text-books.
Nature-study is still in the transitional stage, largely unor-
ganized and not taught with a book. Of course, this is in
a measure an advantage, but it makes it difficult to get defi-
nite results. The course presented here is a contribution
toward the organizing of this great mass of nature material.
It is a suggestion rather than a solution.

We have an embarrassment of riches in nature-study, and
the problem in making out a course is as much one of elimi-
nation as one of selection of material. The guiding prin-
ciples in the selection of this course have been the natural
interests of the child in his home and neighborhood envi-
ronment, the social motive, 'and the principle of correlation.
The nature-work is closely correlated with geography. In
fact in the primary grades no attempt is made to distinguish
between the two subjects. Likewise, much of the nature
material suggested is also historical, for example, the life

A GRADED COURSE OF MATURE-STUDY 401

of primitive man. The relation of nature-study to manual
training and domestic economy is also kept in view. Fur-
thermore, one science is correlated with another, physiology
with chemistry and physics. In the primary grades, espe-
cially, the nature material should be used chiefly for devel-
oping the child's expression. Hence the nature-study in
these grades is selected largely for its suitability as material
also in reading, construction, and art.

It is not expected or intended that all of the topics indi-
cated in the following course shall be studied in any one
school. It has been made extensive with the idea of allow-
ing teachers a greater freedom of choice according to local
conditions, and also to provide for variety from year to year.
The educational motive and the educational material in a
commercial metropolis must necessarily differ considerably
from those of a rural, agricultural community. In one the
commerical industries and civic problems are the chief inter-
est. In the other the chief interest is how to grow plants,
and how to raise animals. The course below contains enough
suitable material for schools of both communities. Each
should select from the course according to local requirements.

The departmental plan of teaching is practised in many
of our schools. It might be very desirable in some schools
to let the nature-study be taught by certain teachers espe-
cially enthusiastic in that work, and especially well equipped
for it.

Field lessons and visits to industrial establishments should
accompany the nature-work whenever possible. They are
not always indicated in the course, but are to be taken for
granted. Suggestions for art treatment are indicated by
asterisks.

402 NATURE-STUDY

A carefully selected list of books especially adapted for
primary reference will be found in the appendix. They are
arranged by topics, and the whole group is referred to by
letter in the outline of the grades.

Following this in the appendix is a general reference list
arranged by subjects. The books are all numbered and are
referred to in the outline of the course by number. The
teacher should also refer to other volumes of the same class
beside those especially mentioned. Often books just as good
as those specified will be found in the same list.

Outline of Course of Study

FIRST GRADE

AIM AND METHOD: In this grade the nature-work is not
so much for the sake of imparting information as for training
the senses, a basis for the work in language, reading, art, and
hand-work. The study of the occupations and primitive life
is to furnish a basis for the future work in geography, history,
and literature. A very important thing in this grade is to
develop an attitude of interest in nature and a sympathy for
animals, flowers, etc. The beauty element in nature-study
should here receive much consideration. The course begins
with the common things in the home, garden, fields, and
streets of the child's neighborhood.

The subject should be presented here with much more
informality than in upper grades. Informal talks by the
teacher, simple observations by the children, with some direc-
tion of their observation by the teacher, telling by the chil-
dren the things that they notice, and the free conversational
method should be the character of the presentation. Field

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 403

lessons should be frequent. The garden, fields, shops, and
tradesmen should be visited. The topics should be selected
for their timeliness and for correlation with other subjects.
The work will naturally follow closely the changing seasons,
and should be extensive rather than intensive. Hence the
variety of topics suggested.

Do not expect too minute description of details of struct-
ure. This should not be very prominent in the lower grades.
Do more with habits, beauty, and uses. Do not expect
much reasoning out of adaptations, classifications, etc. Do
not go much into the reasons for things. The personifica-
tion of animals, plants, and even inanimate things is here
permissible in moderation. Anecdotes are very useful. In
the correlated reading, nature myths and fairy tales may be
used, but not to excess.

For suggestions as to art application of the topics see p. 57. The as-
terisk indicates subjects suitable for art treatment. Letters refer to lists
in Primary Reference, p. 511. Numbers refer to General Reference List,
p. 521.

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

INDUSTRIAL: Home occupations.* Food Supply (Pri-
mary References P, N, S, U). Clothing (S, U). Shelter
(S, U). Develop the need for these things, how and where
we get them. Who makes them for us. Visit sources.
Primitive life (U). Picture child's condition if left to pro-
vide his own needs; what he would use in primitive con-
ditions and how he would get them. Describe life of prim-
itive man.* Fire (S, U). Visit garden (Q), farm *, (R,
P) and stores* (S) and note articles of food and clothing.
Make models of these places.

4o4 NATURE-STUDY

WEATHER STUDY: Have the children note the seasonal
changes (X, V), and the effects upon the landscape* (X, L,
poems). Note the effect of frost and of warm weather on
the garden vegetation, trees, etc. and upon animals. Note
migrations and hibernation (X3, E, L, I, P). Observe the
preparation of the farmer for winter, his winter and his
spring work (R, P, X); his benefits from the rain, sunshine,
warmth, etc.

Effects of heat and cold on water (V, X), experiments.
Observe and talk about clouds,* rain,* snow,* sunshine
(V, X). Make a sunshine and cloud chart in colors, but do
not keep up too long. Talks about the wind* and what it
does (V,X). Learn directions (V, X). Make windmills,
vanes, and kites.

Talks about what the sun gives us — heat and light
(V, X, Y).

HYGIENE: Simple talks on cleanliness of hands and face,
hair, teeth, nails. Clothing materials. (Z, S.)

AUTUMN
ANIMALS.

MAMMALS: Keep children's pets, such as dog, cat,*
squirrel,* in the school-room. Let children watch them
and take care of them. Tell anecdotes. Study habits and
simpler points of structure. Develop the kindly feeling of
the children toward pets and wild creatures. (C).

Wild squirrel, in connection with nuts.* Observe out-
doors. Feed. Study habits. (B, E).

BIRDS : Observe and study habits of canary,* robin,* and
blackbird (H). Migration (Gen. Ref. 108, H.) Food (H,
120). Habits, (H).

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 405

Chicken* and turkey* (G). Observe, feed, talk about
uses, especially about Thanksgiving Day.

INSECTS: In the garden and fields observe butterflies
and moths. Find cocoons in sheltered nooks, on fences,
houses, and bark of trees. Observe caterpillars on milk-
weed, cabbage, and trees. Collect some of these and keep
in cage. Feed proper food. Observe spinning of cocoon.
Keep cocoons till the moth emerges. The milkweed * and
cabbage * butterflies, if taken early at the beginning of the
school year, will perhaps emerge in a week or so. But later
they will not come out till the next spring. Gather cocoons *
of cecropia moth, etc. and pin up in th e school-room. They
may open in early spring. (J. Ky; See Gen. Ref. 127, 128,
134, 47 143.)

Observe outdoor habits of cricket, grasshopper, fly, and
spider. Cage the insects, feed, and observe. Note general
appearance and peculiarities. Spiders make interesting
school-room pets. Teach children not to be afraid of insects
and spiders. (J. also 143, 132; 129; for spider, i3oa, 131.)

PLANTS.

FRUITS AND VEGETABLES : Make a study of fruits,* nuts,*
and vegetables,* more from the human point of view as to
edibility, than from the botanical. Observe them growing,
gather some. How do we keep them ? Where do we buy
them ? Where do the storekeepers get them ? What use do
we make of them in the home, and how do we prepare
them? Learn the names of the common kinds. Visit the
school-garden, a truck-garden, stores,* the market, the or-
chard,* and vineyard. Go on a nutting picnic.* Observe
at same time the orchard insects and birds, and the animals

406 NATURE-STUDY

of the nut grove. The work should be a preparation for the
observance of Thanksgiving Day. (Fruit: N, S, 238, cata-
logues of nurseries. Nuts: N, S, 220. Vegetables: P, S, R,
garden catalogues.)

TREES: Studied for identification, for their beauty,
changes with the season,* fruit, benefits. (L. N, 173, etc.)
Hard maple,* oak,* elm, chestnut.* Observe the leaf colors,*
the beauty of masses of foliage. Pick out the various colors.
Try to associate them with particular trees — especially the
maple and elm. Collect leaves to use in art work. Observe
the landscape during the waning season, and note the
changes, the beauty in each aspect. (L, XQ, 216.)

FLOWERS: Visit the school garden and note the kinds
still in blossom, learning the names of the commoner kinds.
Note fragrance and beauty. Collect, and arrange bouquets.
Gather the autumn sunflowers,* asters,* daisies,* golden-
rod,* and dandelion.* Learn their common names. Note
the abundance of these wild flowers, and the masses of
color they produce, their beauty in their natural situations.
Gather bouquets for school. Observe them going to seed-
dandelion. Blow off the fruits, see them sail.* Collect other
seeds that sail— milkweed,* thistle.* (M, N.)

WINTER

ANIMALS. •

MAMMALS: Milk and meat (S, T), the dairy (R, T).
Visit a barnyard, observe the feeding, etc. of the cows * and
calves. Go into the barn and note arrangement for the care
of the cattle. Visit dairy, note milking, cans, etc. Study
the benefits we derive from the cow — milk, meat, leather,
butter, cheese. Simple study of how these things are

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 407

prepared and brought to us. Visit meat market. (D, R,
S, T, U).

About Christmas consider the deer.* (F, U.) Where
found, food, fleetness, enemies, hunting (U). Visit zoo-
logical garden or park where deer are kept. Rabbit.* Have
a tame rabbit in school, feed it and care for it. Make a hutch
for it. Observe its general appearance, color, hopping, feed-
ing. Let children be on the lookout for wild rabbits, and
tell their observations. (E, C.) Note the fur.

Examine the fur garments of the children. What kinds
of furs are represented? Tell about trapping and hunting,
(S, U) fur animals. (E, F.) Sheep,* chiefly in its relation
to clothing. Observe sheep if possible. Show wool on the
hide, shorn wool, spun and woven, and dyed. Refer to
the warmth of furs and woolen clothing, (D, S, T, R, U.)
Refer to primitive man,* and discuss his food and clothing.
Refer to the Indian. (U, W.)

BIRDS : Note that all the birds have not flown away. On
field trips, and incidentally, let the children observe the
birds. By color charts teach them to recognize the blue jay,*
nut hatch, chicadee,* and the English sparrow. Note their
beauty, cheerfulness, the sounds they make, their food, where
they stay at night. (H.) The sparrow is especially easily
observed about the school and homes, and everywhere on
the streets (120). The scarcity of food in the snow-covered
fields brings many of the wild birds into the towns, where
they may be fed and made less wild. Let the children show
their sympathy for the birds by feeding them crumbs, etc.
(See chapter X.) (113, 478.)

FISH : Have goldfish * in an aquarium. Let the children
help take care of the fish. Observe the beauty and grace of

4o8 NATURE-STUDY

the fish in swimming. Note feeding. Note general shape,
etc. (I.) Fish as food. Brief talks on fishing. Primitive
man's methods of fishing. (I, U, T, also 46, 49, 42.)

PLANTS.

GARDENING: Planting bulbs of tulip* and hyacinth.*
Care of potted plants and window-boxes. (235, 224, 229,

221.)

TREES: Note the winter landscape,* the bare trees.*
Observe the oak and elm, and try to see general typical form
of each, and identify. (L.) Observe the contrast of pines *
and balsams* (L, 173, etc.) with the other trees. Note
characteristic shape, mode of branching, needles* and cones,*
and resinous nature. Note their beauty, frosted and laden
with snow. Collect cones and twigs. Especially appropri-
ate near Christmas.

SPRING
INANIMATE.

SPRING WEATHER: Greater warmth, melting of snow and
ice, awakening of vegetation and animals, the March wind,*
clouds,* rain,* running-water, the brook* — field lessons.
(X. V.) (See Weather above.) What the wind does for us.
Make windmills, kites, vanes. What the rain is good for.

THE BROOK: Where does the water in the brook come
from? Note its swiftness, how it carries things along.
Make toy boats to float upon it. Note the quiet pools, the
little falls, the round pebbles — gather some. The beauty of
the brook.

ANIMALS.

BIRDS: Identify the returning birds, (H, 95, etc.) Let
the children vie with one another in reporting new arrivals.

A GRADED COURSE OF 'NATURE-STUDY 409

In field lessons observe and identify. Note habits, song,
food, nest building,* eggs,* care of young. Emphasize the
beauty and song of birds. Try to have children associate
songs and calls with particular birds. (io8> in, 112, 120,
478, 113, 109.) List: Crow,* robin,* blue-bird,* blackbird,
redheaded woodpecker.* (no.) Let the children put out
bits of string, hair, feathers, etc. for the robins, sparrows,
bluebirds, and wrens. Teach boys the wrong of robbing
nests, stoning birds, etc.

Have hen and chickens * at the school. Let children care
for them. Observe parental care of the old hen. Food.
Visit a poultry yard, and note different kinds of chickens,
etc. Note the beauty and the crowing of the cock. What
the hen gives us : Eggs, meat, feathers. Why does the hen
scratch? How should we care for chickens? (G, S, R.)

FROGS : Take the class to a ditch or pool where there are
frogs' eggs. Observe where they are placed. Collect some
and place in jars or aquaria — only a few in a jar — and let
them hatch and develop. The children should make in-
formal observations of the changes.* Have a frog in a vi-
varium, (24). Feed it worms and insects. Observe how it
eats. Care for it. (I.)

EARTHWORMS: When the frost comes out of the ground
observe the return of earthworms. Collect some, and put
in a worm cage and feed. Observe. (B.)

INSECTS: Visit a hive, and observe the bees at work.
Better still if an observation hive is accessible. Observe
bees in the flowers, laden with pollen. Simple study of the
form of the bee, its social life, and honey gathering. (J,

144, I33-)
Observe an ant-hill, noting numbers, cocoons, feeding,

410 NATURE-STUDY

working, Prepare an ant cage (Chapter XIV, 47, 126, 481)
and feed, and observe in the school-room. (J, 136, 132.)

PLANTS.

TREES: (L, 173, etc.) With the children gather pussy-
willows,* and place them in water in the school-room.
Force buds of horse-chestnut,* lilac, maple. Observe the
unopened buds and follow the changes. Note the changes
in the landscape owing to the growth of grass and tree buds.
Trees have flowers: Apple,* plum,* willow, oak, maple,
lilac.* (L, 175, etc.) Identify the trees studied in the fall
and the new trees mentioned. Teach that fruit and seed
come from the flower. Observe this in the plum, apple,
etc. Thus there is use as well as beauty in a flower. (K, L.)
Plant apple seed, acorn, maple fruit, etc.

GARDENING : Make window-boxes, prepare soil, and plant
Lima beans, peas, corn, grain, flower seeds. Teach proper
way of sowing, or planting, watering, etc. Try to note con-
ditions necessary by withholding water and heat from some
of the seeds, and note that seeds fail to grow. Observe
the growth of the seedlings,* how they cast their skins, etc.
Make a simple glass germinator (chapter XVII) and show
how the seed swells, bursts, and how the little plant emerges.
Make study simple and observational. Plant acorns, plum
pits, apple seeds, maple fruits, and try to cultivate them to
set out later. The flower seeds also may be started for later
transplanting out in the school-garden. (K, Q, 221, 222, 229,
234, 235, 237, etc.)

The School- Garden : This grade should have a plot of
its own for a class, or group beds. The heavier work of
spading, fertilizing, and raking should be done by the

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 411

upper grades or some one else. Let the children take an
active part in the selection of seeds and the planning of the
beds. Let them mark off the beds for different crops, and
do the sowing or planting as far as they are able. Sow early
vegetables such as lettuce and radish. Later, when safe,
transplant the nasturtium, sweet peas etc., started in the
window-boxes. Plant pumpkins and popcorn. Perhaps
lay out a miniature farm with different grains. (See Chapter
XVI.) The children should do the weeding, watering, train-
ing, etc.

SECOND GRADE

AIM AND METHOD: These are practically the same for
this grade as for the first. The children are now able to
express themselves better, and more can be got from them
in descriptions, oral and written. Drawing can also be
used more in this grade. More may be done with the rela-
tions of animals and plants to their surroundings, and to
each other, and something with the observation of the opera-
tion of inanimate forces. The plants and animals identified
last year should be reviewed briefly, and new lists added.

Suggestions for art-study in connection with nature-study — see p. 57.
The asterisk indicates subjects suitable for art treatment. The letters indi-
cate primary references, p. 511; the numbers, general reference list, p. 521.

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

INDUSTRIAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL: Clothing, materials
used, from what animals or plants derived, how prepared.
(S, T, U.) Chiefly in connection with the proper topics
below. How our houses are built, the materials used, and
the trades employed. (S, T, U.) Compare with primitive

412 NATURE-STUDY

man. Picture him under primitive conditions providing
his necessities.* (U.) Fire, how kindled, uses, primitive
method of making. (S. U.) Take up in winter.

Domestication of animals, how brought about, benefit to
the race from this. What animals were tamed. (U, D, 60.)
Uses: Skins, leather, meat, milk, as beasts of burden. (S,T,
U, R.) Nomadic * and pastoral life,* illustrated by de-
scription of the life of children in other lands and times.
(U, W, R, V.)

Modes of travel, routes determined by natural features,
idea of trade and transportation of commodities. (U, V, W.)
Rural and city life, illustrated largely from childhood life.
Point out some of the advantages and pleasures of each.
(R, V.) Children in other lands. Idea of climate and
notions of geography. (W.)

WEATHER: Seasonal changes in temperature, etc. (X, V.)
Changes produced in the landscape,* note varying beauty,
colors. (X,L.) Effects on plant and animal life — the
preparation for winter, ripening of fruits and seeds, falling
of leaves,* migration of birds, hibernation of frogs and other
animals, the winter sleep of trees, the awakening, flow of
sap, bursting buds, return of the birds, and awakening of
frogs, etc. Farmer's work* in different seasons. Fuel and
clothing, and the weather. (X, K, I, B 6, R, V.)

Learning to read the thermometer,* freezing and boiling
points. Experiments to show evaporation, condensation.
(X, V, 250, etc.) Observe clouds,* rain,* snow,* ice, frost *
on the window, wind,* when these phenomena occur. Dis-
cuss their effects, their relation to child sport,* the uses of
each in nature, and to man. Personify them to bring out
their active character as natural forces. Apply the experi-

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 413

ments in physics to their simple explanation. (X, V, 327,
328, 326.)

Keep weather charts for short intervals at different sea-
sons, recording temperature, wind direction, cloudiness,
rain or snow, sunshine, the children making the observations,
and record. Associate certain kinds of weather with certain
directions of the wind. (X, V, 10.) In connection with
weather study develop the idea of climate — cold, hot, dry,
moist, reading stories of child life in other parts of the world.
(V, W.)

EARTH-STUDY: In connection with house construction
study building-stones, the kinds used, where they come from.
Observe if possible boulders in the fields, ledges of rock,
quarries, and visit a stone cutter, or observe the work on a
building under construction. Not much can be expected
in this grade in identification of the stones. (S, T, V, 316,
339, 343.) Note other uses made of stones — fences, monu-
ments. Collect specimens, especially polished pieces.

In spring observe the running waters from the melting
snow. Study the brook.* Note how it carries along float-
ing sticks, etc., and mud and sand. Observe the muddy
rills running into it down the banks and sides of the ravine.
Note the channels washed out by the rills. Bring out the
fact that the valley of the brook was also formed in this way
by the brook. Observe falls, rapids, pools, and sand-bars,
but do not go into details with them. Visit a hill. Note
difficulty in climbing. Note the broadening of the view.
Note how streams and roads go around rather than over.
Show how the hills are an obstacle in travel; the ravines, and
valleys easy to follow. Visit a lake.* Note its beauty of
waves and reflections. Note its location amid hills. Note

414 NATURE-STUDY

the waves, how they dash and chafe on the shore, seen espe-
cially well at a bluff. Refer to the uses made of the lake,
the childhood sports * connected with it. Visit a river if
possible. Compare with a brook previously studied. Ob-
serve valley, erosion, sand-bars, etc. Climb an elevation
and observe the valley. Note the river winding through it.
Discuss the uses made of the river in transportation, water
supply, boating,* bathing,* fishing,* harvesting ice, etc. In
a similar manner observe other earth features — mountain
and plain, illustrated if possible by local topography. Ref-
erences: V, 320, 328, 338, 343, etc.

ASTRONOMY: Simple talks about the moon,* stars,* and
sun,* their beauty and the benefits derived from them. Note
changing length of day. (Y, 388, etc.)

HYGIENE: Clothing in different seasons. How not to
catch cold. How to breathe properly. How to sit, walk, and
stand properly. (368 etc.)

AUTUMN
ANIMALS.

MAMMALS: The dog.* A sympathetic study of dogs,
their friendship and faithfulness to man, their uses as
watch-dogs, shepherds, hunting-dogs, and as pets. How we
should treat them. Some different kinds of dogs, — show
pictures, special qualities. Stories about dogs. What a
dog eats. Observe teeth of a pet dog in school. Note lap-
ping of milk or water, gnawing a bone, swallowing a piece of
meat. Make a study of a dog's feet. Compare the general
appearance of different dogs, note differences. Stories show-
ing the intelligence, etc. of dogs. How does a dog express
different moods? (C, 60, 58, 413, 414.)

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 415

Squirrel,* chipmunk,* gopher.* Observe, if possible,
outdoors. Note the places where they live. If possible note
the food they eat, their manner of running, sitting, climb-
ing, their calls, their homes. Storing up food. Winter
sleep. Try to tame the squirrels in the parks, or groves near
the school, feed them nuts, corn, etc., and do not frighten
or injure them. (E, 74, 75, 78, 79.)

Fox * (in connection with poultry) : Preying upon poultry,
shyness and cunning. Stories about the fox, where he lives,
young foxes. What dogs look somewhat like a fox? Make
a comparison of the general appearance and the habits of
dogs and foxes. They are "relatives." (F, 61, 67, 37, 25.)

BIRDS: Ducks* and geese.* Visit a duck-pond,* or
poultry yard, and observe the swimming, dipping, feeding,
waddling of these birds. Note their sounds. Feed them.
Observe their bills, feet, wings, feathers. Do they get wet
in the water? What are they good for? Refer to wild
ducks and geese, and their domestication. The fox enemy.
(G, R, S.) Care of poultry.

The "chicken" hawk: Observe flight, soaring. Food
of hawks. All hawks are not injurious, most of them do
good. How? (H, 99, 120, 100.)

Eagle: Pictures and stories. Home, nest, food, prey-
ing, soaring. Compare the pictures of a hawk and an eagle.
Note the curved bills, the long curved claws. Hawks and
owls are "birds of prey," or "robbers." (H, 120, 100, 68.)
Associate the eagle with the U. S. flag, coins,* etc.

Migration of birds: Observe the great flocks of black-
birds. The gradual disappearance of other birds. How
long do the swallows stay? The robins? Give some idea
of the lands to which the birds go by reading stories of those

416 NATURE-STUDY

regions, their climate, vegetation, etc. Show pictures. Why
do the birds not stay? Do all the birds fly south? (H, 108,
100, W.)

INSECTS: Life history of butterfly and moth: Observe
caterpillars of milkweed, and cabbage butterflies in field,
also find caterpillars * of cecropia moth, the wooly bear, etc.
Cage and feed them. Observe spinning of cocoons, and,
perhaps, if not too late in the season, the emergence of the
milkweed and cabbage butterflies. Be sure the children
see that the caterpillar is only the baby moth or butterfly.
Note general plan of a butterfly. Note its beauty, grace-
ful flight, its feeding on flowers.* Collect cocoons,* note
where they are found, bring them into school, and keep
them till spring when they may open. (J, 129, 130, 136, 134,
149, 150.) Send for eggs of the silkworm (see chapter XIV)
and try to rear them through the life cycle.* (See last ref-
erences, also W, T, S.) Brief study of silk. Try to unravel
cocoon.

Observe grasshoppers * in field and cage. What do they
eat? How do they use their jaws? Note head, chest,
abdomen with rings, wings, legs, especially the last pair.
Observe the jumping and flying. Catch crickets and keep
them in the school-room. Hear them chirp. How do they
do it? Compare them briefly with grasshoppers. What
are their habits? Study beetles as to their hard shell, the
harm they do (potato-beetle). Find ground beetles. Study
flies and mosquitoes briefly as troublesome pests. Dragon-
fly * : Beauty, swiftness, and grace in flight. Common
names, uses, not dangerous. Observe the gauzy-veined
wings, iridescent eyes. Found generally near the water.
Bees: Observe general appearance, note buzzing flight, feed-

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 417

ing among the flowers, pollen baskets on the legs, pollen
dusted on their hairy bodies. Compare the bumble-bees *
with them. Bumble-bees may be kept in a cage and fed
with honey or sweet water. Also observe the wasps * on the
flowers or on the windows. Do they resemble the bees?
How ? How different ? Collect wasp nests * and open one.
Note the paper walls, cells, larvae. Compare with bee
comb. (J, 129, 130, 136, 132, 47, 137, 15, 33 34, 146.)

SPIDERS:* Observe outdoors, webs, spinning, catching
insect, beauty and symmetry of web. Have a school-room
spider. Observe, feed. Teach children not to fear spiders.
(J, i3oa, 131, 47.)

FROGS AND TOADS: Have children find and bring them
in. Vivarium. Care, food, water. Habitat of frogs, food,
uses. Enemies. Feed the toad * worms and insects; ob-
serve how it licks the food up. Observe burrowing. Can
you easily find it when partly buried in soil ? Why ? Toads
do not [cause warts and are not poisonous. What are they
good for? Do not kill frogs and toads for the "fun" of it
or because you think them harmful. (I, 24, 33, 34, 47, 26.)

Aquarium stocking: Collect water insects, crayfish, min-
nows, clams, snails, and keep in aquarium. (See page 165.)
Use for informal observation. (47, 33, 34, 93, i.)

PLANTS.

GARDENING : Visit the school or other garden. Observe
the effects of drought, weeds, and insects. Observe the
latter. Collect bouquets * and arrange artistically for the
school-room. Train up vines, pull or cut weeds, and get
garden in as good condition as possible after the summer's
neglect. Later, gather vegetables and seeds. Put seeds into

418 NATURE-STUDY

labeled packages for sowing next season. Later, observe the
effect of frost on flowers and vegetables, protecting some.
Which are the least hardy ? Which hardy ? Plant fall bulbs,*
(tulips) and mulch them for the winter. (229, 221, seed
catalogues.)

HARVESTING: Garden vegetables,* kinds, uses, 'storage.
Visit school, and other gardens. (P, R, S.) Grains: Visit a
farm, if possible, observe harvesting,* threshing.* Learn
to recognize different kinds of grain. Primitive threshing.*
Observe where the kernels grow. Uses of different kinds.
Uses of straw. The story of a loaf of bread — briefly.
(P, R, S, V.) Collection of different kinds of nuts.* Nut-
ting picnic.* Observe animals there.* (N. S.)

FRUITS: Visit a fruit store.* Note different kinds. Study
some.* Edible portion and the pits, stones, seeds. Save
these for planting. Preserving by canning, and drying.
Beauty, fragrance, flavor, and sweetness of fruit. (N, S,
3OI> 3°4, 3TI> 368> 222.)

TREES: Review, those learned last year. Add horse-
chestnut, *apple,* pear,* cherry, peach,* walnut,* but-
ternut. Note their general appearance, leaf,* fruit.*
Autumn colors, changes,* beauty. Note typical color*
of maple, elm, sumach. Observe leaf fall.* Observe
wind playing with the fallen leaves.* Note the buds ready
for winter.* (L, 216, 161.)

FLOWERS AND WEEDS: Review the flowers learned last
fall. Observe the different kinds of wild asters,* sunflowers,*
and goldenrods.* Collect for the school-room. Note beauty
of roadside, copse,* and pastures. Thistle:* Spines, flowers,
seeds. Milkweed :* Pods and seeds, collect for school. (M,
K, N.) Make a chart of seeds that fly.* What are seeds for ?

A GRADED COURSE OF MATURE-STUDY 419

What are the sails or wings for ? Weeds : Plantain,* dande-
lion,* daisy,* purslane. What are weeds? Why objection-
able? How do these weeds injure? Study them suffi-
ciently to be able to recognize them — root, leaf, flower, seed.
Why do the dandelions grow so abundantly everywhere?
Examine the lawn for weeds. (222, 228, 231, 240, 256.)

WINTER

ANIMALS.

MAMMALS : Sheep * in its relation to man. Wool,
shearing, spinning, weaving, very simply. Clothing. Stories
about these processes. Care of sheep. The shepherd
and his dog.* (D, R, S, T, V.) Our dependence on lower
animals.

The Wolf:* Enemy of sheep. Stories. Strength and
boldness. Home. Compare with dog in general character
and appearance. The pelt is used for robes and coats.
Hunting stories.* (U, 433, 444, 277.) Bear:* General
form, fur, paws, strength, food, den, winter sleep. Taming
cubs. Stories. (F, 25, 17, St. Nicholas, 435.)

Deer:* Visit deer park or zoological garden. Note grace,
fleetness, and beauty. Food. Males, does, and fawns.
Antlers, shape, growth, uses. Stories of primitive man and
Indians hunting the deer.* Hiawatha.* (F, U, 69, 68.)

BIRDS: (H. 113, 109, 478.) Those that stay. (See
Winter, First Grade, same birds, and same treatment.) Add
hawks, owls,* doves,* downy woodpecker,* and snowbirds.
Identification study of these both in school and out. Feed
the birds on the school ground or at home. Learn about
the habits of owls, their homes, food, beaks, bills. Owls
belong with the hawks to the "robbers" or birds of prey.

420 NATURE-STUDY

FISH: Keep aquarium. Goldfish,* minnows,* etc. Feed.
Observe the swimming, feeding, breathing. Use of tail.
Colors, scales, fins. Fish shape, compare different kinds.
Discuss fishes as food, fishing,* primitive man's method.
(I> i5» 33> 34, etc., U.)

PLANTS.

GENERAL: Outdoors observe the winter aspect* of de-
ciduous trees. Try to identify those learned in the fall in
foliage. Note the characteristic branching.* (L, 173, etc.)
Compare the evergreens * with the last. Note their beauty,
shapes, needles,* cones,* resin. Study the cedar, cedar-wood.
(L, 173, 220, etc.)

Discuss winter condition of buds, roots, bulbs,* seeds —
"sleeping," protection from the cold by the snow, leaves,
etc. Bring in some lilac, plum, willow twigs, and try to wake
them up, placing them in water. (K, L.)

Flax and Cotton : Show in natural form, discuss in simple
way the general process of getting the fibre, spinning, weav-
ing, dyeing. Examine and distinguish cloth made from
these fibres. Other uses of cotton. Stories of where the
cotton grows. Show how we depend upon nature for our
clothing. (S. T, V, W.)

GARDENING : Window-boxes and potted plants. Prepara-
tion of soil. (229, 221, 235.) Wandering Jew, geranium, prim-
rose are good for indoor culture, also hyacinths * and tulips,*
and daffodils.* Plant seeds of fruits, nuts, pits, and try to
raise for later transplanting. Butternut or walnut are good.
Early in spring or in late winter start seeds of flowers for
planting in the garden, also vegetables. Lettuce, nasturtium,
pansy, zinnia, verbena are good for this grade. The children

A GRADED COURSE OF1 NATURE-STUDY 421

are to do practically all this work, and to have the care of
the plants.

SPRING
ANIMALS.

MAMMALS: Sympathetic study of the horse,* show-
ing what it does for us,* and how we ought to care for
and treat it. Various uses in the city and on the farm.
Observe horses Note different kinds — draught, carriage,
race horses, ponies. Visit a farm yard or stable. Observe
how the horses are cared for and fed. Their food. Call atten-
tion to abuses of horses by drivers overloading, too fast driv-
ing, too tight a check, not enough food, etc. Read parts of
" Black Beauty." Talks and stories about the intelligence
of the horse. Observe how a horse uses his ears. What
is the tail good for? Is it right to dock a horse? Note
the hoofs. Why do we put shoes on them? Visit a black-
smith or horseshoer. (D, 40, 60.)

BIRDS: (H, 95, 96, 100; 107 to 125, 478.) Identification
study. Review the spring birds learned in the first grade.
Meadow-lark,* catbird, wren,* oriole,* bobolink,* martins.
Observe these and learn about their ways. Return of the
birds. Make a bird calendar. Observe the wild ducks
and geese, robins,* blackbirds, etc. as they come back. Note
their songs and calls, try to identify by these alone. Em-
phasize the beauty element, and develop sympathy for birds,
a desire to help and protect. In the nesting time hang up
hair, wool, threads, feathers, etc. for wrens, sparrows, blue-
birds, etc. Observe the birds at work on the nest.* Eggs.*
Observe but do not steal. Observe young, feeding, solici-
tude of parents. Protect and feed young birds fallen out
of the nest, perhaps taming them, but not keeping them in

422 NATURE-STUDY

cage permanently. Set out at school or home a drinking
trough. (Attracting birds: Chapter X, 113, 109, 478.
Food: 1 20. See page 124.)

INSECTS : Observational, informal lessons on June beetle,
ground-beetle, potato-beetle, butterflies (when do they first
appear?), cecropia moths* (observe the school cocoons).
Insects on the flowers (willows, maples, hepaticas, pasque-
flowers, etc.) Visit a beehive, and note the renewal of activ-
ity. (J, K, 156, etc.)

FROG: Observe the first pipings of the frogs. Refer to
their winter sleep. Find eggs of frogs and toads. Make
informal observations on the aquarium tadpoles,* fish, in-
sects, etc. Observe tadpoles in the pools at different times
in the spring. Do not injure frogs, and especially toads.
Pick up toads and place them in your garden to catch grubs,
etc. Tame one, feed it. (I, 24.)

PLANTS.

GENERAL: Study of whole plants* (see spring flowers),
briefly referring to use of root, stem, and flower. (K, 156,
158, 161, 222.) Observe the insects on the flowers, (K,
M, 156, etc., 207, 216.) Simply refer to their getting nectar
and pollen, but omit the pollination. Let children taste
the nectar in the spurs and tubes of the columbine, honey-
suckle, sweet pea, etc. Rub from marsh marigold, roses,
etc., some of the pollen, and note its powdery nature.

TREES: Identification study. (L, 173, etc.) Review
trees learned in the fall. Observe the bud development.*
Force in school. Observe the flowers of the plum,* apple,*
willow,* poplar, maple.

Special study of the sugar-maple.* Sap. Collect sap

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 423

and make syrup and sugar. (L, S, T, 220.) Uses of trees
for fuel and lumber, nuts, fruit, sap, etc. The story of a
pine board — very simple. The Carpenter.* Observe at
work. (L, S, T, 220, 219.) Characteristic form and
branching of different trees.* Trees in masses,* their beauty,
landscape effects.* Observe changes* in forest or grove
with the advancing season. (L, 216.)

FLOWERS AND WEEDS : Review those learned last spring.
Add pasque-flower,* wind-flower,* columbine,* violets,*
Dutchman's breeches. Weeds : Dandelion,* plantain,* purs-
lane. (M, K, 168, etc., and for weeds: 222, 228, 231, 230.)
Let children collect, observe where the flowers grow. Do
not waste. Make a simple study of characteristic features
of flower,* leaf,* stem,* and root.* Learn the parts * of a
typical flower. Observe the development from flower to
fruit * — apple, plum, dandelion. Purpose of flowers. The
pleasure we get from them. Insect visitors — see above.
Press the flowers studied, and make a decorated booklet,
with brief description of place, appearance, etc., arranged
in the order of time of flowering.

GARDENING: Germination studies.* (See chapter XVI.)
Note conditions of moisture, and temperature necessary.
Try to raise some seeds without water and without warmth.
Make glass germinators, and observe the behavior of the seed-
lings * in coming out. Plant seeds in sawdust or, better,
in soil, and observe later stages of the seedling. Peas, beans,
corn, grains, squash, sunflower, radish are good. Get fresh,
seasoned seeds. (K, 156, 154, 190, 196, 222, 228, 231, etc.)

School-garden: Make class or group beds.* (Q, 237,
234, 240, Chapter XVI, 481.) Perhaps lay out a miniature
farm* with different crops, vegetables, and flowers. The

424 NATURE-STUDY

coarser work of spading, etc., to be done by upper classes or
some one else. This grade to select seeds, and have a part in
planning the garden.. Let them mark off the plots, sow and
transplant, water, weed, etc. Teach right methods. (221 , 2 29,
240, 222, etc., seed catalogues. For flowers and vegetables
in this grade see page 295.) Transplant seedlings started
in school. Begin a tree nursery. (220, 240.)

Dig up and transplant, in borders, school-garden or window-
boxes, wild flowers — hepatica, bloodroot, columbine, vio-
lets, etc.

Encourage the children to help their parents in the mak-
ing of home, flower, and vegetable gardens.

Remove the mulching from the tulip beds.

THIRD GRADE

AIM AND METHOD : While these are, in the main, the same
as in the first and second grades, the children are now older
and are capable of more observation and reasoning. They
are more interested in the practical application of their
knowledge, hence they should be taught more of manual
training, geography, and hygiene. Though field work should
be continued as much as possible, more indoor study can be
made, relying somewhat upon previous observations and
experiences of the child, and using pictures to a greater ex-
tent than before to represent the thing studied. But the ac-
tual object should be used whenever possible as the basis of
the lesson. More can be done with the direction for prelimi-
nary observations by the children. Less familiar types may
be studied. The principle of variety need not be carried
so far as in lower grades, and there may be more of a se-

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 425

quence in the lessons. Causal relations, adaptations,
comparisons, and grouping can be worked out a little more.
The method of presentation, although it should still be some-
what conversational, should be more formal. The collect-
ing instinct may be utilized, and the sympathetic attitude to-
ward nature should be preserved and extended to an active
protection of birds, flowers, etc. Develop the aesthetic ap-
preciation of nature. The work of this grade is immediately
preliminary to formal geography, hence the geographic ele-
ment is emphasized. The nature work may be aided by
written tasks, drawing, painting, etc., and by supplementary
nature readers.

For suggestions for art-study in connection with nature-study, see p. 57.
The asterisk indicates subjects suitable for art treatment. The letters indi-
cate primary references, p. 511; the numbers, general reference list, p. 521.

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

INDUSTRIAL: Review briefly our chief needs and the
sources of food, shelter, materials, clothing. Study of textile
art.* Make a study of Indian life — Hiawatha.* Apply
the above. (U, S, N.) Discuss division of labor and trades,
origin and advantages. (U, T.) Domestication of animals,
advantage over hunting and fishing. Planting of crops,
advantages. (D, U, 60.) Shepherd life* (Arabs, early
Jews). (U, V, T, 60.) Agriculture and man, origin, advan-
tages of the farmer, dependence of others upon him. (U, V,
T, R.) City life,* stores, transportation, lighting, etc., briefly
considered. City industries. Relation of the city to the
country. Commerce. (V, T.) Stories of people in other
lands to give idea of different climates, products, and modes
of living. (W, V.)

426 NATURE-STUDY

EARTH-STUDY: Home geography, land and water forms,
the lay of the land. School-yard drainage. Brook study:*
Erosion, sediment, deposits, falls, rapids. Apply to river.
Observe uses of the river.* Study of valley in relation to
transportation, settlement. Weathering of rocks and soil
formation. This should all be studied in the field. (V, 326,
327, 328, 335, 337.)

Earth water: Source. Springs and wells. City water supply.
Purification from sediment (experiments.) (As last, and 263,
269, 264.)

Clay * : Properties and uses, where found. Visit clay bank,
brickyard. The making of bricks. The mason.* Observe
masons at work. (T, S, V.) Coal: Where does it come
from? Uses in home, engine, factory, smithy. Alittle about
a coal mine. The miner. (V, T, 348, 330, 337.) Common
metals : Learn to recognize. Simple experiments on their
elasticity, hardness, etc., and illustrations of their uses. A
little about primitive man before and after his discovery of
the use of metals. Go about the schoolroom and find
articles made of metals. Make a list. Do the same at
home, naming the metal used. (V, U, T, S, 263, 269, etc.)
Table salt— the story of. (V, 263, S.)

WEATHER: Seasonal changes, effects upon landscape,*
plants, and animals. (A, 6.) Study of moisture in the air,
clouds,* rain,* snow,* frost crystals, ice.* Illustrate as far
as possible by simple experiments in physics. Note the
beauty of each phenomenon and the benefits we derive
from it. Also show the benefit to plants and animals. Learn
the use of the thermometer,* the freezing and the boiling
point. Keep a record of cloudiness, rain, wind, and tempera-
ture for a short time each season. Which wind brings the

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 427

cold, etc. Learn directions. (X, V, 327, 326, 328, etc.) Con-
nect with nature myths.*

ASTRONOMY: (Z, V.) Sun's rising and setting, position
and times in different seasons. Length of day, noon shadow,
day and night. The north star, how used? How found?
Big and Little Dippers, and other simple constellations. The
beauty of the stars. Read star myths.* Brief reference to
the phases of the moon.

PHYSICS: How we heat our buildings. Kinds of fuel
used, sources. (S, V.) Stoves, fireplaces, furnaces, hot
water and steam — very simply explained, mainly the con-
struction. (258, 250, 257, etc., S.) Primitive method of
heating. (U.) Other uses of fire. (T, S.) The ther-
mometer, parts, scale, uses. (251, 250, 257, etc.) Cook-
ing. (Z, 304, 303.) How our homes are lighted. Com-
pare with primitive man. (U.) Simple study of candle,*
lamp,* electric and gas light. (S, T, 250, etc.)

Experiments in evaporation, and condensation of water,
melting and freezing. (V, X, 2 5 1 , 2 50, 2 5 7 . ) Make crystals
of alum,* salt, and sugar from solutions, by cooling and evap-
oration. Show crystals of sugar and salt under a reading
lens. Show crystals of quartz; examine snow crystals *
in a storm. (V, T, 251, 250, 257, 263, 268.)

Make a simple study of the magnetic compass * and learn
to find directions with it. (V, 251, 250, 257, etc.) Use on the
ocean.

HYGIENE AND PHYSIOLOGY: What we eat and drink.
Should be pure and clean. The refrigerator — what we keep
in it, why? (S, N, O, P, Z.) What teeth are for, different
shapes and uses. Why we should chew well. Care of the
teeth. Cleanliness, bathing. Proper clothing. Avoidance

428 NATURE-STUDY

of colds. (S, T, Z.) Simple talks on our muscles and bones,
what they are for, and how to use them properly. Good
sports and exercise for children. Reading and writing post-
ure and hygiene. (Z, 368a, 372, etc.)

AUTUMN
ANIMALS.

MAMMALS: Detailed study of sheep * and goat * (D, R, S)
from the economic point of view, especially. Some study of
structure, covering, horns, hoofs. Observe if possible in
pasture * or barnyard. Domestication. (U, O.) Shepherd
life.* (U, R, V, T.) Shearing, cleaning, spinning, weaving,
and dyeing (the story of a dress or coat). The weaver.
Brief study of the development of the textile art. (U, S, T,V.)

BIRDS : Observe the habits of the birds in the fall. Rec-
ognize those learned last spring. Observe the migration.
Note when certain species, the barn swallows, for example,
leave. Some reasons for their going. Observe the black-
birds in the fields. What does the farmer think of them?
What do the swallows feed upon ? Where are they generally
to be seen? Why? Learn to recognize bobwhite,* thistle
bird,* humming-bird.* Observe habits of each and its food,
if possible. (H, 95 to 106 for identification and habits;
100, 1 08 for migration; 120, 246 "Some common birds"
for food. See page 119.) Have a canary* in school. Let
the children have the responsibility of its care. (C.) Collect
old nests and label them if known.

INSECTS: (J, 126 to 151, also 47, 33, 34, 18, etc.)

Life histories : Review rapidly that of the milkweed butter-
fly* and the cecropia moth.* Try to raise the cabbage
caterpillar to maturity. Collect cocoons, and hang up to

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 429

observe in spring. (127, 130, 134.) Make a study of the
life of the dragon-fly.* With the children collect large
nymphs of the dragon-fly in pools and ponds. Keep in aqua-
rium. Feed with mosquito wrigglers, small water shrimps,
etc. Observe the habits of the nymph. Some of the nymphs
may be observed emerging from their skin, a very interest-
ing sight for the children. Observe the wings of the dragon-
fly when first out, then the expansion. Observe the actions
of the adult. Uses. Mosquito wrigglers may be observed
in a similar manner to develop to maturity. (135.) In the
above insects the babies do not look at all like their parents,
but change marvellously in their growth. Find young grass-
hoppers without any wings. Compare them with the adults.
Here the babies resemble the parents from the beginning.
A little structure study. The locust :* Principal parts of
body, wings, legs. Observe the mouth, the eyes, the feelers.
Unfold the wings. Note their beauty and their veins. A
beetle:* Chief characteristics — hard wing covers, find del-
icate under-wings. Observe lady-bugs * flying or tucking
away their wings. Note hard shell on the outside of the
whole body. How many legs do beetles have? Grass-
hoppers ? Dragon-fly, adult : General shape of body, rings
on abdomen. Where are the legs and wings fastened?
How many legs? How many wings? How many has the
grasshopper? Note the gauzy, netted wings, observe flight.
Note the big eyes, the pretty colors that play on the eyes,
the colors of the body and wings. Do not fear the dragon-
fly. It is harmless and useful (why?). Butterfly: Great
wings, beautiful colors. Note the powdery scales that come
off, the hairy body, the knobbed feelers. Unroll the trunk
with a pin. Observe a butterfly feeding. (J. 47, 15, 24, 33.)

430 NATURE-STUDY

Visit a hive,* an observation hive, if possible. Observe
the great number of bees. Observe them at their work.
Note the pollen baskets on the returning bees. Observe
them collecting nectar and pollen from flowers. What in-
sects do we not like ? Which bite us or sting ? What insects
are troublesome in the house ? Why ? Examine the leaves
flowers and fruit, in the garden or orchard. See how worm-
eaten or injured they are by insects. Note the effects of the
potato beetle. Examine wormy apples. Find the little
caterpillar of the codling moth in the apple. Many insects
do us harm or eat our crops, etc. Make a list of those ob-
served. (148, 132, 136.) Collect with the class pond in-
sects— whirligig beetles, water boatmen, water striders,
water beetles, larvae of dragon-flies and water beetles, electric-
light bugs, etc., also other pond creatures — crayfish, clams,
snails,* etc., and put them in different aquariums with pond
plants, and make simple informal observations on them.
Keep goldfish, minnows, or other fish.* (For keeping aqua-
rium see page 165, also reference No. 47, 130, 126, 93.)

MISCELLANEOUS: Keep lizards,* toads,* turtles.* Ob-
serve. Refer to hibernation.

PLANTS.

GARDENING: Put garden in order after the summer's
neglect. Observe the harm done by insects, drought, and
wind. Collect flowers for school-room decoration.* Collect
the vegetables, etc. Collect seeds and put up in labelled
packages for next year. Give seeds away to those who have
none. Have a school-room exhibit of the things raised in the
school-garden. Set out bulbs (tulips, crocus) for spring. Later,
observe the effects of frost on different plants. Protect such

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 431

as are desired to save a while. Later, clean up the garden for
winter. Mulch the bulb bed. Protect the seedling trees.
(Chap. XVI, 229, 221, 240, Q.)

GENERAL: Gather garden products from school-garden.
Study them from the economic point of view. (P, R, S.)
How kept in the winter. How prepared for table. Special
study of the potato.* Dig up and see how the tubers grow.
Importance of potato as food. Simple study of starch. Try
to make starch from grated potato. (P, S, K, 222, 228.)
The potato a storehouse of starch food. What does the
potato grow tubers for?

Native fruits * and nuts :* Visit orchard or nut grove.
(S, N, R, 238.) Their edibility, beauty. What does the
tree grow fruit for? (K, 154, 156, etc.) Find the seed part
in different fruits. Plant some seasoned fruit-seeds. Briefly
tell the story of an apple-seed — life cycle of tree.

Note the development of flowers into fruit, the forma-
tion and the scattering of the seed. Observe and collect
seeds that sail,* seeds that "steal a ride," burs.* Make a
seed chart of each kind. How the wind helps seeds to travel.
How people and animals carry the burs. (N, K, 154, 156,
158, 161.)

TREES: Identification study: Review those learned in
previous years. Add pear, beech, hickory. (173, etc., L.)
Raspberry, gooseberry shrubs.

Autumn foliage,* landscape effects.* Color changes in
particular trees.* Collect, and make booklet with leaves
mounted and describing each tree represented, perhaps a
painting of the tree in color, and a drawing of it later
when bare. Note the buds on the twigs.* What is a bud ?
(L, 216, K.)

432 NATURE-STUDY

FLOWERS AND WEEDS: Review autumn flowers learned
previously. Add harebell,* thistle.* Note beauty of plants
as individuals and in masses, the colors in the prairies,
meadows, copses. Note the going to seed, and the sailing
seeds, and burs. Bring in wild flowers to school-room. Dig
up roots of wild sunflowers, asters, goldenrods, daisies, etc.,
and set them in borders or corners of the school ground or at
home. (M, 168, etc.) Thistle, burdock, sticktights, bur
marigold. Study the burs.* (268, etc., 154, 156, 246
" Weeds.")

WINTER
ANIMALS.

MAMMALS: Fur bearers: Muskrat, beaver,* mink, rac-
coon, bear.* Study the animals themselves as to general
appearance, homes, habits, food, uses. Briefly study the
nature of fur. Compare with hair and wool. Why do we
dress in furs ? Stories of primitive man,* Indians, Eskimo.
Examine children's wearing apparel for furs of different
kinds — remembering, however, that many trade names of
furs are misleading. Stories of trapping* and hunting.*
The story of the beaver appeals particularly to children.
(E, F, S, 78, 17, 28, 67, 433. 4340

The Reindeer * : In connection with Eskimo life. Ap-
pearance, qualities, uses. (F, W, 23, 26.)

BIRDS:* Winter residents. (H, 478.) Feed. Observe
habits, food, shelter. Make a list of the kinds that are to

be seen.

«

PLANTS.

Visit a greenhouse and note the temperature, the moist
air, and the plants. Conditions are tropical. Many of

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 433

the plants there — palms, lilies, orchids, were brought from
the tropics. Read about the south-land where the birds
are. Describe the climate and vegetation. The fruits that
grow there — oranges,* lemons,* pine-apples,* bananas,*
cocoanuts.* How the natives get them. How they come
to us. Make a simple study of these fruits. (O, V, W.)

Make a list of plants used for food, classified as fruit, nuts,
vegetables, grains, etc.; of plants that furnish us material
for clothing, of trees used for lumber. (S, N, O, P.) Make
a special study of flax. Have raw flax. Treat it for retting,
get out the fibre, spin, weave and dye it. (S, T.)

Observe evergreens.* Review names. Note beauty, espe-
cially when grown in clumps or groves. Examine for birds-
nests. Observe the birds going to bed in the evergreens.
They are much used by birds for shelter. (L, 173, etc.)
The story of a pine -board, simply told. The carpenter.
Observe one at work. Note tools. (S, T.)

GARDENING: See work for Grade II. Window-cultures:
Ferns, asparagus, umbrella plant, tulips,* hyacinths * are
good for the window. Start spring cultures. Start pansy,
bachelor's button, marigold, etc. Plant pieces of potato with
eyes, and observe where the growth takes place. Discuss
use of potato to the plant. Keep these for later transplant-
ing. An interesting experiment in the North is raising a
cotton plant from the seed. Send for good seeds. Plant
early indoors and set out in garden later. (Chap. XVI, Q,
221, etc.)

SPRING
ANIMALS.

BIRDS: Early in spring begin to look for the returning
birds. Make a bird calendar or book to record arrivals

434 NATURE-STUDY

by date. Later, the list should be looked over, and the early
and late arrivals compared as to probable food. Also
interest the boys in putting up bird boxes for wrens and
bluebirds. (Chap. X, 113, 109, 478.)

Identification study: Birds learned before and song spar-
row, phoebe, waxwing,* rose-breasted grosbeak.* Observe
general characteristics of each bird. Use color charts. Ob-
serve outdoors the habits, song, beauty. The nesting, and
the young. (H, 95, etc., 107, etc.) Do not harm, but pro-
tect. (113, 478.) Place nest materials for the birds. Set
out a drinking trough. Make one at the school. (See page

I43-)

In the study of the birds note more particularly adapta-
tions of feet and bills to food and mode of life. (108; 117,

34, 33-)

How birds help the farmer, gardener, and fruit raiser — as
insect eaters, (no, 108, 117, 120. See chapter IX.)

INSECTS: Observe insects in the spring flowers. (J, 200,
207.) In the garden note the cut-worms and the harm they
do. What is a cut-worm ? Dig up grub-worms — baby June
beetles. Tell briefly of the development. Observe adults.
(J, 132, 136, 126.)

MISCELLANEOUS: Informal observations of early frogs,
eggs, tadpoles, toads, and aquarium studies of clam, snail,
insects.

Brief study of the garter snake. Have one in a cage if
possible. Teach children not to fear or harm. These snakes
are not poisonous, and do good. How ? Make a simple study
of motions, coiling, scaly skin, shedding of skin, eyes with-
out lids, forked tongue (harmless). Try to overcome preju-
dice against this harmless reptile. (I, 33, 34, 17.)

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 435

PLANTS.

GENERAL: Simple study of what the root, stem, leaves,
and flowers of a plant are for. Examine typical examples of
these organs. Seedlings * are good for this. Why do we
water the plant? Observe delicate root-hairs on the roots
of seedlings grown on a blotter under glass. These are the
sucking hairs. Observe the sap. Where does it come from ?
Use? Do not try to teach the exact function of the leaves,
but show that they are essential to the plant, by cutting off the
leaves of a well-developed seedling as they appear. Note
how the plant finally dies. The purpose of the flower can be
observed by noting the progress * of a flower (sweet pea) to
the fruit. Open fruit and find seed. Flower plan,* stamens,
and pistils, parts named, and general appearance noted. (K.)

Simple experimental culture of seedlings to show that
plants need water, heat, and light for growth. Make very
simple, observational, informal. (K, 152, 156, 158, etc.)

Plants can move: Observe a morning-glory climb by
twining.* Observe a sweet-pea tendril catching a support.
Touch a sensitive plant.* (K, 154, 156.)

TREES: Review trees formerly learned. Distinguish*
hard and soft maple, boxelder, birch, cottonwood (compare
with willow). (173, etc.)

Shrubs: Lilac, snowball, flowering currant, berry shrubs.
(185, 189.)

Observe trees in masses — the orchard,* the grove, the
park, the forest.* Name all that you have learned.

Arbor Day: (See gardening below.)

FLOWERS:* Marsh marigold, buttercup, spring beauty,
dog tooth, violet, rose, Jack-in-the-pulpit. Associate them
with certain situations — marsh, woods, dry hills, etc.

436 NATURE-STUDY

Make a flower book or calendar, showing the spring flow-
ers in the order of their appearance. Paint the flowers.
Write simple description of each. (M, K, 168, etc.)

GARDENING : Remove mulch from bulb beds. Plan garden,
select vegetables and flower seeds. (See list p. 295.) Send
for seed catalogues. Make sketch or plan of the garden.
The older pupils should prepare the soil for this grade, but
these may assist, and do the finishing. Stake out group or
individual beds. Sow, plant, transplant, in season. Set out
the cotton (some in pots) and the potato slips. Make a
special study of the life cycle of the potato. Flax would also
be a good study for this grade. (Q, Chap. XVI, 221, etc.)
Make indoor experimental soil cultures with seedlings, using
sand, loam, fertilizer, clay, etc., and observing which do the
best. (222, 228, 196.)

Visit greenhouse and observe spring planting of the gar-
dener. Visit a truck-garden.

Teach responsibility for the care of beds and tools. Give
lessons in weeding, hoeing, watering. Study weeds in the
garden. Note effects.

Set out cuttings of coleus and geranium started indoors.

Arbor Day: Make cuttings of ivy and woodbine, and
set out around fences and buildings. (Chapter XVIII.) The
self -clinging woodbine should be used. Plant Boston ivy
and English ivy where hardy Add to the wild flower garden.

FOURTH GRADE

AIM AND METHOD : The children of this grade having a
better basis are able to study and understand more difficult
matter than those of the third grade. Their imagination is

A GRADED COURSE OF MATURE-STUDY 437

stronger and more active, their power of observation is
keener and exerts more restraint upon their imagination.
They can comprehend details better, and with their in-
creased reasoning power they are able to compare, group,
and generalize more successfully. But on the whole their
interests are not very different from those of the preceding
grade. Therefore read the suggestions at the head of the
outline for Year III, page 424. The economic side of nature-
study and the application of scientific principles interest this
grade more.

In this grade geography begins to diverge as a formal study.
Yet the close connection with nature-study requires a good
deal of correlation between the two. Some phases of the
geography can be more effectively taught as nature-study,
earth forces for example, and the plants, animals, and mineral
resources on which the great industries depend.

Suggestions for correlated art study — see page 57. The asterisk indicates
subjects for drawing, painting, etc. Numbers indicate general reference list,
page 521.

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

EARTH STUDY: Local physiographic features. (V, 326,
327, 328, etc.) Pebbles. Why they are round. Collect in
a brook * or along a lake shore.* Observe the rolling and
chafing of the pebbles. Experiment with angular soft stones,
and rub off the corners. (V, 326, 327, 328, etc.)

Clay: Begin in pottery to interest children in the nature
and origin of clay. Visit clay bed, brickyard, pottery. (343,
324, S32. 339-) The story of the potter. (U, S, T.)

Granite : Visit ledges, or observe boulder. Note bleached
appearance outside as compared with freshly broken pieces.
Note the pitting on the outside. This is due to the decay or

438 NATURE-STUDY

weathering. Clay comes from these places. What are the
forces of weathering? Note the variety of colors in the
granite, showing its composite nature. Study mica, feldspar,
quartz. Make very simple, observational. Learn to rec-
ognize typical limestone, sandstone, and shale. (343, 324,

332> 339-)

Collect and observe different soils. Keep for later cultural
experiments. Visit a quarry. Note the layers of rock,
springs, fissures, fossils. What are fossils? (343, 324, 332,
339.) Collect pieces of rock and fossils.

Begin a mineral collection. Put into it the rocks and
minerals studied above, also metals, and ores.

Metals: Gold, silver, iron. Simple study of how they
occur. The ores: Very simple explanation of extraction or
reduction of ores. What are these metals used 'for? (343,
332, 339, 320.) Which would you rather do without ? Make
a list of all the things made of iron. Compare primitive man
with us in respect to the use of iron. (U.)

WEATHER: Beauty of the seasons. Make a seasonal or
monthly record in color of the changes in a certain bit of
landscape. Make a book of it. Review atmospheric moist-
ure studied in Grade III. Develop idea of climate. (V, W.)
Make weather charts for several weeks in different seasons,
recording wind direction, daily temperature, cloud forms,
rain, snow, storms. Grandeur of storms. Uses of the wind,
snow, ice, rain. Simpler cloud forms. (X, V, 326, 327, 328,

329-)

PHYSICS: Conduction of heat: Why are handles of
teapots, stove-pokers, etc., hot? Illustrate experimentally
conductors and nonconductors. Why do we have a wooden
handle on a flat-iron? Why use holders of cloth for hot

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 439

things? Find more applications. Stoves, clothing, ice-
boxes, ice-houses. (251, 250, 257, etc.)

ASTRONOMY: (Y, 392, 398, 329, 400.) Simpler con-
stellations. Moon and its phases. Talks with illustrations
to show the relation of sun, earth, and moon.

PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE: List of staple foods. Why
we cook them. (S, Z, 303, 304.) Simple talk on what
happens to the food in the stomach. Hygiene of eating.
(Z, 368, etc.) Freshness of meat, fruits, etc., how preserved.
Clean kitchen, clean cellar. Why? (Z, 304, 209, 368, etc.)

Milk as food. Purity. (Z, 209, 368.)

Water: Sources, contamination, disease. Make very sim-
ple. (Z, 209, 368, 262.)

Temperance: Begin to develop an attitude for it. (Z,
368, etc.)

AUTUMN
ANIMALS.

MAMMALS : Observe, identify, and study the small rodents ;
squirrels * (red and gray), chipmunks,* gophers * (striped
and pocket), muskrat, rabbit,* rats, and mice. Note habits,
food, homes, colors, fur, teeth, claws, tails, and make some
comparisons in structure especially of teeth — they all gnaw.
The harm from these animals or their uses should be dis-
cussed. Hunting and trapping stories.* (E, 15, 33, 34, 25,
17, 61 (Story of " Raggylug" ), 277, 433, 434.)

BIRDS: The birds of prey: Hawks, great horned owl,*
barred owl,* screech owl, snowy owl, eagle.

Observe hawks soaring, perhaps find owls in hollow trees
in vicinity. Refer to thieving of these birds. What else do
they feed on? With bird charts study the sharp shinned
hawk, Cooper's hawk, the marsh hawk, the red-shouldered

440 NATURE-STUDY

hawk. Compare general appearance, especially note similar
beaks and claws. What are they used for? Look up the
food of these hawks and form an opinion as to the harmful-
ness of all hawks. What good do they do? What kind
of hawks should not be shot ? Consider the owls in a similar
way. Compare their feet and bills with those of hawks.
Hawks and owls are "relatives," and show a "family like-
ness." (H, 95, etc. 120.)

Swimming Birds: Tame wild ducks and geese. The fall
hunting season would be an appropriate time for this study.
Observe the birds brought in by hunters. Observe the tame
ducks and geese. Note their bills,* and feet,* their walk,
how they swim and dip with their long necks. What are
they dipping for? What else do they eat? Observe them
in the water. Do they get their feathers wet? Why? Try
a little experiment with oiled and unoiled chicken feathers
in water. Preening. Moulting. Feathers used by man.
The eider duck. For what other reasons do we keep ducks ?
Show picture of wild mallard.* Compare with the common
tame duck. Domestication. Show pictures of other kinds
of wild ducks, especially the teal and wood duck. Note
beautiful colors. Observe the migration of ducks. Can
tame ducks and geese fly? Why do they not fly away?
Where do the others go ? Study the swans * in the parks.
Note their purity and grace. Observe how skilfully they
swim. Are they graceful walkers? Why not? What is
the use of such feet? Refer to wild swans. Compare all
these birds as to general appearance, and especially as to
feet. These also show a "family likeness." (G, H, 95, etc.,
118, 120, 124.)

Game birds: Ducks, geese, bobwhite, ruffed-grouse,

A GRADED COURSE OF' NATURE-STUDY 441

prairie chicken. (H, 95, etc.) Brief study of their general
appearance, where found, how hunted. Brief explanation
of the reason for game laws. Show the justice in them.
Begin to develop an attitude in favor of such laws and a
willingness to abide by them. (113, 117, 120, 246 "Game
Laws.")

Observe and identify bank-swallows. Compare with
barn-swallows and martin.

INSECTS: Observe insects on flowers. Discuss in a
simple way pollination and the necessity for it in producing
fruit. (200, 207, 215, 156, 158, H.) Note the injury done
to garden plants and tree foliage by insects. Observe espe-
cially the cabbage caterpillar. Raise some to maturity.*
Note the potato beetle. Why do we put Paris-green on the
plants ? Grasshoppers : Observe outside and feed in cages.
Read or tell about grasshopper plagues and their effects.

(LiS2. J36> !48.)

Ants: Observe ant-hills. Overturn stones and boards,
and observe the inside of a nest. Note numbers, some winged
males and females, the whitish cocoons carried away by the
workers, the minute white eggs, the passage-ways. Feed
ants bits of meat, sugar, fruit. See them work. Stories of
ants' industry. Collect a canful of ants, cocoons, eggs, and
earth, and start an ant cage in the school. (See Chapter XIV.)
Observe, feed, and water. General structure of workers.*
Compare with them the small winged males, and the larger
winged females, "queens." Stories of ants' intelligence,
and social order. (J, 132, 133, 130, 47, 58.)

Informal observations on aquatic insects collected by
pupils and kept in aquarium — wrigglers, electric-light bug,*
dragon-fly larvae, etc. (47, J.) Observe empty cases of

442 NATURE-STUDY

cicada on tree trunks. It is probably too late to see the
emergence of the adult. Catch and cage cicadas.* Note
wings, eyes, " snare drum" on males. (J, 47, 132, 133, 33, 34.)
Note the shrill noise of the cicada on a hot day.

Bring in walking-sticks. Why so named? Where do
they live ? Are they easily seen ? Place one on some twigs.
Note how easily it escapes notice.* What advantage is it
to the insect? How many legs has it? Any wings? Note
feelers. Do not be afraid of it. It cannot bite or sting.
Keep some in a cage and feed on fresh oak and other leaves.
(J, 132, 136, 130, 54.)

MISCELLANEOUS: Collect crayfish, clams, snails, frogs,
toads, turtles,* and fish, and keep them in aquaria or vivaria.
Tree frogs are interesting.

Crayfish * : Note actions of living creature, swimming,
crawling, pinching, feeling with antennae. Feed bits of
meat, liver, etc. Observe the jointing of the body, the
hard shell, use of shell, the big pincers, the jointed legs,
Under back part of body note small blades used in swim-
ming forward. What is used in swimming backward?
Where do the crayfish live? Are they easily seen? Why?
If kept well long enough the crayfish may shed its shell,— -
a very interesting sight, and an opportunity for a lesson on
that subject. (B, I, 47, 33, 34, 93.)

Simple informal observation of the actions and habits of
the snail * and clam.* The pond snails are easily kept in
aquaria. Get some large imported land snails, Helix poma-
tia. ( 33> 34, etc. 93, I.)

Observe the disappearance of frogs, toads, turtles, earth-
worms, gophers, etc. What becomes of them? Place a
toad in a box of earth outside and observe what it does. Dis-

A GRADED COURSE OF N*ATURE-STUDY 443

cuss hibernation. Refer to the bear's winter sleep. (B,
33, 34, 21, 47, *7> 24.)

PLANTS.

GARDENING : Put garden in order after the summer's neg-
lect. Observe the effects of drought, storms, insects, and
weeds. Make a collection of all the weeds found. Press
and mount in a folder with simple description of what weeds
are and do, and of the separate plants. Make a list of
the insects found to be injurious, and the plants affected.
(Weeds — 230, 222, 231, 256, 246 " Weeds.") (Insects: 132,
136,148.)

Take up and exhibit with other classes at a school fair
the products of the garden — flowers and vegetables. Ad-
judge awards. Cut bouquets for the school. Take up
and pot some of the plants for winter culture. Perhaps the
cotton, is not quite ripe. Dig up a plant carefully and ripen
indoors. Collect seeds for next year, label. Give away
seeds. Exchange seeds. Set out bulbs for spring flowering.
(221, 229, etc., seed catalogues.)

Prepare cuttings of currant, willow, lilac, ivy, woodbine
for next spring planting. (221, 229, 232, etc.)

Mulch the strawberry bed and the bulb bed, also the
cuttings and seedling trees.

Clean up for the winter.

GENERAL: The sunflower:* Begin early before all
are gone. Note the great size of the flower head, its bright
color, the contrast of the central part and border. Ob-
serve sunflowers growing. Note great size, broad leaves,
how, in general, the heads turn toward the south or the sun,
seen best in the youngest buds. Cut some of the heads off,

444 NATURE-STUDY

also some that have gone to seed. In the school-room make
a study of the head. This is not a single flower, but a collec-
tion of hundreds of flowers side by side. (See page 335 and
adapt.) Use black-board drawings freely, and make cuts
through the head as shown in fig. 134. Observe the tubular
flowers in the centre, then the rays. Derive a ray flower
from a tubular flower by imagining it split open on one side.
Note the "seeds," really the fruit. Examine the head gone
to seed. Note how numerous the •" seeds" are and how
closely packed. Note the green leaf -like "scales" on the
outside. Have pupils make diagrammatic drawings show-
ing details. (Suggest saving the sunflower heads when ripe
to hang out in winter for the birds.) (K, M, 154, 156, 158,
etc.) Gather wild sunflowers,* asters,* daisies,* garden
"single" asters,* zinnias, etc., and note that they are com-
posites too. (168, etc.)

Annuals, biennials, and perennials: Observe in the gar-
den how the annuals die after flowering, the same season they
are sown; how beets, carrots, etc. have their leaves frozen
but the roots remain alive; similarly with perennials, some
are frozen above ground, others like shrubs, vines, and trees
persist year after year above ground. Take up carrots,*
beets,* cabbage,* etc., and save some for planting in the
spring, for further study. Discuss the meaning of fleshy
roots, tubers,* and bulbs* to the plant. They are store-
houses of food (starch — show it) for the plant's next year's
growth. What use do we make of them? Make a list of
such storehouses that we eat: (K, 1 5 2 , 1 56, 1 58, 1 54, S, R, P.)

Cereals, rice and corn included: Collect some of each.
Shell or husk it. Grind some in a mortar. Observe the
white powdery contents of the kernels. Examine corn-

A GRADED COURSE OF *NATURE-STUDY 445

starch and wheat-flour. What do we raise grains and corn
for? What does the wheat plant or the corn plant raise the
kernels for ? Refer to seed wheat and seed corn. (P, R, S,
154, 156, 213, 225, 222, 228.)

Seed dispersal: Illustrations, agents of dispersal. Book
illustrated with drawings, or charts. (N, K, M, 154, 156,
161.)

Simple talk on pollination — pollen transfer to stigma;
no fruit otherwise. (K, 200, 156, 158.)

Visit a swamp * and observe in a general way the character
of vegetation, absence of hard woods, perhaps all trees;
abundance of sedges,* grasses, bullrushes, cattails,* joe-pye
weed,* etc. Water-soaked soil, mud. Also visit a sand
dune * or very dry soil, and note vegetation there. Com-
pare with the other in character and abundance. Why the
difference ? Bring out the dependence of plants upon moist-
ure and soil conditions. (154, 156, 158, V, 327, 338.)

TREES : Renew acquaintance with trees learned in former
years. Add red oak,* basswood,* locust,* sweet gum.
Make study of character of each tree. (173, etc.) Take
class into a forest when trees are in autumn colors or the
leaves are falling.* Observe the closeness of the trees, their
slender growth, the numerous dead branches, fallen trees,
decaying logs with fungi,* the matted leaf mould, the black
soil underneath. Dig deeper and the soil is less black. Note
birds and other animals in the forest. Observe the effect
of storms. Try to identify the trees; make a list of those
seen. Listen to the sighing or roaring of the wind, the creak-
ing of limbs, the calls of the animals, and note the grace of
the swaying tree tops and branches, the rustling of the leaves,
the falling leaves, the shadows and lights of the forest. Notice

446 NATURE-STUDY

the landscape effects of the forest at a distance. Let chil-
dren write a description of what they saw and enjoyed in the
forest. (L, 220, 219, 222, 228, 216, 156, 158, 161.)

Leaf mould : Study its composition in a simple way. Plant
some seedlings or geraniums in leaf mould, and in pure
sand. Compare growth. Visit a greenhouse. Ask the
gardener where he gets his soil for his potted plants. Why ?
(222, 228, 220, 219, 156, 158, 242, 229, 221.)

FLOWERS: Autumn composites:* Cultivated sunflower,*
wild sunflower,* asters,* coneflower,* daisy.* Also identify
blazing star,* toad-flax.* (M, 168, etc.)

WEEDS: Visit the garden early in the fall, and note
the harm done by weeds. Make a collection of these
weeds, and press and hang them up in school for reference.
Learn to recognize catnip, lamb's quarters, quack-grass,
foxtail grass, purslane, pigweed, and study the character-
istics of each. What are weeds good for? (222, 228, 140,
230; 268, etc.; 231, 256, 246 " Weeds.")

WINTER

ANIMALS.

MAMMALS: Carnivorous mammals — Dog,* fox,* wolf;
cat,* wild cat, panther, lion,* tiger. Use pictures and ob-
serve cat and dog for types of the others. Study about the
habits, homes, and food of each animal; its intelligence and
powers; hunting stories and anecdotes. Visit zoological
garden.

Study the structure of each animal, especially that of the
dog and cat somewhat in detail and systematically. (See
page 73 for method.) Emphasize coverings, teeth, and
claws. Bring out the adaptations to food, environment,

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 447

and mode of life. Compare the animals as to these struct-
ures. Let the children consider both the canine and feline
animals together, and make their own grouping of them.
Ask them why they put the dog, fox, and wolf together; why
they did not put the cat in with this group. Thus bring out
both differences and likenesses. Do not make the grouping
too scientific, but let it be rather informal. Speak of
the dog's wild relations, the wild cats. (F, 34, 33, 32, 25,
17, etc.)

BIRDS: Interest the children in keeping poultry, doves,
etc. Perhaps their parents may be induced to give them
ownership rights in some of the poultry at home. Talks
about what we get from poultry. How they should be cared
for. Show poultry catalogue, Farmers' Bulletins: No. 41
on Fowls; 51, Standard Varieties of Fowls; 64, Ducks and
Geese; 141, Poultry on the Farm; 177, Squab Raising;
200, Turkeys; 128, Eggs. (See Gen. Ref. 246.)

Also use references: 231, 222, 228, etc.

Keep children interested in the winter birds.* Have them
try to attract and feed them. Read stories about them, how
to be kind to them. Put out for them sunflower heads,
sheaves of grain, and crumbs. Hang marrow bones and suet
to the orchard trees or near the windows where the birds
may be seen. (Chap. X, 109, 113, 478, 120, H.)

PLANTS.

SUGAR: Notice sweetness of apples, etc. What makes
them sweet? Where does our sugar come from? Make
study of sugar-cane and the preparation of sugar. Show
pictures of the plant, and the stages of preparation. (V,
S, T, 256, 230, 236, geographies, magazine articles, year

448 NATURE-STUDY

books of the U. S. Department of Agriculture.) Refer to
sorghum. What use do we make of it ? How is the syrup
made ? Study the sugar beet. Get some, press out the juice,
boil it down to sugar. (S, T, V, 222, 228, 231, 230, 236, 256,
magazine articles, Year-books of the U. S. Department of
Agriculture, bulletins from State Agricultural Schools.)
Refer to maple syrup and sugar — perhaps make some when
sap flows. What does the plant do with the sugar in the sap ?
What do we do with it?

TREES: Observe winter state, recognize those learned
before. Bring in buds * and discuss their winter protection.
(L, 173, 154, 156, 158, 164.)

GARDENING: Culture of potted and window-box plants.
(235, 221, 229, etc.) Select plants from list page 297. Grow
bulbs — tulip, daffodil, hyacinth. Lessons in potting. Later,
start annuals for transplanting — list page 295. (221, 229,
etc.) Distribute seeds of selected plants for competitive pot
culture by the pupils at home, each child to have full re-
sponsibility for the success of the culture. Give written di-
rections for sowing, soil, watering, etc. Exhibit condition
of plants at school at the close of spring term, and if
still in flower, again at the beginning of next fall. Award
prize.

Make experimental cultures of window plants in sand, clay,
loam, and mixtures, giving same amounts of water and
same temperatures, using the same kind of plant (bean) of
about the same size. Better, plant two or three plants in
each kind of soil, as some may perish for unforeseen rea-
sons. This work should teach something of the relation
of the plant to the character of the soil. (Q, 222, 228, 230,
231, etc.)

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 449

SPRING
ANIMALS.

BIRDS: Keep a calendar or illustrated booklet of the re-
turning birds. Observe and identify new ones. Swifts *
(distinguish from swallows), the different kinds of wood-
peckers,* brown thrush, wood thrush,* redwinged black-
bird,* summer yellow-bird,* kingfisher, whip-poor-will.
Study the main points of structure necessary for identifica-
tion, peculiar habits, adaptations of feet,* bills,* etc., and the
good or harm done by the birds. (H, 95, etc., 107, etc.)

Emphasize the beauty, song, the need of protection. Have
children make and put up houses or boxes for wrens, blue-
birds, and martins. Observe Bird Day. Read Longfel-
low's " Birds of Killingworth." Refer to protective laws, their
purpose. Develop a desire to obey them. (Chap. X, 113,
108, 109, 117, 478.)

Make economic studies of swallows, robins, woodpeckers
(different kinds), blackbird, crow, English sparrow, hawks
(different kinds). Observe as far as possible the food of
these birds, read about them, conclude as to their useful-
ness or harmfulness. Which should be protected? (120,
246 " Common Birds; " Agricultural Year-books; 95, etc.,
115, H.)

INSECTS: Observe return of insect life. Note bees and
flies in the earliest flowers. Observe them pollinating in
the orchard. Suppose there were no insects here, could we
raise fruit? (200, 156, 158, 154; 238, page 289.)

Observe the cutworms in the school-garden and at home.
Look up remedies. (136, 132, 229.) Why is it a good
thing to have the robins and toads in the garden? What
are cutworms? (132, 136, etc.) (Toad: 24, 246 — "The

450 NATURE-STUDY

Usefulness of the Toad.") (Birds in the Garden: 246,
"Common Birds;" 120, etc.)

PLANTS.

GENERAL : Brief review of plant organs * as in Year III,
Spring. Some simple experiments on absorption by roots.
(222, 231, 196, 165.) Simple study of the relation of plants to
light, at least the necessity of light for life. Do some simple
experiments in raising seedlings * in and away from the
light, other conditions being the same. Note not only the
bleaching, but the spindling growth and final death. Why
do we place the school-room plants in the windows? (222,
228, 154, 156, 158, 196, 165.) Note growth of seedlings
toward the light,* the one-sided growth of plants not turned
in window. Some flower plans.* Using wild flowers,
illustrate and discuss polypetalous, tubular, and irregular
flowers — these terms need not be used. The idea is to be-
gin with a simple plan, and then to note the modifications
as shown in the other types. Make comparisons and trace
corresponding parts. Call attention to the beauty, sym-
metry, variety, color shadings, and contrasts, fragrance,
etc. (152, 190, 193, 154, 158, 156.)

TREES: Poplar, choke-cherry,* hawthorn,* sumach.*
(173, etc.)

Trees in blossom* — not only the fruit trees (observe
beauty), but also the flowers of boxelder,* maples, cotton-
wood,* oaks, etc. Examine them in a general way. Learn
what a catkin is. Observe abundance of pollen in boxelder
and cottonwood flowers. Shake them when ripe, and note
cloud of pollen. Also examine young cones and staminate
clusters of conifers. (173, etc., 156, 154, etc.)

A GRADED COURSE OF 'NATURE-STUDY 451

FLOWERS: Identify and study characteristic points of
structure, habitat, and beauty of bellwort,* wild phlox,* vetch,
puccoon,* strawberry,* shepherd's purse. (M, 168, etc.)

GARDENING AND ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE: (Q, 221,
etc.) Prepare cold-frame — simple one. Transplant the
flowers started indoors, or sow others. Read up about
care. (221, 229, etc.)

Plan the class garden. If plenty of ground, give each child
a plot. (240, 234, 481 for plans.) (See Chapter XVI.) Make
a plan on paper for the whole school, for the class and for
each plot. Select the seeds to be sown. Plan where they
are to go in the beds. Take into account the height of the
plant and the light requirements — placing the taller on the
side to the north. The boys of this grade can spade their
own plots, and the girls assist in the raking and finishing.
Stake out the class-garden, and the individual or group
beds. If fertilizer is necessary, read up (222, 228, 231, 221,
etc.) and apply as directed.

Select seeds from list, page 295. Let this class make a
special study of the life-cycle of the corn plant. Note im-
portant stages, cultivate properly.

Give lessons in pricking out, transplanting, sowing, water-
ing, weeding, etc. (221, 229, etc.) Show how to cultivate.
Study weeds encountered. (See above.) Encourage home
gardening. Perhaps the parents will give the children little
plots of their own to work, or allow them to share the profits
of the family garden.

Remove the mulch from the beds covered the previous
fall. Care for the young oak, walnuts, maples, apple trees,
etc., planted previous years. Perhaps they need transplant-
ing to better and permanent places. (232, 221, 240.)

452 NATURE-STUDY

Transplant the cuttings of currants, willows, lilac, ivy or
woodbine made the previous fall. Plant on Arbor Day in
appropriate places. Care for them. (221, 232, 220.)

Apply the lessons on growth conditions learned in the in-
door study — above.

Plant turnips, carrots, beets, cabbage, potato, and onion,
and note their development the second year. What be-
comes of the substance of the roots, bulbs, tubers, and heads ?
(256, 252, 258, 254, 231.)

Exhibit the plants grown at home from the seed.

Clean up the school playground and lawn. Patch up
broken fences. Remove dead vines and branches. En-
courage cleaning the backyard at home, raking the front
lawn, keeping it clipped, watering it, planting flowers. Arouse
a pride in the beauty of the school-grounds, the boulevards
and parks. Teach children to respect the efforts of people
to improve their city, and not to tresspass, injure trees, etc.

Add to the wild flower garden.

FIFTH GRADE

AIM AND METHOD: The greater maturity of the child-
ren in this grade is shown in their greater ability to reason
out relations, adaptations, comparisons, and generaliza-
tions, and to make better application of their knowledge.
They have a greater interest in principles, and see their bear-
ing better. They have greater interest in inanimate nature and
its forces, in inventions, and commercial values. Type
studies can be used more and more, and larger group relations
can be appreciated. Conditions of plant and animal life,
and our own dependence on the natural environment is more
apparent to them.

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 453

In general, the work is largely correlated with geography
and manual training, and still largely used as the basis for
other studies. Study selected types to represent large classes.
Study groups to show interrelations. Classify animals and
plants, to show their relationships. Do not neglect the
aesthetic and altruistic side of nature-study.

Suggestions for correlated art study — see page 57. The asterisk indicates
subjects for drawing, painting, etc. Numbers indicate general reference
list, p. 521.

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

EARTH-STUDY: Review minerals studied last year. Add
to mineral collection and study metal ores, metals, salts,
etc. (343, 263, etc.)

Intensive study of coal and iron. Localities, under what
conditions, mining methods, reduction of iron (simple) ; uses
of coal and iron in industries. (For coal — 348, 339, 263,
320, geographies. For iron— 339, 263, 320, 322, 317.)

Experiment with plaster of Paris, mortar and cement,
and artificial stone to give some idea of rock formation, and
also to understand something of these things themselves.
(263, etc., 317, 318.)

Rock formation: Visit brook or river for sand or mud
deposits. Note the stratification, the imbedded leaves,
sticks, shells, footprints of birds, etc. Suppose this were to
harden. Visit a quarry or rock cliff. Notice layers and
finer stratification, and fossils.* Connect with experiments
on artificial stone and the deposits in the brook. (327, 336,

324, 339-)

Coral:* Brief study of the polyp, especially its limy skel-
eton. Observe specimens of coral. (33, 34, etc.) Test
with muriatic acid.

454 NATURE-STUDY

Limestone and marble: Connect with the last. Origin,
nature. Test with acid. Uses of limestone. Show spec-
imens with fossil coral. What other creatures help to make
limestone? (324, 326, 327, 317, 318, 339, 343.)

Marble: Test with acid. Relation to limestone. Crys-
talline. Visit a marble-cutter's shop. Observe varieties of
marble. Make a collection, polish. Uses of limestone —
refer also to sculpture. (324, 326, 327, 318, 317, 339, 343.)

WEATHER: Rainfall record. Relation of plants to rain-
fall. (327, 326, 328, 158, 156, geographies.) Typical
climatic regions in the United States, chiefly in the geography.
(327, 328, etc.) Cause of winds (see physics below). (251,
257, 326.) Relation between the wind and the weather-
simple. (327, 326, 328, etc.) Effects of frost on vegeta-
tion and animals. (Winter state of plants, hibernation, and
migration of animals.) (156, 152, 158, 33, 34, 17.) Frost
effects on water in air, on soil, on rocks. (327, 326, 328,
etc.)

PHYSICS: Three forms of matter illustrated by experi-
ments on water, etc. Distillation, evaporation, condensa-
tion. Experiments * and applications. Conduction of heat
— experiments,* applications. Convection of air.*

Apply to, heating, ventilation, land and sea winds. (These
lessons must be illustrated by experiments — see Chapter V.
Be sure to make the application.) (251, 250, 259, 257, 340,

449> 3l8-)

Inventions: Observe men at work with tools. Visit a
factory, and note machinery. Visit a place where derricks,
etc., are used for moving heavy weights. Compare primitive
man with the present in regard to tools, machines, and
other inventions. Refer to the conveniences and advantages

A GRADED COURSE OF MATURE-STUDY 455

derived from the use of machines and tools. Study in a
simple way, more for their practical use, some simple
machines.* Crowbar, lever, the incline, screw (book-press),
windlass, pulley. Point out the advantages gained by means
of each. (For references, see the last, also 289, 288, 292.)

Discuss in a similar way, applying the principles already
learned: lamps,* chimneys,* stoves,* fireplaces, kites, wind-
mills,* sails,* water-wheels,* clocks.* Illustrate each by
observation of the actual object or experiment. Note the
natural agencies taken advantage of. Show how man has
learned to make these inanimate forces help him, just as he
has domesticated animals for his service. (References as
the last.)

Metals: Identify common metals, test their useful prop-
erties. Note applications. Discuss why a particular metal
and not some other is used for special purposes. Espe-
cially emphasize the use of iron.

Visit a blacksmith's shop.* (263, etc., 315, 317, 323.)

Magnet :* Experiments with attraction. Make magnets.
Uses. Magnetic compass. Make one. (250, 251, 259, 318,
340, 449.)

CHEMISTRY: Experiments to show in a simple way the
process of combustion. Study charcoal (carbon). Make
oxygen gas. Show power to support combustion. Burn
charcoal in oxygen. Show with lime-water the presence
of CO2. Observe the heat produced by the combustion.
Prove the formation of CO 2 by burning a candle. Illustrate
the production of heat by decay. Decay, a process of burn-
ing. Apply to hot-bed. (262, 263, 270, 272, 317, 317.)
Simple experiments to show nature of acid — muriatic, vinegar,
lemon; of alkali — lye, soap, soda. (274, 262, 263, 270, 272,

4$6 NATURE-STUDY

317, 318.) Dyes and dyeing. References as the last and

ASTRONOMY: Simple study of the solar system, the earth
in space, motions, shape. Use models, pictures and dia-
grams, geographies. (390, 402, 400, etc., and primary refer-
ence list Y.)

PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE: Starchy foods, list. Effects
of cold and hot water on starch. Why do we cook starchy
foods? (303, 304, 274.)

Simple study of the relation, structure, and action of the
digestive organs. Use charts, pictures, dissectible charts,
and, better still, models. Make very simple. Show that
the food is broken up fine and dissolved. What becomes of
it ? What is blood for ? Blood is the food solution. Simple
talk on the flow of the blood to all parts, feeding the muscles
after they have worked. Alcohol in relation to digestion.
Make simple and sane. Discuss effects of smoking. Create
sentiment against alcohol and smoking. (381 a, 368a, 381,
372> 379> 382.)

AUTUMN
ANIMALS.

INSECTS: Intensive study of the bee:* A hive in charge
of this class at the school would be excellent. Get an ob-
servation hive. (3, 47.) Watch bees in the field at work.
See them returning to the hive. Note in the observation
hive what they do with their burden. Note the honey and
brood cells. Make out, if possible, the queen, drones, and
workers. Tell or read about the social life of the hive.
The intelligence of the bee. The work of the queen.
The swarming. Hiving a swarm. Construction of hive.
The life-cycle of a bee. Take out brood comb and ex-

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 457

amine the larvae in different stages. (The same thing
may be seen in the open nest of the polistes wasp.) Food
plants of the bees — list. What is basswood or clover honey ?
Bee-keeping. The profit in it. The pleasure in it. En-
courage keeping of bees. Care of bees, summer and winter.
(i44, i45> I29> I26> i3°> 48i, i33> J47> 246 "Bee-keeping.")
Read about hunting wild bees — Burroughs' " Bees and Birds."
Usefulness of bees in pollinating fruit trees, etc. (238 page
289, 200, 207, 215, 156.)

Compare the wasp* with the bee as to structure and
habits: Note membranous wings of both, hooked together.
General similarity of shape, differences. Both sting. Hold
a worker wasp with pincers and observe sting thrust out.
Remedy for stings. Wasp nest.* First paper-maker. Bring
in nests in the fall after the cold weather has killed the wasps.
Examine comb, compare with bee's. Usefulness of wasps.
Compare the bumblebee* with wasp and bee. Cage some
and feed on sweetened water. Observe in the clover fields.
Use ? Similarly compare the mud wasp * of the attics and
lofts with the bee. Note interesting mud nest.* Break
open and examine young larvae. Note cells partly filled
with food. What is it? Are they dead? Uses of wasps.
In what respects are all these insects alike ? They are called
the membrane-winged group. Why? (143, 146, 145, 144,
136, 132, 126, 15, 47, 33, 34.)

House-fly:* Observe structure, number of wings, the
eyes, legs, body, tongue ; eating, running, cleaning wings, flying,
running on the ceiling or window. Where are the flies most
abundant ? Leave a bone with some meat exposed in such
a place. Observe the flies there. Examine the bone for
eggs, and later for larvae, "maggots." Place a rather old

458 NATURE-STUDY

cap of mushroom under a bell-glass and examine in a few
days for decay. Note great number of maggots in the mass.
Later, these may develop into a kind of fly. Discuss the
metamorphism of the maggot. Why are flies objection-
able ? How do we protect ourselves ? Flies as carriers of
disease. How? There are many kinds of flies. (33, 34,
47, 143, 136, 148.)

Comparative study of the grasshoppers,* crickets, and
green grasshoppers.* Study essentials and compare and
classify. Refer to injury done by grasshoppers. Review life
history. (References as the last.)

Observe plant lice, squash-bugs, potato beetle, rose beetles,
tent caterpillars, and note the harm done by each. Destroy
the nests of the tent caterpillar. On what kinds of trees
are they chiefly found? (47, 93.) Make a collection of
pond insects and other creatures for the aquarium. Pro-
tective coloration of green grasshoppers, locusts, bark colored
moths. (132, 136, 129, 47, 54, 33, etc.)

SALAMANDERS AND SNAKES: Bring in spotted salaman-
ders,* newts, garter snakes, and keep them in appropriate
cages. Feed them. Observe actions and general appear-
ance. Salamanders are not lizards. Why? They are
harmless. Distinguish amphibians and reptiles. Study
life history of salamander and snake. Make brief study of
rattlesnake. Where is the poison ? Where are these snakes
found? What is the rattle for? (33, 34, 17, 35, 26.)

PLANTS.

GARDENING: Put garden in order after the summer.
Observe the growth of the biennials * set out last spring.
Collect seeds. Put in labelled packages. Give away and

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 459

exchange seed. Observe injurious insects and weeds. Har-
vest the corn * planted last spring. Use it in study of the
life history of the plant. Husk the corn later. Have simple
judging of the best ears ( 223, 239, 230, 246.)

Exhibit flowers raised in the garden. Cut for bouquets
daily.*

Lessons in pruning — vines and shrubs. (229, 240, 232,
221.)

Set out bulbs for spring. Mulching for winter. (221,
229.) Take up and pot plants desired for further use in-
doors. Clean up for winter.

Plant wild fall perennials — sunflowers, goldenrods, asters.

GENERAL: Observe more closely the pollination by in-
sects in flowers of the pumpkin, sweet pea, sunflower. (152,
158, 156, 216, 200, 209.)

How plants protect themselves: Observe and test the
prickles on the thistle,* rose, gooseberry, raspberry; the
thorns on the locust * and the hawthorn; the stinging hairs
of the nettle; the sticky, bitter hulls of unripe walnuts and
butternuts. What enemies might harm them ? Find other ex-
amples of self-protection. (156, 152, 154, 158, 161, 193, etc.)

CEREALS: The corn plant* and the grains as flowering
plants. Belated corn plants may still be found in flower
early in the school year; else black-board drawings must be
used to show the nature of the tassel, ear,* silk, and kernel.
Note the jointed stem, the slender sheathing leaves. Uses
made of the corn plant.

In a similar way treat the grains.* Study the flower of
the wheat by means of drawings, supplementing as much as
possible with heads. Note that each kernel has its own husk
or chaff. Compare the other grains with wheat. Compare

460 NATURE-STUDY

with grasses. Note hollow stems, joints, leaves. Grains
are a kind of grass. Some timothy,* wild rye,* quack-grass,*
or other grass may still be found in flower. Make a general
study of the flowers, noting pendulous anthers and feathery
styles. Note the hollow stems, the joints, and sheathing
leaves. There are very many kinds of grasses. The grains
are cultivated grasses. Corn is also a grass. Refer to grass
as fodder. (References on grasses and grains: 213, 230, 154,
156, 159, 152, 193, 161.)

The wheat crop: Cultivation, harvesting, threshing,
milling, commerce, wheat regions. Importance to the world.
Dependence of the cities upon the farmer. (225, 227, 236,
313, 316, 222, 228, 320, geographies.)

TREES : Distinguish * red, white, bur-oak, and mountain
ash * (173, etc.)

The orchard * : What kind of trees are in it ? Which is
the most important? Care of orchard. Picking and ship-
ping fruit. (238, 232, 246.)

How the forest * benefits man : Make simple. Lumber,
fuel, fruit, nuts, game, wind-breaks, holding back the rain-
water, protecting the soil. What enemies has the forest?
The lumberman, the farmer, fires, wind-storms, insects.
Former extent of woods in the vicinity. What has become
of them? Scarcity of wood for fuel and lumber. Neces-
sity of preventing waste and of reforesting. Very briefly
tell how forests may be planted and preserved (220, 219, 222,
227.) Distribution of forests, prairies, and plains in the
United States. Character of vegetation in each. Reasons
for this vegetation. Distribution of the conifers and hard-
woods. Bring out relation of trees to climate, especially
moisture. (Geographies, 327, 475^ 475^ 220, 219.)

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 461

FLOWERS : Review briefly sunflower as composite.* Ob-
serve wild composites like it. Study thistle * as another
type of composite. (152, 156, 159, 154, 197, 193.)

Identify white and red clover* (note bees, bumblebees,
and butterflies in them), prairie clover,* sweet clover (bees),
monkey flower,* nettle, cocklebur.* (168, etc., 197, 200,
209, 215.)

WINTER
ANIMALS.

MAMMALS: Large game:* Hunting stories. (Appro-
priate in the open season). Wapiti (elk), moose deer*
(white tailed). From pictures or in zoological gardens ob-
serve general appearance, covering, antlers, grace, fleetness,
etc. Stories about habits. Food. How the antlers are shed
and grow again. Examine mounted antlers. How hunted.
Where found now. Why so few as compared with for-
merly. Game laws. Why? Read Warner's "Hunting of
the Deer." Also read "The Hunt," in Scott's "Lady of
the Lake," and Long's "Following the Deer." (25, 27,

17, 20, 31, 28, 61, 63, 62, 72.)

Comparative study of the ruminants : Cow * as type.
General characteristics of structure: Cloven hoofs, horns,
etc. The habit of chewing the cud. Why? Drawing of
multiple stomach on board. Describe its use. Food of
the cow. How does a cow eat grass? Examine the front
part of upper jaw. Has the cow teeth there? (33, 34, 15,

1 8, 20.) Study (in geography) the cattle industry, the meat
preservation and shipment, the leather and the shoe in-
dustries. Visit establishments to see these things. How a
shoe is made. (312, etc., 320, 323, etc., geographies.) Other
cud-chewers or horned animals: Study general character-

462 NATURE-STUDY

istics of structure and habits of each, habitat, food, uses,
etc. The bison* — cow-like; nearly extinct; why? Where
now ? How hunted. Sheep * and (Angora) goat * — herds,
uses. Note hoofs and cud-chewing. Brief study of the wool
industry. Refer to deer and moose as belonging with the
cud-chewers, and study here if not taken up before. Ante-
lopes; treat as the others. The camel.* Why studied in
this group? General appearance. Stories about its use
in the desert. Ability to endure thirst and long marches.
(17, 25, 27, 20, 31, 28, 63, 62, 61, 72.)

BIRDS:* Observe and attract to the homes by feeding.
(113, 109; 478.)

PLANTS.

GARDENING : Competitive culture of geranium, coleus, or
begonia slip at home. Start these from slips in school.
When rooted well, distribute. (154, 152, 229, 221.) Care
of the window plants.* Select from list, page 297. (235,
229.) Some experimental culture * with soils of different fer-
tility. Use of manure, and commercial fertilizer illustrated.

(229, 221, 235, 222.)

GENERAL: Test starch with iodine. Test potato, turnip,
apple, corn, and wheat with iodine. Sources of our starch.
Why the plants make the starch, and put it in these tubers,
roots, and seeds. (190, 193, 152, 156, etc.)

CONIFERS:* Observe outdoors and recall names. Make
a general comparative study: general conical form, hori-
zontal branches, needles,* cones,* resin. Why called ever-
greens ? How about the tamarack ? Do the needles never
fall? Look on the ground under the trees. Read about
the shedding of the needles. Why called conifers ? Collect

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 463

cones and needles of different kinds and compare. With
the map show distribution of the conifers in the United
States. Where are the white pines, spruce, balsam firs, etc.
In what kind of places are the tamaracks found ? What
are the different kinds used for? (173, etc., 219, 220.)

WOOD STUDY: In connection with manual training.
Pine, cedar, oak, basswood, cherry, maple, butternut, hickory,
birch, poplar, etc. Study the grain, color, hardness, tough-
ness, elasticity, etc., of each kind. Visit a furniture shop
and collect pieces of different sorts. In the shop trim to
uniform size, sandpaper, and varnish, label and hang up in
the shop or school-room. Refer to the uses made of each
kind, and tell what particular quality makes it desirable for
certain purposes. What kinds are used in building houses ?
In furniture making? In handles, wheels? For the masts
of ships? For fuel? For posts, and ties, etc.? Try to
identify in common articles, furniture, etc. (219, 220, 218;
173, etc.; 314.)

SPRING
ANIMALS.

MISCELLANEOUS MAMMALS: What is a whale— a fish?
What is a bat? Study bat,* mole,* seal, whale, as mam-
mals. Discuss their odd habits and peculiar shapes. Show
how each peculiarity is an adaptation to the mode of life,
the food, or the place where the animal lives. Perhaps bats
may be brought in, and moles are easily caught in traps.
Observe the injury done by moles. Read about the seal
"fishery." Show pictures of the herds on the Alaskan
islands. Methods of killing. Wastefulness and cruelty in
the killing. Efforts of the United States to protect. Some-
thing about the preparation of the sealskins. What is un-

464 NATURE-STUDY

plucked seal? Read about the whale "fishery." Where
are the whales caught ? What methods used ? Why do we
catch whales — what do we get from them? Treatment of
the blubber, etc. (General: 33, 34, 15, 17, 25, 26, 20, 30.)
For seals and whales see the U. S. Fish Commission reports.)

BIRDS:* Mourning dove, cuckoo, starling, yellow-headed
blackbird, cowbird, chipping-sparrow. More detailed de-
scription of the habit, food, structure, coloration, adapta-
tions, uses or injury of each than in previous grades. Ob-
serve the returning birds. On field trips note the songs
and calls and try to recognize birds by these. Try to imitate.
Note where birds of different kinds congregate. Assign
special birds easily observed to individuals or groups of chil-
dren, for special observation through the spring. Keep a
record of observations, and write up in illustrated essay.
Make rustic or ornamental bird houses * and put up. Let
the class join in planning and making a colony house for
martins, and set it up on the school or a pole in the school-
yard. Protect the birds. Do not steal the eggs. What
do the game laws say about non-game birds ? What do the
signs in the parks say about harming birds? Birds should
be allowed to live so that all may enjoy them. (113, 108,
102, 117.) Observe Bird Day. (107.)

Comparative study and classification of Scratching Birds
—hen,* turkey,* Guinea fowl, peacock,* bobwhite,* ruffed-
grouse, prairie hen. Brief study of the game birds in this
list. Compare habits, food, feet,* scratching, bills, etc.
Refer to domestication. Value. (60, 246 poultry bulletins,
99, 479, 61.) Observe and list the birds in an orchard, in a
garden, in a village, in a city park, in the fields and pastures,
in a swamp, on the water, (116, 118, 100, etc. See page 85.)

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 465

INSECTS: Care and observation of school beehive. (47,
133, 246 " Bee-keeping.")

PLANTS.

GENERAL : Germination studies.* The seeds,* parts, uses.
Seedling,* observe in glass germinator and in soil. Note
how different kinds get out of the shell.* Plant peas, beans,
corn, grain, radish, flax, onion, sunflower, squash, acorn,
walnut, plum or peach pit. Note what happens to the seed
leaves of the bean as the seedling develops.* Cut them
from a young bean seedling. Observe effect. Infer their
use. Show starch in seed-leaves with iodine test. They are
stores of food for the young plant. Note the delicate root
hairs on the roots of the seedlings in the glass germinators.*
These are the sucking hairs for drawing up the moisture
and solutions from the soil. (190, 193,201, 154, 152, 157,
222, etc.)

TREES :* Simple classification : The oaks, willows, cotton-
wood, poplar, hard-maple, soft-maple, boxelder, and birch.
Do this by comparison of leaves,* flower,* and fruit.* Ob-
serve the flowers of these trees. Note the catkins,* and
the abundant pollen that easily shakes out in clouds when
ripe. Discuss wind pollination. Refer to the pollination
of corn, grasses, and grains. Have children observe these
later. (173, etc.; 193, 154, 156, i59> 152-)

Visit an orchard in flower.* Note the abundance of bees
and other insects. What are they getting? Observe how
they are dusted with pollen. Discuss how the pollen is
brushed against the stigma. The importance of bees in an
orchard. Why do many fruit raisers keep bees ? (200, 207,
238 page 289.)

466 NATURE-STUDY

FLOWERS:* Wild-ginger, yellow vetch, honey-suckle, ar-
butus, water-leaf, false Solomon's seal, red clover. Mean-
ing of color, fragrance, shapes, nectar in the flower, — de-
vices to attract insects to bring about pollination. (200, 207,
156, 154, 158, 161.)

WEEDS: In the lawn: Plantain,* dandelion,* cheeses,*
ground ivy, etc. Harm done; how? How destroy them?
(168, etc.; 230, 246 " Weeds.")

PLANT GROUP STUDIES: Forest,* grass lands,* swamps,*
dunes,* aquatic plants.* Visit places showing these groups.
Note the conditions of moisture, and the general character
of the vegetation. Show dependence upon environment.
(156, 158, 190, 161.)

GARDENING AND ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE: Methods
of plant propagation * — seeds, slips, roots, tubers, bulbs, etc.
Experiments with these methods. (221, 229, 222, 235.)

Make hot-bed.* Review principle. Start tomatoes, cab-
bages, zinnias, pansies. Teach method of potting, trans-
planting. (229, 221, 222, 231.)

Plan* the school-garden. (See Chapter XVI. 240, 481.)
The pupils should have individual beds if possible, and
several group beds for experimental planting. Plan a bed
for strawberries. The pupils may spade their own plots
if not ploughed for them. Let them select beforehand what
they want to plant, and plan the plot so as to meet the light
requirements of the plants, putting the taller to the north
of the others. If fertilizer is needed let pupils apply it. Se-
lect seeds from list, page 295. If injurious insects ap-
pear, look up the methods of control. (231, 222, 229, 148,
246, bulletins, seed catalogues.)

Encourage the planting of a garden at home, or share in

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 467

the work of the family garden. If given proprietary rights at
home in the produce, the children will take greater interest
and pride in their cultivation.

Set out strawberries. (221, 229.)

On Arbor Day set out ornamental shrubs, seedling trees,
vines, perennials. Plant cuttings of grape, ivy, etc. See
list, page 298. (232, 229, 221.)

Observe Arbor Day at home by planting something per-
manent. Clean up the grounds at school and at home. Re-
move dead limbs from trees, repair fences. Develop a civic
pride in school-grounds, city streets, parks, etc., and do not
misuse other people's property or improvements.

Continue work with the school wild-flower garden.

Exhibit the plants raised from slips.

SIXTH GRADE

AIM AND METHOD: The work this year is carried on
much the same as that of the last. Read Aim and Method,
page 452. The beauty of nature may be brought more
consciously to the minds of these children. More com-
plex relations can be worked out, as the factors of dis-
tribution, biological relations of plant groups, plants and
animals in relation to each other, the conditions of plant
and animal life, including human life, the application of
principles of physics to inventions, and these to human life,
the application of laws of chemistry in physiology, etc.
While the habits of creatures are as interesting as before, the
details of structure when properly connected with function
or adaptation mean more and are more interesting than to
lower grades. The economic aspect of nature is still more

468 NATURE-STUDY

emphasized. Simple elementary science is introduced under
the head of inventions or discoveries, explanations being
sought for them through experimentation. Causal relations,
generalizations of principles from observations, comparisons
and wider classifications can now be made. But do not
make too scientific. Correlation with geography, manual-
training, domestic economy, etc., should continue. In this
grade it might be advisable in more rural situations to spe-
cialize the nature-study along the lines of elementary agri-
culture.

Suggestions for correlated art lessons — see p. 57. The asterisk indicates
subjects for drawings, diagrams, painting, etc. The numbers refer to gen-
eral reference list, p. 521.

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

EARTH STUDY: Review briefly common minerals. Add
to the mineral collection crystals of minerals and crystalline
rocks of igneous origin. Make a simple study of volcanic
rocks. Economic study of granite, lime-stone, sand-stone,
and marble. (343, 347, 339, 336.)

Gold, silver, copper, their ores, mining, simple explanation
of purification, uses. Stories of gold-miners. The silver-
smith. The U. S. Mint. (336, 339, 343, 320, 262, etc.,
geographies, magazines.)

Soil-water: Wells and springs. Source. Conditions.
Minerals in solution. "Fur" in tea-kettle. Mineral waters.
Alkali soil and water. Relation to drinking and agriculture.
(326, 327, 328, 262, 263, etc.; 222, 241, etc.)

Visit to boulder field, morainic deposits. Compare rocks
and soil with bed rock of vicinity. Origin of these rocks
and soil? Find scratched glacial pebbles.* Simple talk

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 469

about the great glacier and some of its effects. Avoid all
theory. This topic should come after, and in connection
with, the study of glaciers in geography. Glacial scenery —
hills, lakes. (324, 332, 336, 339, 342, 344, 475.)

WEATHER STUDY: The barometer.* Keep record of
pressure for several weeks. Review cause of wind.* Rela-
tion of temperature and pressure to wind. Follow the
course of a storm with barometer records. Show and read
weather bulletins, weather maps. Note barometer in con-
nection with the daily bulletins. Meaning of isotherms and
isobars. Observe the predictions and the verification. Fol-
low in the papers the course of some "cyclonic" storm or
cold wave. Note the course taken in North America. Note
damage done to crops, shipping, etc. Read or tell about the
United States Weather Bureau, its purpose, benefit to sailors,
farmers, etc. Make quite simple. (326, 328, 331, 345, 329,
334, 338> 340.)

PHYSICS: Review winds (see weather, above.) Con-
struct a barometer.* Explain the principle. Use. Keep
barometer record. Perform simple experiments to show
effects of atmospheric pressure. Apply to pumps.* Use
models and diagrams. Observe a cistern pump for con-
struction.* A little about the air-pump. A bicycle pump.*
Compressed air — bicycle tire, pneumatic delivery in stores.
(251, 250, 255, 257, etc.; 317, 318. Barometer— also 326,
327, 328, etc.)

Inventions: The balance.* Construction, equal arms.
Simple talk with experiments about weight, gravity, falling
bodies. Make informal and observational, rather than
based on reasoning. How a lever is used. What is gained
by it? What is meant by "purchase"? What is a see-

470 NATURE-STUDY

saw?* What is a balance, crowbar, pitchfork, fish-pole,
etc ? Do not try to apply the law of the lever, or refer to the
three kinds of levers. Similarly study in a simple, exper-
imental way simple pulley,* block and tackle, gearing,
belts,* derrick.* Note particular advantages gained from
each. (251, 250, 255, 257, 217, 318.)

Forces of nature man has learned to utilize: Begin with
primitive man. Note absence of tools and labor-saving
machines. To-day we use the forces of animals, the wind,
water-power, steam, and electricity. Let children mention
illustrations.* Visit places showing application of these
forces. Visit a factory. What runs all the machines?
(References as the last.)

Heating house by furnace — apply convection.* Hot-
water heating. Apply convection. Illustrate by exper-
iments.* (References like the last.) The kitchen hot-water
tank.

City water supply:* Source. Pumping station, or reservoir,
mains, water pressure (simple). (References like the last.)

CHEMISTRY: Simple experiments to make and show
the properties of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. Show
in the air, or make from the air. Combustion chemistry
(very simple), oxygen of air uniting with carbon (charcoal)
to make carbon dioxide. Effects of CO2 on a flame, on life.
Test in air with lime-water. Test the breath with lime-
water. CO2 in breath. Connect with physiology. (262,
263, 264, 267, 269, 270, 272.)

Natural waters: See earth study above. Ocean- water,
why salt ? How table-salt is made from sea water, and why
it is found in the earth. (262, 263, 264, 317, 318, 326, 327,

328.)

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 471

PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE: Organic impurities in well-
water or other drinking water. Sources of contamination
— surface drainage into well, sewage contamination in river
supply. Danger of drinking such water. Diseases that
may come from it — typhoid especially. (262, 263, etc., 209,
208, 381, 368, 372, 379, etc.) Simple talk about bacteria.
Note putridity of peas in water after a few days. Exposed
boiled potato kept moist under glass will develop a growth
of bacteria. Place some peas in a bottle of water, boil
for some time, and seal. Set aside and observe if decay
sets in. If well done the bottle should remain clear. Briefly
tell about sterilization. Refer to reason for boiling fruit
for canning. Discuss nitration. How is an ordinary water
filter made?* (262, 263, etc.) Simple talks on conta-
gion, and prevention of disease. Keep hands and face
clean. Clean finger nails, do not spit, do not cough in
people's faces, do not put in your mouth what others have
had in theirs, do not suck the pencil, do not put coins or
anything but the proper things in the mouth. Turning leaves
by wetting the finger is not only bad for the book, but is
dangerous to the health, for others may have done the same
before. Discuss the need of cleanliness in the kitchen,
cellar, refrigerator, the floors of home and school, and the
streets and backyards. Refer to the evils of dust. Car-
pets vs. rugs. Mopping vs. sweeping and "dusting." (209,
208, 274, 373, 368a, etc., 375, 387.) Why do we keep
people in quarantine? Is it right? (References as last.)
House ventilation* — home and school. (251, 250, 368a,
etc. ; 262, etc. ; 386, 387.) Need for it. What happens to the
air we breathe. Test breath for carbon dioxide. In a simple
way discuss the source of this CO2. Refer to the food we

472 NATURE-STUDY

eat. Char some starch or flour, to show the charcoal or
carbon in it. The oxygen we breathe burns this in our
bodies to make us warm, and give us energy as in an engine.
Compare the body with a steam engine — very simple. Show
that the food is our fuel. We eat to run the machinery of
our body. The carbon dioxide is a waste, and is breathed
out. Very simple study of the lungs and circulation. Use
mannikin charts, diagrams, models. (379, 380, 370, 368,
368a, etc.; 267.)

AUTUMN
ANIMALS.

MAMMALS: Distribution of animals (in geography).
(18, 33, 44, geography.)

Note adaptation to climate, food, and mode of life. Arctic,
temperate, tropical; animals of the forest, the plains, the
sea.

BIRDS: Observe migration. (108, 100, 33, 34, 17, etc.)
Discuss reason. What countries they go to. Use map.
Show distances travelled.

Identification study:* Tern, gull, loon, snipe, sand-
piper, night-hawk, kinglet, black and white creeper, brown-
creeper. Note habits, food, economic value. (95 to 106;
107 to 125.)

INSECTS: Simple comparison and classification. But-
terflies * and moths,* bee group,* dragon-flies,* beetles,*
bugs,* flies* and mosquitoes, and locust* group. (33, 34,
143, 132, 130, etc.)

Codling moth. Examine a number of apples. Some
will be wormy. Note the little caterpillar. Trace its life
history.* Visit orchard. Try to find the moth and the
cocoons. Read in the Year-books of the U. S. Depart-

A GRADED COURSE OF ^ATURE-STUDY 473

ment of Agriculture about the loss to the apple crop from
this insect. Remedies. (132, 136, 148, 130, 126, 222,
229, 241, etc.) Also observe the effects of scale-insects,
bark and wood borers, weevils, and plant-lice. Learn to
recognize these. Remedies. (References as the last.)

Discuss the advantage of birds in an orchard. Observe
the birds there. (108, 100, 33, 120, 222, 241.)

MISCELLANEOUS: Simple comparative study of cray-
fish,* lobster,* and crab.* Study shell, casting of shell, chief
organs, and their uses, locomotion, swimming, defence, food,
uses, how caught, etc. (47, 84, 93, 85, 18, etc.)

From a pond or brook collect small fresh-water shrimps,
minute water fleas, and observe in aquarium. They are
minute relatives of the crayfish. Put some of them into a
fish aquarium. Observe how eagerly the fish eat them.
Refer to the importance of these little animals as food for
fishes. (References as above — also 42 and 49.)

Informal observations on clams, snails, earthworm, leeches,
etc. collected and kept in aquaria. Observe in the ponds,
etc., also. (93, 33, 34, 47, 38.)

PLANTS.

GARDENING: Put garden in good order. Collect daily
bouquets for school. Give away flowers. Collect the garden
products, including flowers, and with the plants grown in the
competition make an exhibit. Make awards. Collect seeds
for next year. Label. Give away or exchange seeds. Let
children take seeds home.

Prepare cuttings of grapes, ivy, or woodbine for the next
spring for lower grades to plant. (221, 229, 226, 241, 232.)

Observe the pollination of pumpkins or squashes, and the

474 NATURE-STUDY

two forms of flowers.* Which flower produces the fruit?
(152, 190, 156, etc.)

Mulch the strawberry beds. Protect other plants. Set
spring bulbs (221, 229, bulb catalogues). See also page 280.

Clean up for winter.

FRUITS: Study of the structure * of some fruits: Apple,
plum, peach, grape, tomato, orange, pumpkin, nut. Try
to trace the apple, etc. from the flower.* Show how the
different parts of the apple are formed from the flower parts.
What portions are edible? Compare in different fruits.

(152, 154, 156, i93> etc-)

SEED DISPERSAL: What is the meaning of sweetness,
flavor, odor, and color in the fruit? Why do the plants
"want" the animals to eat their fruit? Discuss dispersal of
the seeds. Find illustrations in nature. Examine the vines,
shrubs, and trees along a neglected fence. Note the numer-
ous berry-bearing plants, and infer how they were started
here. (152, 154, 156, 158, 161, 193, etc.) Dispersal of
dry-fruits * and seeds : Poppy,* pinks, boxelder,* catalpa,
thistle,* milkweed,* cocklebur,* stick-tights, burdock, bal-
sam, and jewel weed. Refer to the agents of dispersal.
(191, 198, and the references in the last.)

TREES:* Catalpa, hackberry, sycamore; white, "Nor-
way," and Austrian pines. (173, etc., 220, 22oa, 219.)

FLOWERS: Dandelion studied as a composite.* Com-
pare with thistle and sunflower. Compare with double
asters,* dahlia,* marigolds,* etc., of the garden. (152, 193,
154, 156, 159, etc.)

Identify and study Joe pye-weed,* dock,* and smart-
weed,* of the meadows. Also the roadside weeds: Pinnate
rag-weed, tall rag-weed,* sunflower-leaved rag-weed, carpet-

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 475

weed, sandburs, squirrel-tail grass, rye grass, burdock, nettle,
hemp.*

Observe zonal arrangement along the road.* Why thus
distributed? Study hemp in detail. Note the abundance
of the pollen of most of these weeds. Refer to wind pollina-
tion. Also to hay-fever supposed to be caused by the pollen.
(168, etc.; 222, 230, 241, 156, 246 "Weeds.")

Observe the flowers in swamps, meadows, roadsides,
pastures, prairies, and copses. Note characteristics and
beauty* of each. (183, 184, 153, 190, 4y6c, etc.)

MISCELLANEOUS FLOWERLESS PLANTS: Ferns:* Note
the kind of places and soil where they grow, their beauty and
fragrance. Dig up some root-stalks for the school-garden
and window-boxes. Press fronds of different kinds, and
make an illustrated fern booklet with descriptions. Note
the large root-stalk and numerous roots. Note the coiled
tips of the young fronds.* On under side of leaf observe
spore dots.* Shake some ripe fronds on white paper. Briefly
refer to the purpose of this dust, the spores. They are not
seeds, but another kind of propagative device. (193, 195,
206, 152, and for identification — 179, 172, etc.)

Moss, studied in a manner similar to last. Observe the
many different kinds. Note the situations they grow in.
If lost in the woods how could you tell north? Note the
pretty little capsules on slender stalks of many mosses. These
contain spores. Examine mosses with a magnifying or
reading glass. Gather some moss and put in the flower-
pots and window-boxes around the flowers. Better still,
make a moist chamber for them. (195, 193, 206, 152.)

Observe the beautiful lichens on the bark of trees, and on
stones. Also observe the mats of liverwort on moist and

476 NATURE-STUDY

shady cliffs, or near springs. (References as the last— also
156, 159, etc.)

Mushroom:* Simple study of its form and structure,
rapid growth, edibility or poisonous character. Refer to
mycelium in the ground or tree as the largest part of the
plant. General effect of a fungus on a tree. (195, 152, 154,
155, 159, 167, 1 80, 190.)

WINTER
PLANTS.

BACTERIA: (In connection with physiology). (209, 190,
152, 156.) Simple cultures of bacteria (165, 166, 209.)
Show in masses, and by color, decay effects, etc., and not
with microscope. Very simple experiment in contagion.
(Sterilize a potato by baking. Cut with sterilized knife.
Touch one-half against a dusty surface. Keep both moist
under glass, and observe from day to day.) Refer briefly
to disease bacteria. Sterilization experiments. Apply to
drinking water.

FRUIT MOULDS : Simple cultures and mere observational
lessons. Why is the fruit cooked in canning? (209, 165,
166, 152, 156, 158, 246 " Canning fruit.")

PLANT DISTRIBUTION: Visit greenhouse. Note tropical
climate and observe tropical plants* such as palms, banana,
amaryllis, lilies, cannas, callas, and orchids. Note the
beauty and remarkable patterns in many of these flowers.
Make a study of tropical vegetation and the conditions
under which it grows. Take palms and orchids as typical
plants. Read and show pictures. Characteristic arctic
flora: Sparseness and stunting of higher plants. Sphag-
num mosses of the tundras, and arctic reindeer "moss"

A GRADED COURSE OF N'ATURE-STUDY 477

(lichen). Temperate flora: Region of the hardwoods, con-
ditions required by them, principal kinds of trees. Re-
gion of the conifers — their requirements. Chief kinds. Use
the map and apply geography of climates. The prairies—-
where, why ? The grass and grain-land. Relation to rainfall.
Alpine vegetation, compare with arctic. The desert plants
— cactus * as type. Compare the Great Plains in North
America with deserts. Cause of desert type of vegeta-
tion. Moisture the chief, temperature the -next greatest
factor in distribution. These lessons should be well illus-
trated with pictures, not merely talks reviewing the geography.
(161, 156, 158, 211, 220, geographies, physical geographies,
and books of travel. Perhaps use lantern slides.)

GARDENING: Window gardening and greenhouse work.
See list, Chapter XVI for indoor culture. (229, 235.) Give
lessons * in seed sowing, transplanting, potting, repotting,
layering, and cuttings. Start rose cuttings and layer car-
nations. (221, 235, 229, 240, 241, 224.)

Hot-bed (221, 229, 241, 222, etc.): Plant cabbage, cauli-
flower, tomato, egg-plant, flowers for early starting. Trans-
plant later in garden or give to children to take home.

ANIMALS.

MISCELLANEOUS: The oyster: Where found, how ob-
tained. Compare with clam.

Coral : Examine coral * skeleton of different kinds. Note
beauty. Observe the pits or little holes each representing a
single polyp. Very simple description of the polyp, illus-
trated by drawings, pictures, and, if possible, with fresh-water
hydra, often in aquaria with water plants. Connect with the
geography of coral islands. Do not take up the atoll theory.

478 NATURE-STUDY

Sponge: Examine different kinds. Brief description of
the living animal, its sedentary habit, plant-like. How
"fished" and prepared. Skeleton. The children would
be interested in the little green fresh-water sponge of our
lakes and streams. Perhaps a specimen may be found.
(15, 18, 23, 33, 34, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92.)

BIRDS: A bird's wing:* Prepare wing bones and make
comparison with our own arm. Bird's leg.* Treat in a
similar manner. Plumage : Uses, different sorts of feathers,*
moulting, spring colors. Flight. Study of a feather in de-
tail. (108, 95, 100, 33, 34, 21, etc.)

SPRING
ANIMALS.

BIRDS: (95, to 125.) Cardinal,* towhee,* indigo bunt-
ing,* bank-swallow, peewee. Identify and study habits.

Observe again birds learned before. Let individual chil-
dren examine special birds * to write up later. Make a com-
parative study of the usefulness of wood-peckers (120, no),
also of hawks and owls from the economic standpoint.

Discuss and observe the mating colors of the robin,*
oriole,* cardinal,* rose-breasted grosbeak,* rooster, and
peacock. Refer also to the change of dress, in the fall, of
the thistle bird, the bobolink, and scarlet tanager.* (95 to
125.) Talks on egg collecting, shooting, wearing feathers.
Protect birds, obey bird laws, observe Bird Day. (108,
117, 113, 478.)

INSECTS: Observation of insects in the garden and
orchard. Note harm done; look up remedies and apply.
(132, 136, 148, 246, " Insecticides," "Codling Moth".)

FISHES: Identification study of the common fresh- water

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 479

fishes,* their habits, habitats, and food value. Special
adaptation to food or mode of life. Primitive and modern
methods of fishing,* including sea-fisheries. Connect study
of fisheries with geography. Principal kinds of salt-water
fish: Cod, herring, mackerel, also refer to sharks and
flying fish.

Fresh-water: Bullhead, sucker, minnow, carp, salmon,
(The Story of the Salmon in 468), trout, pickerel, eel, sunfish,
bass, perch, stickleback. (42, 49, 46, 41, 313, 320, 322, 323.)
Visit fish markets. Note methods of preservation. Keep
live fish in an aquarium, and make studies upon their habits.
Discuss the breathing of a fish. Examine the gills of a dead
fish. Why must the water be changed if many fish are in
a vessel and there are no water plants ? A fish can drown in
water that has been boiled and cooled. Why? (33, 34, 42.)

Read sections from the game laws pertaining to fishing.
Why such laws?

Encourage obedience to these laws. Discuss the artificial
hatching of fish, and the stocking of lakes and streams with
them. (21, 42, magazines, and the volumes of the United
States Fish Commission reports.)

PLANTS.

GENERAL: Simple lessons in plant growth,* illustrated
experimentally on seedlings and plants in window-boxes or
greenhouse. Review the work of the root. Show by ex-
periment absorption from soil. Observe sap in stem. Ob-
serve maple-sap and the "bleeding" of trees and vines in
spring. Show transpiration from leaves. Grow plants in
dark to show relation between light and leaf-green. Do
the simple iodine test on a leaf to show the presence of

480 NATURE-STUDY

starch in the green part. Use white-bordered geranium leaf.
Emphasize the importance of the leaf as a starch former,
the maker of the food for the plant. Without leaves the
ordinary plants would starve. Do not take up here the
sources of the starch, nor the relation of starch formation
to light. Leave this for later year. Discuss the storage
of starch for later use in roots, tubers, bulbs, and seeds.
In this way we get our starch for food. Show by exper-
imental cultures the temperature, light, moisture, and fertil-
ity conditions needed by a plant. Much of this can be ap-
preciated by the sixth grade children, but care should be
taken not to make the matter too scientific. Apply these
lessons as far as possible in the school -garden. (Refer-
ences: 190, 152, 156, 158, 196, 165, 164, 222, 228, 241, 230,
231, 223.)

Modified leaves : Leaves change to spines — thistle * and
cactus;* to cups in pitcher plants*; to tendrils partly or
wholly as in sweet pea.* Observe these and refer to the
advantages to the plant to have adopted these changes.
(i52> I54, 156, 14? 161, 193. Pitcher plants— 195, 104,
192.) Bulbs* and heads* (cabbage) are also modified
arrangements of leaves. They may be compared to great
buds. Cut lengthwise and note structure. (See last.)

TREES: Compare walnut and butternut. Study leaf,
flower, and fruit. Study comparatively the oaks.* Note
that there are two forms of boxelders;* the one with stam-
inate flowers, the other with pistillate. Refer to the method
of pollination — by wind. What other trees are thus polli-
nated ? Observe abundant pollen in such trees. Do these
trees have large pretty flowers? (Refer to 152, 193, 156, 154,
159, etc.)

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 481

FLOWERS : Refer to the pollination of grasses and grains,
including corn. Are their flowers large and pretty? (Same
as last.)

Observe insects in roses, fruit tree blossoms, etc. Discuss
their work in pollinating. Dependence of the fruit crop
upon this. (238, page 289.) Compare the flowers* of
apple, plum, pear, cherry, and hawthorn, and note great
similarity. Family likeness. Also observe the pollination
in the sweet pea. Discuss the advantage of the peculiar
form in pollination. Similarly, discuss the pollination of the
Jack-in-the-pulpit * and the lady's-slipper.* Discuss the
meaning of color, nectar, fragrance, and peculiar form to the
flower — aids in insect pollination. Compare the appearance
of wind and insect pollinated flowers. Why do the latter
not need pretty flowers ? Make this all very simple. Illus-
trate with actual flowers and with drawings. (200, 193, 207,
156, 154, 158, 161, etc.)

Flowers for identification and study: Ground plum,*
wild geranium,* lady's-slipper,* wild morning-glory, virgin's
bower. (168, etc.)

GARDENING: See Chapter XVI. Let this grade plan*
the whole school-garden as far as laying out the class plots
is concerned, each grade to divide up its own. Let these
children assist in spading, raking, fertilizing, etc. Lay out
beds — individual preferred. Keep a few general beds for
experimental work or ornamental plants. Decide upon the
vegetables and flowers to plant. See page 295. Then plant
or transplant when season allows. (240, 222, 224, 229, etc.)

Remove mulch from beds, etc. Cultivate regularly. Ap-
ply the principles of plant growth learned in the school-
room. Study the weeds and injurious insects. Find reme-

48a NATURE-STUDY

dies. (Insecticides: 229, 222, 241, seed catalogues.) Urge
home gardening. Encourage parents to give children owner-
ship of their produce. Offer seedlings from school. Plant
the rose cuttings and layered carnations. (221, 229, 232.)
Make a fern garden in a moist shady place. Prepare a rich
wood loam bed. Get the ferns from the woods. Make an
ornamental rockery with trailing flowers. Arrange a birds'
drinking trough at the top. If city water is available a pipe
could be laid in the rock and a fountain made to play. Ce-
ment could be used to hold the rock and make plant pock-
ets and basins for the birds.

ARBOR DAY: Transplant grafted trees from the school
nursery in suitable places: Apple or cherry. (221, 232, 240,
229, 222, 241, 220^ etc.) Follow directions carefully. Or
plant perennials (list Chapter XVI), roses or other shrubs,
vines or window-boxes. Observe the day at home. En-
courage children to clean up the school-grounds, trim trees,
etc., and have pride in their school. Encourage cleaning up
and beautifying the home grounds; try to develop civic pride
and a respect for the attempts of private owners to improve
their places.

ELEMENTARY AGRICULTURE: Select the best seed corn
(241, 222, 228, 230.) and let the boys compete at home in the
raising of corn, to be exhibited in the fall.

Soil study: Kinds suitable for corn and other crops. Soil,
fertility, and soil moisture. Kinds of fertilizers. Purpose
of tillage. Ploughing, etc. Methods of planting and sow-
ing crops. Purpose of cultivation. Methods. Machinery
of the farm. Adaptation of crops to soil and climate (corn,
cotton). Crop rotation, purpose. (Irrigation.) Harvesting.
Farm pests and remedies (insects and weeds).

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 483

Brief discussion of the principles of feeding farm animals.
Their care. The farm. Importance to the nation. Inde-
pendence of the farmer. Beauty of the country. Get cat-
alogue from state or district agricultural schools and describe
the work at the school. Encourage boys to attend. (228,
222, 223, 226, 227, 231, 239, 241, 242, 243, 244, 246. Year-
books of U. S. Department of Agriculture, Reports of State
Agricultural schools.)

SEVENTH GRADE

AIM AND METHOD: The nature-study in this grade
merges into what is generally known as elementary science.
The difference is that the method of study is more inductive,
and the pupils are made more conscious of the logic of
their own thinking. The experiment is used to a greater
extent and to more advantage in this grade. There is more
system in the different sciences studied and they may be pre-
sented in larger units without wearying the pupil or de-
stroying his interest. The logical requirements of the sciences
receive more consideration in their presentation. All this is
possible because of the greater mental maturity of the pupils
of this grade.

Inanimate nature is of greater interest. Therefore we give
more of earth forces, physics and chemistry, more of invention
and the application of scientific principles to the industries.
The economics of plants and animals receive more attention.
There is more interest in the social application of the
facts of science, in the welfare of the many, and in altru-
ism toward future generations, and the outlook is more
national. In these grades the scientific bent of the pupil

484 NATURE-STUDY

may be emphasized toward some special science, which may
encourage him to further study in the high school.

A laboratory is a great advantage in the grammar grades.
It would be well if the pupils could do considerable individual
experimentation. At any rate they should be required to
assist the teacher in the experiments and devise and perform
many of them themselves.

In some schools it is the practice to put an elementary
text-book in the hands of the pupils. This can be done with
physics, physiology, and geology, and possibly with other
sciences. In that case the lesson should be conducted upon
the usual nature-study plan of personal observation and
inference, and should not be allowed to degenerate into mere
repetition of the book. Considerable reference work may
be assigned in these grades, and home reading on the partic-
ular lessons or, in general, upon invention, discovery, hunting,
animal stories, biography, etc., should be encouraged. The
written work in nature-study may consist of recording obser-
vations in the field or the laboratory, keeping them in neat
and accurate order, writing them up in home tasks and essays,
or may be kept in descriptive book form. For example, the
pupils should illustrate and write up in a simple way their
experiments in physics.

Care should be given to the attainment of some degree of
accuracy in observation, reasoning, construction, and expres-
sion. Yet do not make the mistake to apply high-school
methods. The experiments should be almost wholly of the
qualitative sort, and no accurate or difficult measurement
should be required. Avoid teaching definitions and laws ex-
cept through usage. Do not use technical language. Do none
but the clearest [and simplest experiments. Avoid theoriz-

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 485

ing. Make considerable of the application of principles to
life situations or industries, etc., and if possible observe these
applications. Allow the children to exercise their construc-
tive and inventive talents.

The elementary agriculture becomes more and more
specialized, and could be well taught in a separate department
as applied science, just as we do with domestic economy and
manual training.

The work in the seventh grade presents, perhaps, a greater
variety of topics than the eighth, and the logical sequence
of the sciences is not pressed quite so far. The reasoning
demanded is also not quite so severe. Otherwise this discus-
sion applies with equal force to both grades.

Suggestions for correlated art lessons — see p. 57. The asterisk indicates
subjects for diagrams, drawings, paintings, etc. The numbers refer to gen-
eral reference list, p. 521.

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

EARTH STUDY: Economic geology : Building stones, clay,
ores, metals (iron), mining methods; the Age of Steel; peat,
coal (different kinds) ; salt, borax, sulphur. Discuss the chief
localities where each is found, mode of occurrence, manner
of getting it, treatment in purification, commerce, importance
in the arts. Something may be done with the origin. (Physical
geographies, and geologies, 326, 339, 330, 337, 343, 348, 47sa.
Geographies and commercial geographies also 320. Tarr's
' ' Economic Geology. ' ' Industry 1316,317, 323, 321. Inven-
tions: 321, 287, 288,292.)

PHYSICS : Water power and its applications.* The steam
engine,* its principle and uses. Examine an engine at work,
also the boiler.* Have engineer describe the running of

486 NATURE-STUDY

the engine, its parts, etc. Use diagrams and models to illus-
trate general principles. Do not make complex, simply the
principle of steam pressure and the action of the slide valve
and piston. Uses of the steam engine. What would be
some of the results without it ? Visit factory, power plant,
machine-shop. Examine school steam-plant. Brief study of
the locomotive and a modern passenger train. The engineer.
The mechanic.

Sound: Simple principles; vibration, transmission, echo,
sounding-boards. Musical instruments to illustrate the
principles of quality and pitch — piano, violin, flute, whistle,
organ pipe, drum. The phonograph. Make a record.
Thomas A. I^dison. The inventor. The physics of the
ear * and the voice.*

Sources of light. Rays, sunbeams in dust, mirrors* and
reflection (very simple; do not try to construct image).
Uses of mirrors. Where do you seem to stand ? Move your
right hand. Which seems to move ? How is a mirror made ?
Study of shadows,* conditions. Experiment with a burning
glass.* Show in a dark room how the rays are brought to-
gether. Very simple study of a reading lens or magnifying
glass. Pin-hole camera.*

References: Physics: 251, 259, 261, 450, 255, 318, 317,
250, 257, etc.

Invention: 292, 293, 294, 285, 288, 289, etc.

Boys' books for construction and experiments: 279, 281,
283, 284.

.WEATHER: Review of atmospheric physics:* Moisture,
evaporation, condensation, clouds, precipitation, rain, snow,
ice, frost, convection, winds. Pressure and barometer,*
Relation between storms and pressure. Cyclonic storms,

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 487

cause, wind direction, general path over United States.
Prediction of a progressing cyclonic storm. Follow the
daily weather bulletins on map, and note the progress of the
storm. Observe the wind and the barometer, and also the
cloudiness, etc., before, during* and after the storm. What
the weather maps tell. How predictions are made. De-
scription of the United States Weather Bureau, its work
and methods, its value to sailors, farmers, and others. Use
of the thermometer, barometer, hygrometer, rain-gauge,
weather maps. Keep a record of the weather with these
instruments for a number of weeks in different seasons.
Study the record and make out relations between the weather
and the wind, pressure and temperature. (Apply in geog-
raphy. Art-studies of landscapes.)

References: Physics: 251, 259, 250, 254, 257, 258, 247,
248, 449, 450.

Physical Geography and Meteorology: 327, 328, 326, 338,
334, 340, 331, 345, 341, 449. See also geographies.

CHEMISTRY: Of the kitchen: Acid (vinegar, lemon,
muriatic acid). Alkali (lye, soap, soda, borax). Oil and
fat. Make soap. Common salt, baking-powder, soda, and
cream of tartar. Neutralizing acids or alkali. Examine and
test in the laboratory the properties of each. Discuss the
household use and the properties utilized. Make simple and
practical. Chemistry of bread. References, Chemistries:
263, 264, 269, 266. Cooking and cleaning: 262, 268, 274.

Fuels and illuminants: Review combustion of carbon.
Review oxygen. (263, 264, 269, 262.)

Iron : Smelting and reducing of iron ore. Visit smelter if
near one. Simple experimental illustration (red lead on char-
coal before blowpipe). Visit a foundry. Observe casting.

488 NATURE-STUDY

Visit a rolling mill, or illustrate with pictures. Discuss these
processes. Visit a machine shop. (Connect with study of
iron in earth-study above.)

References: Chemistry: 264, 263, 266, 270, etc. Indus-
try and Invention: 316, 317, 318, 322, 287, 288, etc.

PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE: Bacteria and disease: See
experiments with bacteria in botany below. Infection.
Sterilization. Disinfection. Quarantine. Sanitation of home
and city. (209, 208, 199, 38^, 372, 373, 368, 375, 387.)
Review rules of cleanliness given in physiology, Grade VI.
Evils of dust.

Patent medicines, danger in. Value of medicines. The
physician. Dr. Pasteur. Nursing rules. Emergency rules.
(368a, 368, 373, 376, 371.)

The interrelations of food, circulation, respiration, and
work. Make simple. Use comparison of the engine. ( 368a,

373. 368> 371* 372-)

General plan of the ear* and eye,* defects and remedies*
and hygiene. Compare eye with a camera.* Use simple
diagrams, models, etc. The voice.* Care. (368a, 368,
37°> 372> 373> 3&>> 386.)

ASTRONOMY: Shadows. See Physics above. Eclipses,* con-
ditions. Phases of the moon. Observatories. Stories of
astronomers. The story of the calendar. Causes of the sea-
sons.* (390, 396, 402, 449, 391- Boyle's " Calendar Stories.")

AUTUMN
ANIMALS.

BIRDS: List of the birds that eat grain and fruit, that eat
poultry, that eat insects, that eat weed and grass seeds,
that destroy field mice, gophers, etc. (120, 108, 117, 33, 34,

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 489

246 " Common Birds." Agricultural Year-books. Also see
Chapter IX.) Study of the introduction and spread of the
English sparrow and the results. Methods of extermi-
nation. (5, 120.)

More detailed study of migration; causes, destinations,
mode of travel, routes of travel. Special study of the robin,
wild duck, bobolink, humming-bird. Observe migration and
feeding habits of the birds. Discussion of winter residents.
(100, 108, 33, 34, 96, 64, 21 for migration.)

INSECTS: Have pupils make a collection of insects.*
(See Chapter XIII.) Let the insects be neatly mounted and
classified by orders. Groups might be set at work collecting
and mounting sets of insects that eat vegetables, that injure
shade trees, that are beneficial. Butterfly collection. Set
showing protective coloration. Life history sets. A silk-
moth chart. These to be kept by the school. Begin early in
fall. (143, 136, 132, 33, 34, 130, 126, 148, i48a.)

General study of the food of insects. Simple study of the
adaptation of the mouth organs for this food. (148, 136,
132, 231, 241, 222, i48a.)

Amount of damage done by the codling moth, by the scale
insects, by chinch bugs, locusts, cotton-boll weevil. (Look
up in the Year-books of the Department of Agriculture,
also in magazines, in 148, i48a, 136, 130, etc.) Story of the
locust plague in United States. Read descriptions from the
Bible about locusts. Insecticides, how they act, how pre-
pared and applied. (148, 231, 221, 241, i48a, 246 "In-
secticides." Also seed catalogue.)

Value of bee culture. (133, 144, 246 "Beekeeping," i48a,
148.) Importance of the silk industry. (47, 312, 317, 316,
320, 246 "Silkworm," 148, i48a.)

490 NATURE-STUDY

Relation between insects and flowers, mutual benefits, our
benefit. (200, 207, 215, i56; 158, 161, 238, page 289.) Re-
lation of birds to insects (120, 108, 33, 34, 3, 246 " Common
Birds," Year-books of the Department of Agriculture. See
Chapter XIV.)

Parasitic Insects: Ichneumon flies, etc. Benefit to us.
(148, i48a, 132, 136, 130, 33, 34.)

PLANTS.

GARDENING AND AGRICULTURE: Put garden in order
after the summer's neglect.

Exhibit of corn raised in competition at home, and judging
and giving award. Exhibit of vegetables and flowers, nature
paintings, and drawings, note books, mounted plants, insect
collections, etc. A good plan would be to exhibit at the
county fair. Visit fair and observe products of the farm,
garden and orchard. (Corn judging 222, 241, 228, 226, etc.)

Set out bulbs for spring flowering. Later, protect beds and
plants for the winter. Clean up. (221, 229, 224, bulb
catalogues.)

USEFUL PLANTS : The native fruit industry — Apple, peach
grape, orange.

Study the fruit* briefly. Derive it from the flower.*
Nursery work with fruit trees. Orchards, planting and care.
Injurious insects and fungi. Remedies (See above — Insects;
and Rusts and Blights below.) Picking and shipping. Fruit
regions. Climatic conditions. Best varieties in the locality.
Value of the crops. Encourage home fruit growing. Visit
a commission house. (238, 232, 313, 222, 241, etc., geog-
raphies and commercial geographies, Agricultural Year-books,
nursery catalogues.)

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 491

The tropical fruit industry: Banana:* Where grown,
climate, the tree and fruit. Shipment and preser-
vation. Figs and dates, similarly. (313, geographies,
commercial geographies, geographical magazines, School
Science, Birds and Nature, Year-books of the Department
of Agriculture). Discuss the introduction of foreign plants
into this country. Make a list including fibre plants, fruit,
grains, grasses, and trees. What native plants has this
country sent to other lands? (318, 317, 213, 320, "Practical
Flora," by Willis.)

AQUATIC PLANTS: Observe in river or pond. Note gen-
eral character, and collect different kinds. They need not
be named except, perhaps, water milfoil, pickerel weed, eel
grass, duckweed, and bullrushes. Note the abundant growth.
Observe the minute animals that live in it. Discuss the
relation of these to fishes. Note * the gradual filling up of
the pond by these weeds. Observe a swamp* and a low
meadow,* and observe that these are later stages of the pond-
filling process. Note the peaty substance of the swamp and
meadow. Its origin? Refer to origin of coal. (156, 158,
1 66, 161, 153, etc.) On the sea shore, study, collect, and
press seaweeds.

TREES : Observe and identify ash and Kentucky coffee
tree. Make a more detailed study of leaf fall:* Manner,
conditions, scars, and healing; need of leaf fall. Study the
autumn colors,* both from the aesthetic and the scientific
standpoint. Does the frost make the colors ? Suppose the
leaves are frozen, do the colors appear? Note the character-
istic color changes of particular trees.* Make a list classify-
ing the trees as to autumn colors — reds, yellow, etc. Observe
that the buds for next spring are already formed. What

492 NATURE-STUDY

is their relation to the leaf scar?* (152, 156, 159, 161, 154,
Flagg, "A Year with Trees," 4750.)

IDENTIFICATION: Dodder* (a parasite), poison ivy, poison
nightshade, poison "jimsonweed,"* poison pokeweed, jewel
weed, evening primrose,* climbing bittersweet,* gentians.*
Note appearance, habitat, and characteristics. (168, etc.)

GRASSES: Stems, leaves, flowers, pollination, fruit, root-
stalk, wintering, uses, native of what country: June grass,
rye-grass,* timothy,* millet, the grains,* corn,* sorghum,*
sugar cane, bamboo. (169, 230, 231, 222, 241, 213, 225, 152,

154, i56> i59> l6lO

WEEDS: Quackgrass,* barnyard grass,* squirrel tail
grass, foxtail, sand-bur. (See last references.) Prickly
lettuce, Russian " thistle," Canada thistle, mustard, mullein,*
milkweed,* daisy * (whiteweed), pigweed, lambs' -quarters.
These are all common field weeds. Identify them, study
the harm they do, the way they spread, go to seed, how they
were introduced, etc., and how they may be exterminated.
Read laws against weeds. (230, 222, 241, 231, 226, 256, 246
" WEEDS.") Visit fields and observe the plants. What good
can be said for weeds ? What is a weed ?

FUNGI: Mushroom,* shape, gills, spores, mycelium, can
grow in the dark, has no green color, does not make its own
food, but either steals it from a living plant (tree) or uses the
food in the dead bodies of other plants. General effects of
fungi, death to living plant, decay of the dead. The good
done by fungi of decay in a forest. Distinction between edi-
ble * and poisonous * mushrooms. Collect as many different
kinds of mushrooms as can be found. Note the variety of
form, etc. Study puff-balls and shelf -fungi.* (152, 156,
190, 154, 159, 153, 220, 195, 167, 180.)

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 493

Rusts and blights: Lilac blight, etc., wheat rust, apple
rust, aster rust, etc. Observations of general appearance,
using a magnifying glass, general effects on the "host." Dis-
cuss the damage to wheat crop. These are plant diseases.
(U. S. Agricultural Year-books, 154, 156, 153, 222, 241, 230,
etc.)

WINTER
ANIMALS.

MAMMALS: The farm animals, general discussion of
their uses, and of the various breeds suitable for one use
or another. Apply especially ro cattle. Study of the dairy.
Best stock, care, treatment of milk, etc. The creamery and
butter making. Milk tests, make some. (231, 241, 226, 228,
223, Farm Journals, Year-books of the Department of Ag-
riculture, and Farmers' Bulletins, 246 — Nos. 143, 106, 53,
241, 42, 64, 184, 34, 205.)

PLANTS.

TREES : The farmer's wood-lot — how to use and keep it.
Farm forestry. Planting on the prairies. (220, 219, 218, 217 ;
Farmer's Bulletin Nos. 228 and 134 in reference 246; U.S.
Agricultural Year-books.)

THE LIFE OF A TREE (THE OAK*): Apply the princi-
ples of absorption, soil fertility, climatic conditions, trans-
piration, flow of sap in stem, relation to the light, starch
formation, flowering, pollination, fruit formation, seed dis-
persal, yearly growth of stem (annual rings *), yearly growth
of twigs,* leaf fall, winter state of buds,* insect enemies, the
lumberman, the farmer, forest fires, fungous parasites, storms,
decay, death. (Ward's "The Oak," 152, 156, 158, 161,
220, 219, 22oa, 132, 136, 148.)

494 NATURE-STUDY

GARDENING: Nursery work — grafting,* budding,* (232,
229, 230, 240, 223, 222, 241. See page 288.)

Culture of boxed and potted plants. (See Chapter XVI
for list. 235, 221, 229, 224, 245.)

Talks about farmers' institutes. Attend. Call attention
to the free distribution of Farmers' Bulletins (see reference
246). Send for lists.

Talks about agricultural colleges or rural industrial schools.
Send for catalogue. Encourage boys and girls to attend if
they have a fondness for country life.

Encourage the pupils to keep poultry, doves, etc., to take
care of the cow or horse at home. Perhaps their parents
may give them a calf or a colt, etc., to take care of. Let them
read about how to feed, etc., and apply their knowledge.
Encourage home reading of elementary books on agriculture
and horticulture, seed catalogues, farm papers, etc. (See
references 222, etc.) Discuss the comparative advantages
of farm and city life, emphasizing the healthfulness and the
beauty of the country, and the independence of the farmer.
Read literature appreciative of rural life and scenes. Refer
to the great men who have lived on a farm. Consider the
modern improved machinery of the farm, the conveniences
and even the luxuries to-day possible, such as gas, telephone,
free delivery, books, and papers, rural electric lines, and con-
solidated schools.

BACTERIA: Connect with physiology above. Simple ex-
perimental cultures to show bacteria of decay. Experi-
ments in inoculation of culture media; sterilization; canning
fruit; bad fruit and meat. Bacteria in dust. — Hardwood
floors vs. carpets; mopping vs. sweeping and l< dusting."
Bacteria in milk. Bacteria and disease. Contagion. Dis-

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 495

infection. Some useful bacteria : Vinegar, cheese, soil (nitrify-
ing), tanning, etc. (209, 208, 156, 165, see also physiolo-
gies: 368a, 370, 380, 371, 386, 387, 199, 230, 242, 231.) It
may be advisable to use a compound microscope to show
some of the larger bacteria.

YEAST AND MOULD: Start some yeast in a dilute sugar
solution. Observe. Note alcoholic odor and bubbles given
off (CO2). These substances are made by the yeast from
the sugar. Set some bread. Observe rise of dough, the
bubbles of gas (CO2) formed by the yeast from the sugar
in the dough. Discuss purpose of the rising. (262, 195
156, 159, 166, 263, 267,274.) Moulds: Raise some mould
on fruit or on leather. (Reference as last.)

SPRING
ANIMALS.

BIRDS:* Review of all the birds previously studied.
Classify them, as swimmers, waders, and shore-birds,
scratching birds, birds of prey, perching and song-birds,
and miscellaneous. Make a bird calendar, note nesting,
song, care of young, food, and other interesting habits.
(95 to 124.)

The natural enemies of birds : Men and boys as destroyers
of birds for game, eggs, " sport." Women as destroyers in
wearing plumage. Tell how some of the plumage is obtained
(snowy egret). Arouse sympathy for birds and a desire to
protect them. Read game and bird laws. Discuss their
purpose. Teach to obey them. Observe Bird Day. Read
about Audubon. (403.) Form an Audubon Society. (120,
117, ico, 96, 113, 107, 122, 478, 479.)

INSECTS: Flies and mosquitoes: Briefly review with

496 NATURE-STUDY

culture experiments the life-cycles-* of these insects. Note
their food and how their mouths are adapted for getting it.
Note the habit of flies in collecting on filthy and decaying
matter. Such places are probably full of bacteria of decay,
and perhaps disease. What would probably be the result
if these flies should now walk on our food ? Discuss further
this point of flies carrying disease germs. Remedies. In a
similar manner consider the mosquito that causes malaria.
The mosquito biting a malarial patient may get the germs
of malaria and later transmit them to others. Refer to the
probable cause of yellow-fever's being a mosquito inoculating
people with the fever germs. Usual remedies used against
mosquitoes. Apply as far as possible at home. (129, 133,
130, 148, 33, 34, i48a.)

PLANTS.

GENERAL : The seed : * Study large seeds, such as Lima
bean, squash, corn, etc., and observe the coats, and em-
bryo or plantlet with cotyledons or seed leaves. In the
corn note the germ and the food store of starch. Discuss
the function of the seed-leaves. Grow seedlings * in soil
and also in glass germinators (see Chapter XVII) and ob-
serve various methods of getting out of the seed and mode
of growth. Note how the seedlings behave above the ground.
What they do with their seed leaves.* Note especially on beans
how the seed leaves shrivel. What becomes of the material
that was in them? Cut off the seed leaves of several bean
seedlings soon after they are above the ground and observe
the starving and perishing of the plant. What is the use of
the stores of starch in the corn ? Dig up a corn seedling that
has been growing for some time. Note that the kernel from

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 497

which it sprang is empty and soft. What has become of
the material that was in it? Try this experiment: Soak
some kernels of corn and cut away most of the food supply,
but do not injure the germ. Plant these and observe the
result. . Why should we select the biggest and plumpest seeds ?
What part of an ear of corn would you choose for planting?
Plant six fat seeds and six small seeds of corn. Observe
the seedlings.* (190, 193, 152, 156, 222, 241, 228, etc.)

Movements in plants: Observe the behavior of seedlings
when inverted.* (See Chapter XVII.) The stem and root
move upward and downward respectively. They seem to
know what to do. Observe the behavior or position of
oxalis, clover, or bean that has been kept in the dark, as
compared with one in the light.* Leave exposed, note
movement. Observe the motion of tendrils and twining
plants.* Observe the way the seedlings and other window-
plants turn and grow toward the light.* Turn pot or box
around and observe the motion. Touch the leaflets of a
sensitive plant * and observe the closing up and shrinking
away of the plant, and the motion of quite distant parts that
were not touched. Can this plant feel? (190, 164, 212, 196,
165, 156, 161, 153.)

FLOWERS: Mayweed,* ground-ivy, purslane, cheese mal-
low, chickweed, an umbelliferous plant (caraway,* zizia,*
carrot, parsnip,* in flower), five-finger, wood sorrel, Sol-
omon's-seal.* Identify and study characteristics and uses
or harm. (Keys: 168, etc., — Weeds: 230, 241, 156, 246
"Weeds"; read C. D. Warner's " My Summer in a Garden,"
472.) Make a collection of weeds, press, mount, and label.

TREES: Distinguish the elms, done best by flower.*
Review the trees learned in previous years. What kinds are

498 NATURE-STUbY

best adapted for shade trees ? Why ? Which are the most
rapid growers? Which are the shortest lived? Which
produce a litter with their fruit? Which are most easily
affected by insects and drop their leaves during the summer ?
Which are the most easily injured in a storm? Which tree
is your favorite? Why? Draw a sketch of it and write an
essay on it for Arbor Day. (173, etc., 220, 219, 22oa.)

ARBOR DAY: Read up beforehand how to set out a tree.
(See Chapter XVIII.) Plant a white elm, nut, or fruit tree.
(220, 219, 241, 226, 221, 229.)

GARDENING : Begin early to plan garden. Select seeds and
send for them. Choose from lists on page 295. Let the
boys engage in a competitive cultivation of the sugar-beet,
and the girls, too, if they wish, or let them choose flowers,
(chrysanthemums). Read up in Farmers' Bulletins and
books about the sugar-beet, and apply the directions. (Farm-
ers' Bulletin No. 52; books: 222, 223, 241, 226, 230.) Let
a committee visit the beet plots and flower beds during the
summer, and in the fall exhibit the results and award prizes.

Start seeds in cold-frame or hot-bed.

Help the lower grades prepare the garden. Lay* out
class garden. (Chapter XVI.) Individual plots, if possible,
also a few general beds for ornamental plants or experimental
cultures. Mark off, stake out, plant, etc., in season.

Plant diseases and insects: Observe. Read up, find
remedies and apply. (221, 229, 241, 226, 231, 230, 2.46.)

Set out berry bushes, vines, shrubs, and perennial herbs
for decoration or to attract the birds. Encourage pupils
to do this at home.

Lessons in pruning. Give pupils the prunings to take
home as cuttings for planting.

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 499

Plant outside window-boxes and care for them. List
Chapter XVI.

EIGHTH GRADE

AIM AND METHOD: Read discussion at beginning of
seventh grade p. 483.

THROUGHOUT THE YEAR

PHYSIOGRAPHY:* Systematic review of previous earth
study, illustrated by local features as far as possible. Per-
haps an elementary text-book may be used. The atmos-
phere, weathering, erosion, sedimentation, strata, fossils,
earth waters, igneous forces, mountain formation, ores and
minerals, economic resources, the coal period, coal, the ice
age, sketch of the development of animal life. Use pictures,
models, local illustrations. Emphasize the beauty and
grandeur of the earth. Try to get pupils to appreciate the
slowness of geological action. Show man's dependence
upon the physiographic conditions. Apply locally and to
other typical cases. Man's utilizing the forces and resources
of nature. Talks on the U. S. Geological Survey. (327,
336, 328, 326, 346, 343, 348, 344, 475a, 475^ 475c, geog-
raphies, books of travel.)

PHYSICS: Common properties of matter, gravity (clocks,
balancing, falling bodies, specific gravity, buoyancy). Make
very simple, avoid laws and formulas. Base upon simple
experiments.

Air pressure, barometer,* pumps,* siphon,* water pres-
sure, city waterworks,* capillarity.

Light : Review work of last year. Take up color, prism,*
spectrum,* lenses,* burning glass,* magnifying glass, micro-

500 NATURE-STUDY

scope, telescope, observatories, camera,* the eye.* Use
simple diagrams. Do not try to apply law of refraction or
find the image with the diagrams except in the simplest
manner.

Magnets,* battery,* electro magnet,* electric bell,* tele-
graph,* telephone, electric light,* electric' motor,* electric
street car.* Examine these and note construction and man-
ner of operation. Simple explanations are hard to give.
Do not go into theory. Use simple analogies, or try not to
explain at all, and simply be satisfied to show the general
construction and the actual operation. Emphasize rather
the practical utility of these inventions.

Visit a modern newspaper printing press. Study the
history of printing.

References: Physics: 251, 250, 255, 259, 317, 318, 257,
258, 260, 261, 249. Invention: 292, 286, 287, 296, 288, 289,
285, 321, 316. Boys' Books of construction and experiment-
ing: 276, 279, 280, 281, 282, 284, 298. Biography: 405,
406, 407, 321.

CHEMISTRY:* Experimental study of elements, com-
pounds, analysis, air, water, constituents of each, oxygen,
hydrogen, nitrogen, carbon, fire, carbon dioxide, sulphur,
gunpowder, matches, illuminating gas, kerosene. Properties
of soda, salt, ammonia, muriatic acid, soap, lye.

Photography: Teach the process in a general way. If a
dark room is available teach developing and printing. Dis-
cuss in a simple way the modern photomechanical processes
— half-tone and three-color photography.

References: Chemistry: 270, 273, 263, 264, 269, 262,
268, 274, 317, 318. Inventions: See physics above.

PHYSIOLOGY AND HYGIENE: Systematic review of the

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 501

subject,* using perhaps some elementary text-book: Muscles,
bones,* digestion and digestive organs,* food, cooking, blood,
heart* and blood vessels, respiration* and lungs, the relation
between food, respiration, and energy. Exercise, games.
Ventilation.*

Bacteria and disease. Sanitation. The Board of Health.

The eye,* ear,* and other special sense organs. Nerves
and brain,* their uses. Anesthetics, surgery, antiseptics.
The hospital. Nursing, invalid food, Emergency rules.
Temperance, smoking. Illustrate well with observations
on body, with material from the meat market, models,
diagrams, pictures, experiments, and possibly the dissection
of a frog. Keep to the simple. Let pupils make simple
diagrams.

References: 380, 370, 381, 38ia, 385, 368a, 373, 368, 371,
372, 209, 375, 387, 386, 295.

AUTUMN
ANIMALS.

In connection with geography study the distribution of
animals on the earth, tracing the causes that determine it.
Note particular adaptations to climate, element, mode of
life. Consider typical animals of different zones and also
the mountains, forests, prairies, plains, deserts, and the sea.
Consider the natural barriers of climate, water areas, and
mountains in migration. Discuss island fauna, taking the
typical animals of Australia. Very simply discuss the rea-
son for this peculiar fauna. (33, 34, 18, 21, 22, 64, 44, Gil-
bert and Brigham's Physical Geography, Redway's Physical
Geography, other geographies.)

Study of man: Begin with primitive man. Discuss his

5o2 NATURE-STUDY

dependence upon the natural environment. His enemies. His
food, clothing, and shelter, and how he procured these. Dis-
covery of weapons. Trace in a simple way through the Stone
Age, the discovery of fire, of pottery, weaving, domestication
of animals, the shepherd stage, cultivation of useful plants,
the importance of agriculture in developing civilization, the
discovery of metals, invention, utilization of the forces of
nature, becoming more and more the master of the forces
and resources of nature, the age of steam, the age of electric-
ity. Consider the distribution of the races of man and modes
of life to adapt to climatic conditions. Some famous migra-
tions of races as the Greeks and Romans, the Goths, the
Saracens, the Angles and Saxons to England, the Huns,
etc., with some reference to the present shifting of peoples on
the earth and the reasons that impel them to migrate. Bring
out the dependence on nature in the case of modern civiliza-
tion. (Physical geographies, histories of civilization.)

Extinct races of animals: Begin with the present destruc-
tion of animal life by man. Refer to other causes for extinc-
tion. Beaver, bison, the great auk. Fossils indicate what?
Stories of animals of the past. The mammoth. Purpose
of our game laws. Why is the closed season when it is?
Teach obedience to the game and other protective laws.
Game wardens. The American Sportsmen's League, the
Audujxm Society, Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Animals. Urge to protect animal life not harmful to us.
(333> J7i 33> 34, 100, 96, 113, 478.)

PLANTS.

GARDENING: Put garden in order. Collect flowers for
school-room decoration.* Exhibit flowers and produce

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 503

grown at home (sugar beets), also art and other work related
to nature-study. Make awards. Exhibit at the county fair.
Visit fair. Have a flower show.

Do fall pruning, give cuttings away for home growing.
(221, 229, 241, 222.) Set bulbs for spring flowering. Mulch
beds and protect roses, etc. Clean up for winter.

FLOWERS: Study of wild composites.* Review sunflower
type, dandelion type, and thistle type. Collect, press, and
make a herbarium of autumn flowers, reviewing thus the
names of all learned in previous years. Note the abundance
of the composites. Account for it (seed dispersal). Note
the beauty * of roadside, meadow, swamp, and copses. Dig
up some of the root-stalks and plant in the school wild-flower
garden or in out of the way corners of the grounds, along
fences, etc. Plant some at home. (190, 156, 197, 159, 161,
462, 475c; keys: 168, etc.; seed dispersal: 191, 198, 482, 161.)

FLOWERLESS PLANTS : Collect ferns,* mosses,* liver-
worts,* Equisetum* club-mosses,* algae (pond scum, green
felt, Pleurococcus) and grow under suitable conditions
(moisture) in the school-room. Plant fern root-stalks in
the school-garden and at home, in rich soil with much de-
cayed wood. Plant some in the window-boxes or in pots.
Plant mosses around the bases of the plants in the window-
boxes or pots. Put the algae in aquaria. Observe these
plants in the field. Note conditions of shade and moisture.
Note growth on logs, rocks, etc. Make a simple study of
ferns and mosses (see seventh grade work) and in a similar
way study the other plants.

Consider chiefly the general appearance, the beauty, and
the habitat, and do very little with the spores and other
minute details. Spores may be shown in mass as collected

5o4 NATURE-STUDY

on paper. Perhaps simple experiments in growing them
may be tried. Do nothing with the prothallial stages nor the
alternation of generations. Examine the pond scum with
a low-power compound microscope. (193, 152, 156, 159;

172, 179, 475C-)

Plant diseases: Wheat rust, apple rust, sunflower leaf
rust, lilac and woodbine leaf blight, potato rot, corn smut
black knot, tree shelf fungi* and toadstools.* Consider
chiefly from the economic standpoint. Do very little with
structural details not visible with the naked eye or a simple
magnifying glass. Spores may be shown in mass on paper.
Consider the extent of damage done to crops and trees.
Read up about remedies, especially sprays. (190, 153, 167,
180, 220, 231, 230, 221, 241, 226, etc., 246 " Fungicides.")

WINTER
PLANTS.

FORESTRY: Uses of forests: Fuel, lumber, wind-breaks,
game, nuts, and fruit, maple sugar, paper pulp, Christmas
trees, telegraph and telephone poles, fence posts, and ties.
Importance in conserving the soil moisture, retaining fertility,
protecting the soil, controlling off -flow and preventing floods,
and acting as reservoirs for rivers and irrigation purposes.
Health resorts, scenery. Discuss the enemies of forests : Far-
mer, lumberman, etc., forest fires, browsing cattle and sheep,
storms, drought, injurious insects, parasitic fungi. Discuss
the life-cycle of a tree — youth, maturity (how old), old age
and decline. The use of forests as a crop, conservative
cutting, protection, replanting or allowing natural reforest-
ation. How forests naturally reproduce themselves — cop-
pice method, self-sowing. Show pictures or visit planted

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 505

groves — how started? Visit nursery. Refer to the plant-
ing on the prairies and changes wrought thereby. Discuss
the amount of lumber still standing. Compare with former
times. Trace the decline of the white pine industry in the
United States. Where did it start? Where is it to-day?
What shall we do when all the forests are gone? Discuss
what has been done in Europe for over a hundred years in the
way of forest planting and preservation, and the present
condition of forests started 80 or 100 years ago. How long
does it take a forest crop to become useful (thirty years), how
long before mature? (80 years.) Necessity of state or
national control. The work of generations. Emphasize
the need of altruism in this work. Refer to the various state
and national forest reserves. Use map. Relation of the
national reserves to irrigation. Refer to national parks for
beauty of scenery and pleasure places. An interesting case
is the Sequoia Reserve in California. Study these trees.
Develop a sentiment in favor of forestry. Encourage boys
to turn their attention to it for practical application on the
home farm or for further study for the career of forester.
Describe the life and duties of a German forester. Send
for Farmers' bulletins on the subject of farm forestry. Read
the U. S. Agricultural Year-books on the subject, and also
elementary books on agriculture and forestry. Also read
magazine articles. (220, 219, 218, 217, 222, 223, 226, 228,
231, 241.) Consider the beauty of forests in scenery.*
(216, 214, 475C.)

IMPROVEMENT OF PLANT VARIETIES : Discuss how tLu corn
crop may be improved by selection of good seed. Descrip-
tion of Luther Burbank and his work. What he has done
to change and improve plants. (210, magazines.) Make

506 NATURE-STUDY

very simple and avoid theory. (246 " Good seed corn," U. S.
Agricultural Year-books.) Explain in an untechnical way
how hybrids are produced, and apply to horticultural methods
of getting new varieties of flowers and fruits. (156, 158, 166,

Experimental cultivation of plants at state and U. S.
Experiment Stations to get better producing varieties, more
drought or cold resistant kinds. Experiments in adapting
crops to special soils, climates, etc. Refer to apple tests
(what kinds are the best adapted locally — why?), macaroni
wheat, and alfalfa. Why is each variety specially suitable
for the region ? (U. S. Agricultural Year-books, State Agri-
cultural Reports, Reports of Farmers' Institutes, 233.) Discuss
with the map the chief agricultural or crop regions in the
United States and consider the special climatic, soil, or other
features to be taken into account. (Geographies, commer-
cial geographies, physical geographies, U. S. Agricultural
Year-books. 246 "The Apple and how to Grow it."

INTRODUCTION OF FOREIGN PLANTS IN SUITABLE REGIONS :
Orange, lemon, figs, dates, Siberian apples, Russian semi-arid
wheat, Indian millets, Japanese flowers, Australian eucalyptus
trees, etc. Most of our fruits, vegetables, flowers, and grains
have been introduced. What are our native useful plants?
U. S. Agricultural Year-books; 238; Willis's "Practical
Flora"; 213. Commercial geographies.)

GARDENING: Greenhouse work. (See Chapter XVI.)
Layering, cutting, grafting, budding (roses, nursery stock).
Cross-pollination by hand. Forcing flowers and vegetables.
Seed purity tests. (221, 229, 241, 222, 226, 232.) Indoor
window culture in school-room. (See list, Chapter XVI.
235, 221, 229.)

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 507

Home reading of agricultural books, seed and nursery
catalogues, planning home garden. Send for catalogues of
state or county agricultural schools. Put them into the
hands of boys and girls. Discussion of the aims and work
of the U. S. Department of Agriculture.

ANIMALS.

BREEDING chickens and doves by selection. Discuss
general principles. Apply same in a general way to stock,
horses, etc., to show how great improvement can be made in
farm animals for special purposes. Apply to selection of
dairy stock and beef. (33, 34, 222, 223, 226, 241. U. S.
Agricultural Year-books.)

SPRING

BIRDS : * General review of the facts of bird life pre-
viously learned. Structure and adaptation of body, plu-
mage, wings,* feet,* bills.* Protective and mating colors.
Listing of useful and harmful birds. Discussion of the
food of birds. Identification of all birds previously learned,
and the vireos, summer yellowbird, Maryland yellow-
throat, black and white creeper, and redstart. Character-
istics of warblers as a class. Classify all the birds learned
into orders: Swimmers and Divers, Shore birds and
Waders, Scratching Birds, Birds of Prey, Song and Perch-
ing Birds (and these again into Families). Visit a museum
and observe the relationships as shown by the arrangement
of the specimens. Visit a zoological garden. (95 to 125.
Also 33, 34, 36, 47, 54.)

Encourage children to read bird magazines. Give books
to take home. Encourage interest in bird study, but check

5o8 NATURE-STUDY

unnecessary or unpromising egg-collecting and shooting.
Read from Audubon, Burroughs, Torrey, Miller, etc. De-
velop love and protection for birds. Encourage formation of
Audubon society. Discuss the work done by this society.
Discourage the use of plumage. Show the girls the cruelty
of it. How we may attract the birds to our homes. (Chap.
X, 479> 478> TI3> JI7> Io8> I09-)

PLANTS.

FLOWERS: Review of the plants* learned in previous
grades. Collect, press, and mount in herbarium. Do not
waste flowers. Dig up wild flowers and place them in school
or home garden. Note peculiar habitats, adaptations, type
of flower, and peculiar adaptations of the flowers, fruit and
seed dispersal, economic value. (168 to 187, 190 to 215.)

Make a comparative study* of the following families,
noting similarity in flower, fruit, etc. — a family likeness :

Crowfoot Family: Marsh marigold, buttercup, hepatica,
windflower, columbine.

Mustard Family : Shepherd's-purse, sweet alyssum, candy-
tuft, horseradish, radish, cabbage, turnip, field mustard.

Violet Family: Blue, yellow, and white violets, cultivated
violet, pansy.

Pea Family : Sweet pea, garden pea, bean, vetch, ground-
plum, red clover, white clover, alfalfa, melilot, prairie clover,
wistaria, locust, peanut, sensitive plant.

Rose Family: Wild and cultivated, plum, cherry, peach,
spirea, fivefinger, strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, haw-
thorne, pear, apple, mountain ash.

Gourd Family: Cucumber, squash, pumpkin, watermelon,
musk melon, gourds.

A GRADED COURSE OF NATURE-STUDY 509

Parsley Family: Parsnip, caraway, celery, carrot, wild
carrot, zizia.*

Composite Family: Sunflower, dandelion, thistle, cultivated
and wild asters, goldenrod, daisy, fleabane, marguerite,
eupatory, blazing star, fireweed, lettuce, prickly lettuce, ever-
lasting, ragweed, cocklebur, burdock, zinnia, coneflower,
golden glow, marigold, bur marigold, dahlia, coreopsis,
cosmos, mayweed, tansy, bachelor's button, etc.

Do not go into details further than to be able to see the
similarities and the family likenesses. Do not emphasize
the classification nor make it technical. Do not try to de-
fine the family characteristics. Let the work be largely ob-
servational, and let the plants be placed side by side in
groups, so that the children may see the relationships.
Let the children arrange their herbaria according to this
classification. (152 to 166, 191, 193, 197, 200, 215.)

GARDENING AND AGRICULTURE: Nursery work, pruning
vines, shrubs, trees, setting out trees, shrubs or perennials,
water gardening. (221, 229, 222, 226, 241, etc.)

Preparing and applying fertilizers, sprays for insects and
fungi. Encourage home gardening, tree planting, berry
shrub planting, etc. Give from surplus of plants raised
in school garden. (221, 229, 226, 241, etc.)

Encourage ownership and care of garden at home, of
poultry, squabs, sheep, calves, cows, colts, etc. Apply the
principles learned at school.

Arbor Day: Set out hard maple — or some other tree,
shrub, vine, or perennial. (220, 219, 221, 229, 241, 226.)

Teach the elements of landscape gardening. (221, 229,
224, 222, 226, etc.)

Develop interest in school-ground improvement, home and

5io NATURE-STUDY

civic improvement. Make a study of the beautification plans
of the city.

This class can be employed in making seats, rustic gates
and fences, arbors, arches, urns, etc., for the garden. The
general supervision and preservation of the order and beauty
of the grounds may be left to them. (246, 221, 229, 224, 222.)

APPENDIX

PRIMARY INFORMATION BOOKS AND NATURE STORIES

More or less adapted, and more or less true. For grades
from the Kindergarten to the Fourth inclusive. Arranged
by topics. '

A. BOOKS THAT CONTAIN SOMETHING ON ALMOST EVERY NATURE

TOPIC:

1. The Child's World: Poulson.

2. The Story Hour: Wiggin and Smith.

3. Five Minute Stories: Richards.

4. The Plan Book: George.

5. Month by Month: Willis and Farmer.

6. Mother Nature's Children: Gould.

7. Friends and Helpers: Eddy.

8. All the Year Round: Strong.

9. Through the Year: Clyde and Wallace.
10. The Outdoor World: Furneaux.

n. Cat Tails and Other Tales: Howliston.

12. Story of Woods and Fields: Brown.

13. Outdoorland: Chambers.

14. Orchardland: Chambers.

15. Land and Water Friends: Bamford.

16. Lookabout Club: Bamford.

17. Talks about Queer People: Bamford.

B. ANIMALS IN GENERAL:

1. Four Feet, Two Feet, and No Feet: Richards.

2. Claws and Hoofs: Johonnot.

3. Feathers, Fur, and Fins: Cheney.

4. Little Friends in Feathers and Fur: Miller.

5i2 NATURE-STUDY

5. Funny Friends: Miller.

6. About Animals: Carter.

7. Familiar Animals: Monteith.

8. Some Useful Animals: Monteith.

9. Living Creatures: Monteith.

10. Short Stories about Shy Neighbors: Kelly.

11. Animal Ways and Claims: Carrington.

12. Aunt Louisa's Book of Animal Stories: Valentine.

13. Little Beasts: Cram.

14. Sea (Animal) Stories: Hardy.

15. Beasts and Birds: Wright.

16. Story of Little Fishes: M tiller.

17. Story of Little Animals. (Phyllis Books): Mulcts,

18. Mother Nature's Children: Gould.

19. Natural History: Miles.

20. Book of Natural History. Young Folks' Library.

21. Book of Animal Stories. Young Folks' Library.

C. CATS AND DOGS AND OTHER PETS:

1. List A, Nos. i to 7.

2. Petland: Wood.

3. Petland Revisited: Wood.

4. Cat Stories (from St. Nicholas) : Carter.

5. Friends and Helpers: Eddy.

6. Cats and Dogs: Johonnot.

7. Letters from a Cat: H. H. Jackson.

8. Crib and Fly. (Two dogs): Dale.

9. Sofat and Mewmew. (Cat and dog): Craik.

10. Familiar Animals: Monteith.

11. Our Home Pets: Miller.

12. Beautiful Joe: Saunders.

13. Duke: Flanagan.

14. St. Nicholas.

15. See also List B, i, 6, 21, etc.

D. HORSE, Cow, SHEEP, ETC.

1. List A, i to 7.

2. Life on a Farm: B radish.

3. Familiar Animals: Monteith.

4. Useful Animals: Monteith.

5. Horse and Other Animal Stories: Cassells.

6. Black Beauty: Sewell.

7. List B, i, 6, n, 2, 21, etc.

APPENDIX ' 513

E. SMALL WILD ANIMALS:

1. Story of Little Animals. (Phyllis Books): Mulcts.

2. Little Folks in Feathers and Fur: Miller.

3. Beasts and Birds: Wright.

4. Friends and Helpers: Eddy.

5. Short Stories of Shy Neighbors: Kelly.

6. Little Beasts: Cram.

7. Familiar Animals: Monteith.

8. Four Feet, Two Feet, and No Feet: Richards.

9. Funny Friends: Miller.

10. Animal Stories: Carter.

11. Talks about Animals. (From Youth's Companion.)

12. Squirrels and other Furbearers: Burroughs.

13. See also List A, i to 7, etc. Also List B, 3, n, 12, 18, 19, 20, 21

14. Animal Pictures from Life. Rand, McNally.

15. Birds and Nature.

1 6. Animal Chart: Mumford.

17. For pictures, see General Reference List, Natural Histories.

18. St. Nicholas.

F. LARGE WILD MAMMALS:

1. Claws and Hoofs: Johonnot.

2. Familiar Animals: Monteith.

3. Four-Footed Americans: Wright.

4. Funny Friends: Miller.

5. Animal Life: Cooper.

6. Natural History: Miles.

7. Book of Natural History. Young Folks' Library.

8. Animal Story Book. Young Folks' Library.

9. Ways of the Wood Folk: Long.

10. Four Feet, Two Feet, and No Feet: Richards,
n. About Animals: Carter.

12. List A, i to 7.

13. List E, 14, 16, 17, 18.

G. POULTRY:

1. Feathers and Fur: Johonnot.

2. Friends and Helpers: Eddy.

3. Four Feet, Two Feet, and No Feet: Richards.

4. Feathers, Fur, and Fins: Cheney.

5. Animal Stories (from St. Nicholas) : Carter.

6. See List Q, Farm Life.

7. See List A, i to 7. List B, 19-21.

514 NATURE-STUDY

8. St. Nicholas,
g. Birds and Nature.
10. Fanners' Bulletins, General Reference List, No. 246.

H. WILD BIRDS:

1. Story of Birds. (Phyllis Books): Mulcts.

2. Birds and Beasts: Wright.

3. Little Folks in Feathers and Fur: Miller.

4. Four Feet, Two Feet, and No Feet: Richards.

5. First Book of Birds: Miller.

6. Second Book of Birds: Miller.

7. Funny Friends: Miller.

8. Birds through an Opera Glass: Merriam.

9. Birdworld: Stickney.
10. Birdlife: Weed.

n. History of the Robins: Trimmer.

12. See List A, i to 7. List B, 19, 20, 21.

13. See General Reference List — Birds.

14. Birds and Nature, Bird-Lore, St. Nicholas.

15. Bird Pictures for Identification :

Bird Chart (Colored): Mumford.

Audubon Bird Chart (Prang Educational Co.).

Bird-Lore Bird Chart.

Bird Neighbors. (Colors): Blanchan.

Birds that Hunt and are Hunted. (Colors) : Blanchan

Colored Pictures of Birds: Mumford.

I. FROGS, TOADS, FISH, ETC.:

1. See List A, i to 6.

2. Friends and Helpers: Eddy.

3. Living Creatures: Monteith.

4. Mother Nature's Children: Gould.

5. Story of the Little Fishes: Miiller.

6. Animal Life; Cooper.

7. Natural History: Miles.

8. Book of Natural History. Young Folks Library.

9. List A, 10, ii, 15, I3. Also List B, 5, n, 14.
10. St. Nicholas.

J. INSECTS, SPIDERS:

1. Wings and Stings: Doulton.

2. Butterflies and Bees: Morley.

APPENDIX ' 515

3. Insect Folk: Morlev.

4. The Bee People: Morley.

5. Wasps and their Ways: Morley.

6. Mother Nature's Children: Gould.

7. Buzbuz: Pratt.

8. Neighbors with Wings and Fins: Johonnot.

9. Insect Story. (Phyllis Books): Mulcts.

10. Buz: N6el.

11. List A, i to 7, 10, 13, 15, 16. List B, 9, n, 19-21.

12. For Identification, etc., see General Reference List — Insects

K. PLANTS IN GENERAL:

1. Plants and their Children: Dana.

2. Botany All the Year Round: Andrews.

3. First Studies in Botany: Atkinson.

4. Short Stories in Botany for Young Children: Cooper.

5. Outlines in Botany— I and II: Newell.

6. Readers in Science: Murche.

7. Flowers and their Friends: Morley.

8. Seed Dispersal: Beal.

9. Seed Babies: Morley.

10. Little Wanderers: Morley.

11. Mother Nature's Children: Gould.

12. See List A, i to 6.

13. Birds and Nature, St. Nicholas.

L. TREES, LEAVES, BUDS:

1. Tree Story. (Phyllis Books): Mulcts.

2. Tree Stories: Miiller.

3. Ten Common Trees: Stokes.

4. Through the Year: Clyde and Wallace.

5. All the Year Round: Strong.

6. List K, i to 6.

7. For Identification, etc., see General Reference List — Trees.

8. List A, i to 6.

9. Trees in Prose and Poetry: Stone and Pickett.

M. WILD FLOWERS:

1. Flower Story. (Phyllis Books): Mulcts.

2. Flowers and their Friends: Morley.

3. Plants and their Children: Dana.

4. Botany All the Year Round: Andrews.

5i6 NATURE-STUDY

5. Outlines in Botany, II: Newell.

6. For Identification, etc., see General Reference List — Plants,

1 68, etc.

7. See List A, i to 6, etc.

N. FRUIT, NUTS, SEED DISPERSAL:

1. Plants and their Children: Dana.

2. Seed Babies: Morley.

3. Outlines of Botany, I and II: Newell.

4. Botany All the Year Round: Andrews.

5. First Studies in Botany: Atkinson.

6. Botany. Bergen.

7. Little Wanderers. (Seeds): Morley.

8. Seed Dispersal: Beal.

9. Mother Nature's Children: Gould.

10. Through the Year: Clyde and Wallace,
n. All the Year Round: Strong.

12. Foods and their Uses: F. O. Carpenter.

13. How We are Fed: Chamberlain.

14. St. Nicholas and Birds and Nature.

15. See List A, i to 7, 14. List K, 4, 6.

16. General Reference List, 154, 155, 160, 161, 213, 238 are useful.

O. TROPICAL FRUITS, ETC.:

1. Under Sunny Skies: Ginn.

2. From Lands of Sunshine: Riggs.

3. Children of the Palm Lands: Allen.

4. See others of List T.

5. Birds and Nature.

6. Information Readers: Clifford.

7. Elementary Geographies: Dodge, Fairbanks, Frye, King,

Tarr and McMurry.

8. Geographical and Popular Magazines.

9. See List A, i to 5.

P. VEGETABLES AND FARM PRODUCTS (GRAIN, CORN, ETC.):

1. Seed Catalogues.

2. See Lists R and S.

3. See Elementary Geographies — List O, 7.

4. List N, 12 and 13.

5. List K, i, 2, 4, 6.

6. List A, i to 5.

APPENDIX 517

Q. GARDENING, OUTDOORS AND INDOORS:

1. Many suggestions in pedagogical journals, especially in Nature-

Study Review; Elementary School Teacher, Teachers College
Record.

2. Also many suggestions in Farm Journals, Women's Home Com-

panion, Ladies' Home Journal, Country Life, St. Nicholas.

3. Seed Catalogues of Vick, Maule, etc., have practical suggestions.

4. Mary's Garden and How it Grew: Duncan.

5. Outline for School Garden. (Hyannis Normal School): Brown.

6. Miniature and Window Gardening: Allen and Godfrey.

7. How to Make a School Garden: Hemenway.

8. The Practical Garden Book: Bailey and Hunn.

9. Garden Making: Bailey.

10. Little Gardens: Skinner.

11. See other books on the General Reference List — Agricultural

and Gardening.

12. What Shall We Do Now? Page 259: Lucas.

13. See Agricultural Bulletins, General Reference List, No 246.

R. FARM LIFE AND FARM INDUSTRY:

1. Story of Country Life: B radish.

2. On the Farm: Parker and Helm.

3. Playtime and Seedtime: Parker and Helm.

4. Harold's Rambles: Troeger.

5. A Boy on a Farm: Abbott.

6. Alice and Tom: Brown.

7. Sandman's Farm Stories, 2 vols. : Hopkins.

8. List A, i to 5, 13.

9. Through the Farmyard Gate: Poulson.

10. Life on the Farm: Shepard.

11. Elementary Agriculture: Hatch and Hazlewood.

12. First Principles of Agriculture: Goff and Mayne.

S. FOOD, CLOTHING AND SHELTER, FIRE:

1. Industrial Readers: F. O. Carpenter.

2. How We are Fed: Chamberlain.

3. How We are Clothed: Chamberlain.

4. How We are Sheltered: Chamberlain.

5. Information Readers: Clifford.

6. Industries of To-Day: Chase and Clow.

7. Science Readers: Murche.

8. Story of the Land of Sunshine: Riggs.

9. Industries of To-Day: Lane.

5i8 NATURE-STUDY

10. Some Useful Animals: Monteith.

11. Tree Men, Cave Men (2 vols.), Tent Dwellers: Dopp.

12. List A, i to 5.

T. OCCUPATIONS AND INDUSTRIES:

1. Industrial Readers: F. O. Carpenter.

2. Stories of Industry: Chase and Clow.

3. Great American Industries: Flanagan.

4. Information Readers: Clifford.

5. How We are Fed, Clothed, and Sheltered (3 vols.): Chamberlain.

6. Readers in Science: Murche.

^7. Geography of Commerce and Industry: Rocheleau.

8. Elementary Geographies: Dodge, Frye, King, Tarr and

McMurry.

9. See List A, i to 5.

10. Industrial-Social Education: Baldwin.

U. PRIMITIVE LIFE. INDIANS:

1. The Tree Dwellers: Dopp.

2. The Cave Dwellers (2 vols.): Dopp.

3. The Tent Dwellers: Dopp.

4. Ten Little Boys on the Road of Long Ago: Andrews.

5. Indian Child-life: Deming.

6. Red Folk and White Folk: Deming.
7: Hiawatha (prose) Primer: Holbrook.

8. In Field and Pasture: Dutton.

9. Hunting and Fishing: Dutton.

10. The Story of Ab. (Adapted): Waterloo.

11. Robinson Crusoe. (Adapted): De Foe.

12. Seven Little Sisters: Andrews.

V. HOME GEOGRAPHY AND EARTH STUDY:

1. Home Geography for Primary Grades: Fairbanks.

2. Home Geography: Dutton.

3. Story of Our Mother Earth: Fairbanks.

4. Home Geography: Troeger.

5. Longmans' Pictorial Geography Reader.

6. Brooks and Brook Basins: Frye.

7. Elementary Geography: Dodge.

8. Elementary Geography: King.

9. Elementary Geography: Tarr and McMurry.

10. Wonders of the Earth, Sea, and Sky. Young Folks' Library.

11. Geography of Commerce and Industry: Rocheleau.

APPENDIX 519

W. PEOPLE IN OTHER LANDS:

1. Seven Little Sisters: Andrews.

2. Ten Boys of Long Ago: Andrews.

3. People of Other Lands: Shaw.

4. The World and Its People: Dunton.

5. Around the World: Carroll.

6. Little Folks in Many Lands: Chase.

7. Five Little Strangers: Schwartz.

8. Children of the World. Educational Pub. Co.

9. Little People of the Sun: Miiller.

10. Under Sunny Skies: Ginn.

11. Stories from the Land of Sunshine: Riggs.

12. Children of the Palm Lands: Allen.

13. Eskimo Stories: Smith.

14. The Snow Baby: Peary.

15. St. Nicholas, Youth's Companion.

X. WEATHER, WIND, RAIN, SNOW, ICE, FROST, MONTHS AND SEASONS:

1. Nature Study: Mrs. Wilson.

2. See List V, Home Geography.

3. Mother Nature's Children: Gould.

4. Science Readers: Murche.

5. Calendar Stories: Boyle.

6. Book of Nature Myths: Holbrook.

7. Nature Myths: Cooke.

8. List A, i to 5, ii.

9. For poems — Posy Ring and Golden Numbers: Wiggin and

Smith. Also Beeson's Child's Calendar Beautiful.

Y. SKY, STARS, SUN, MOON:

1. Stories of Starland: Proctor.

2. Nature Study: Mrs. Wilson.

3. Storyland of Stars: Pratt.

4. Easy Star Lessons: Proctor.

5. Overhead: Nichols.

6. Wonders of Earth, Sea, and Sky. Young Folks' Library.

7. Nature Myths: Cooke.

8. Stars in Story and Legend: Porter.

9. Book of Nature Myths: Holbrook.

10. See List A, i to 5.

11. For Poems: List X, 9.

52o NATURE-STUDY

Z. HEALTH, PHYSIOLOGY:

1. Good Health: Jewett.

2. Town and City: Jewett.

3. Child's Book of Health: Blaisdell.

4. How to Keep Well: Blaisdell.

5. How to Teach Physiology: Blaisdell.

6. Primary and Intermediate Physiologies: Overtoil.

7. Primary Physiology: Baldwin.

8. See General Reference List, 368, etc.

GENERAL REFERENCE LIST

P indicates books adapted for primary grades, or useful for the
teacher; I, for intermediate; G, for grammar.

Nature Study Methods

1. Arnold's Waymarks for Teachers. Silver, Burdette & Co.

2. Bailey: The Nature Study Idea. Doubleday, Page & Co.

3. Hodge: Nature Study and Life. Ginn & Co.

4. Jackman: Nature Study. H. Holt & Co.

5. Jackman: Nature Study for Grammar Grades. Macmillan

Co.

6. Lange: Nature Study Handbook. Macmillan Co.

7. Ricks: Object Lessons. D. C. Heath & Co.

8. Salmon: Object Lessons. Longmans, Green & Co.

9. Scott: Nature Study. D. C. Heath & Co.

10. Wilson: Nature Study for Elementary Schools. Macmillan

Co.

IT. McMurry: Special Methods in Elementary Science. Mac-

millan Co.

12. Baldwin: Industrial-Social Education. Milton Bradley Co.

13. Lloyd and Bigelow: Teaching of Biology. Longmans,

Green & Co.

14. Jackman: Field Work in Nature Study. Flanagan.

Zoology

TEXT-BOOKS, NATURAL HISTORIES, AND IDENTIFICATION
BOOKS:

15. G Colton: Zoology. D. C. Heath & Co.

1 6. Hertwig-Kingsley: Manual of Zoology. H. Holt & Co.

17. I, G Hornaday: Natural History. Scribners.

18. G Jordan, Heath and Kellogg: Animals. Appletons.

19. Jordan: Manual of the Vertebrates. (Key.) McClurg &

Co.

20. G Riverside Natural History. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

21. I, G Kellogg: Elementary Zoology. H. Holt & Co.

22. G Thomson: Outlines of Zoology. Appletons.

521

522 NATURE-STUDY

23. I, G Wood: Natural History.

24. G Marshall: The Frog Book. Doubleday, Page & Co.

25. I, G Ingersoll: The Life of Animals. Macmillan Co.

26. I, G Boys' Book of Natural History. Young Folks' Library.

Hall & Locke.

27. I, G Animal Stories. Young Folks' Library. Hall & Locke.

28. I, G The People's Natural History. University Society.

29. All Miles: Natural History. Dodd, Mead & Co.

30. I, G Sherren: Popular History of Animals. Lippincott.

31. I, G Wright: Four-Footed Americans. Macmillan Co.

32. I, G Harvey: Introduction to Zoology. American Book Co.

33. I, G Linville and Kelly: Zoology. Ginn & Co.

34. I, G Davenport: Zoology. Macmillan Co.

General Zoology

35. I, G Baskett: Reptiles and Amphibians. Appletons.

36. G Buckley: Winners of Life's Race. Appletons.

37. I, G Burroughs: Squirrels and Other Furbearers. Houghton,

Mifflin & Co.

38. G Cooper: Animal Forms. American Book Co.

39. I Conn: Method of Evolution. Putnams.

40. G Flower: The Horse. Appletons.

41. G Goode: American Fishes. Estes & Lauriat.

42. *P, I Baskett: Story of the Fishes. Appletons.

43. G Heilprin: Distribution of Animal Life. Appletons.

44. G Hornaday: Taxidermy and Zoological Collecting. Scribners.

45. G Jordan and Eve rmann : American Food and Game Fishes.

Doubleday, Page & Co.

46. I, G Kellogg: First Lessons in Zoology. H. Holt & Co.

47. G Lane: All about Dogs. J. Lane.

48. G Baskett: Story of the Fishes. Appletons.

49. I, G McCarthy: Familiar Fishes. Appletons.

50. Metcalf: Outline of Organic Evolution. Macmillan Co.

51. P, I Monteith: Familiar Animals and their Wild Kindred.

American Book Co.

52. P, I Monteith: Some Useful Animals. American Book Co.

53. Morris: Man and His Ancestors. Macmillan Co.

54. Poulton: Colors of Animals. Appleton.

55. I, G Porter: Wild Beasts. Scribners.

56. G Roosevelt, Van Dyke, etc., The Deer Family.

57. I, G Rice: Animals. Stone & Co.

58. Romanes: Animal Intelligence. Paul, Trench, Truebner &

Co.

APPENDIX 523

59. All Burkett: Our Domestic Animals. Ginn & Co.

60. G Shaler: Domesticated Animals. Scribners.

61. All Seton: Wild Animals I Have Known. Scribners.

62. I, G Seton: Lives of the Hunted. Scribners.

63. All Stone and Cram: American Animals. Doubleday, Page & Co.
'64. Thomson: Animal Life. Scribners.

65. Seton: Animal Heroes. Scribners.

66. All Cram: Little Beasts. Small, Maynard.

67. I, G Long: Ways of the Woodfolk. Ginn & Co.

68. I, G Long: Wilderness Ways. Ginn & Co.

69. I, G Long: Secrets of the Woods. Ginn & Co.

70. I, G Long: Little Brother of the Bear. Ginn & Co.

71. I, G Long: School of the Woods. Ginn & Co.

72. I, G Long: Following the Deer. Ginn & Co.

73. All Eddy: Friends and Helpers. Ginn & Co.

74. All Seton: Lobo, Rag, and Vixen. Scribners.

75. I, G Sharpe: Wild Life Near Home. Century Co.

76. P, I Wright: Birds and Beasts. Macmillan Co.

77. I, G Cornish: Animals at Work and at Play. . Macmillan Co.

78. G Ingersoll: Wild Neighbors. Macmillan Co.

79. P, I Johonnot: Feathers and Fur. American Book Co.

80. P, I Johonnot: Claws and Hoofs. American Book Co.

81. P, I Johonnot: Neighbors with Wings and Fins. American Book

Co.

82. All Seton: Krag and Johnny Bear. Scribners.

83. P, I Miller: Funny Friends. Dutton.

84. P, I Monteith: Living Creatures. American Book Co.

85. G French: Animal Activities. Longmans, Green & Co.

86. G Buckley: Life and Her Children. Appletons.

87. I, G Emerton: Life on the Seashore. Bates.

88. All Hardy: Hall of Shells. Ginn & Co.

89. All Hardy: Sea (Animal) Stories. Ginn & Co.

90. G Heilprin: Animal Life on the Seashore. Lippincott.

91. G Mayer: Seashore Life. Barnes.

92. Deane: The Wonders of the Sea and Shore. Lothrop.

93. G Furneaux: Life in Ponds and Streams. Longmans, Green

&Co.

94. G What Mr. Darwin Saw. Harpers.

Birds
KEYS:

95. G Apgar: Birds of the United States. American Book Co.

96. G Bailey: Handbook of the Birds of the Western United States.

Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

524 NATURE-STUDY

97. Baird, Brewer, Ridgeway: North American Birds. 3 vols.

Little, Brown & Co.

98. All Blanchan: Bird Neighbors. Doubleday, Page & Co.

99. All Blanchan: Game Birds. Doubleday, Page & Co.

100. G Chapman: Handbook of the Birds of Eastern North America.

Appletons.

101. G Chapman and Reed: Color Key to North American Birds.

Appletons.

102. G Grant: Our Common Birds, and How to Know Them.

Scribners.

103. G Reed: North American Birds' Eggs. Doubleday, Page & Co.

104. P, I Audubon Bird Chart. Prang Educational Co.

105. All Mumford: Bird Chart. (Colored.) Mountjoy.

106. G Wright: Bird Craft. Macmillan Co.

GENERAL:

107. Babcock: Bird Day. Silver, Burdette & Co.

108. I, G Baskett: Story of the Birds. Appletons.

109. I, G Blanchan: How to Attract the Birds. Doubleday, Page & Co.
no. I, G Eckstrom: The Woodpeckers. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
in. I, G Dugmore: Bird Homes. Doubleday, Page & Co.

112. I, G Herrick: Home Life of Wild Birds. Putnams.

113. All Lange: Our Native Birds. (Protection.) Macmillan Co.

114. P, I Miller: First and Second Books of Birds. Houghton, Mifflin

&Co.

115. All Merriam: Birds Through an Opera Glass. Houghton, Miff-

lin & Co.

1 1 6. All Merriam: Birds of Village and Field. Houghton, Mifflin

& Co.

117. P, I Stickney: Bird World. Ginn & Co.

118. G Sanford, Bishop, VanDyke: The Waterfowl. Macmillan Co.

119. P, I Torrey: Everyday Birds. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

120. G Weed and Dearborn: Birds in Relation to Man. Lippincott.

121. P Weed: Birdlife Stories. Rand, McNally & Co.

122. P, I Grinnell: Our Feathered Friends. D. C. Heath & Co.

123. P, I Miller: True Stories of Birdlife. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

124. Finley: American Birds. Scribners.

125. G Beebe: The Bird. H. Holt & Co.

Insects

FOR IDENTIFICATION:

126. Comstock's Manual of Insects. Comstock Publishing Co.

127. I, G Holland: Butterfly Book. Doubleday, Page & Co.

APPENDIX 525

128. G Holland: The Moth Book. Doubleday, Page & Co.

129. I, G Howard: The Insect Book. Doubleday, Page & Co.

130. G Kellogg: American Insects. H. Holt & Co.
1300.1, G Patterson: The Spinner Family. McClurg & Co.

131. I, G Emerton: Common Spiders. Ginn & Co.

GENERAL:

132. I, G Cragin: Our Insect Friends and Foes. Putnams.

133. I, G Comstock, A. B.: Keeping Bees. H. Holt & Co.

134. G Dickerson: Moths and Butterflies. Ginn & Co.

135. G Howard: Mosquitoes. McClure, Phillips & Co.

136. I, G Hunter: Elementary Studies in Insect Life. Crane & Co.

137. G Hyatt and Arms: Insecta. D. C. Heath & Co.

138. G Maeterlinck: The Life of the Bee. Dodd, Mead & Co.

139. G Ballard: Among Moths and Butterflies. Putnams.

140. P, I Doulton: Wings and Stings> Rand, McNally.

141. P, I Morley: Butterflies and Bees. Ginn & Co.

142. P Mulcts: Story of Insects. (Phyllis Books.) Page.

143. P, I Morley: Insect Folk. Ginn & Co.

144. I, G Morley: The Honey Makers. McClurg & Co.

145. I, G Morley: The Bee People. McClurg & Co.

146. I, G Morley: Wasps and Their Ways. McClurg & Co.

147. I, G Noel: Buzz. H. Holt & Co.

148. G Smith: Economic Entomology. Lippincott.

1480. Folsom: Economic Entomology. P. Blakiston & Co.

149. I, G Soule and Eliott: Caterpillars and Their Moths. Century

Co.

150. G Weed: Nature Biographies. Doubleday, Page & Co.

151. G Weed: Life Histories of American Insects. Macmillan Co.

Botany

TEXT-BOOKS AND NATURAL HISTORIES:

152. All Andrews: Botany All the Year Round. American Book Co.

153. I, G Atkinson: College Botany. H. Holt & Co.

154. I, G Bailey: Lessons with Plants. Macmillan Co.

155. I, G Bailey: Botany. Macmillan Co.

156. G Bergen and Davis: Principles of Botany. Ginn & Co.

157. I, G Bergen: Outlines of Botany. Ginn & Co.

158. I, G Coulter: Plant Relations. Appletons.

159. I, G Coulter: Plant Structures. Appletons.

160. I, G Coulter: Plants. Appletons.

161. All Kerner and Oliver: Natural History of Plants. H. Holt &

Co.

526 NATURE-STUDY

r62. I, G Leavitt: Outlines of Botany. American Book Co.

163. All Gray: Lessons in Botany. American Book Co.

164. I, G McDougal: The Nature and Work of Plants. Macmillan

Co.

165. I, G Osterhout: Experiments with Plants. Macmillan Co.

166. I, G Stevens. Botany. D. C. Heath & Co.

KEYS AND BOOKS FOR IDENTIFICATION:

167. G Atkinson: Edible and Poisonous Mushrooms. PlaAt Pub-

lishing Co.

1 68. All Blanchan: Nature's Garden. Doubleday, Page & Co.

169. All Britton and Brown: Illustrated Flora. Scribners.

170. All Gray: Manual. American Book Co.

171. All Gray: Field, Forest, and Garden Botany. American Book

Co.

172. I, G Clute: Our Native Ferns in Their Native Haunts. Stokes.

173. All Keeler: Our Native Trees. Scribners.

174. All Lounsberry: Guide to the Trees. Stokes.

175. All Lounsberry: Guide to the Wild Flowers. Stokes.

176. All Mathews: Familiar Flowers of Field and Garden. Apple-

tons.

177. All Mathews: Familiar Trees. Appletons.

178. All McFarland: Getting Acquainted with the Trees. Outlook

Co.

179. I, G Parsons: How to Know the Ferns. Scribners.

180. I, G Marshall: The Mushroom Book. Doubleday, Page & Co.

181. G Underwood: Our Native Ferns. H. Holt & Co.

182. G Sargent: Manual of Trees. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

183. All Creevy: Flowers of Field, etc. Harpers.

184. All Going: Field, Forest, and Wayside Flowers. Baker, Taylor

& Co.

185. All Keeler: Native Shrubs. Scribners.

186. I, G Peterson: How to Know the Wild Fruits. Macmillan Co.

187. I, G Wright: Flowers and Ferns. Macmillan Co.

188 I, G Dana: How to Know the Wild Flowers. Scribners.

189. I, G Parkhurst: Trees, Shrubs, and Vines of the Nor. East. U. S.

Scribners.

General Botany

190. All Atkinson: First Studies of Plant Life. Ginn & Co.

191. All Beal: Seed Dispersal. Ginn & Co.

192. I, G Bailey: Talks Afield. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

193. All Dana: Plants and Their Children. American Book Co.

194. G Geddes: Chapters in Modern Botany. Scribners.

APPENDIX , 527

195. I, G Herrick: Chapters in Plant Life. American Book Co.

196. I, G McDougal: Elementary Plant Physiology. Longmans.

197. P, I Morley: A Few Familiar Flowers. Ginn & Co.

198. P, I Morley: Little Wanderers. Ginn & Co.

199. G Newman: Bacteria. Putnams.

200. P, I Morley: Flowers and their Friends. Ginn & Co.

201. P, I Morley: Seed Babies. Ginn & Co.

202. P, I Weed: Seed Travellers. Ginn & Co.

203. All NewelFs Outlines of Botany. (2 vols.) Ginn & Co.

204. P Mulcts: Story of Trees. Phyllis Books.) Page.

205. P Mulcts: Flower Story. (Phyllis Books.) Page.

206. P, I Cooper: Short Stories in Botany for Young Children. Crowell.

207. G Gibson: Blossom Hosts and Insect Guests. Newson.

208. Conn: Story of Germ Life. Appletons.

209. G Conn: Bacteria, Yeast, and Moulds in the Home. Ginn &

Co.

210. G Harwood: New Plant Creations. (Luther Burbank.)

211. I, G Vincent: The Plant World. Appletons.

212. I, G MacDougal: Living Plants. Baker, Taylor & Co.

213. I, G Sargent: Corn Plants. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

214. All Stone and Pickett: Trees in Prose and Poetry. Ginn & Co.

215. I, G Weed: Ten New England Blossoms. Houghton, Mifflin

& Co.

216. G Flagg: A Year with Trees. Educational Publishing Co.

FORESTRY:

217. G Bruncken: North American Forests and Forestry. Putnams.

218. G Gifford: Practical Forestry. Appletons.

219. G Pinchot: Primer of Forestry. United States Department of

Agriculture.

220. G Roth: First Book in Forestry. Ginn & Co.

22oa G Green: Forestry in Minnesota. Minnesota Natural History
Survey.

Agriculture and Gardening

221. All Bailey: Garden Making. Macmillan Co.

222. All Hatch and Hazlewood: Elementary Agriculture. Row,

Peterson & Co.

223. I, G Burkett, Stevens, and Hill: Agriculture for Beginners. Ginn

& Co.

224. Shelton: The Seasons in a Flower Garden. Scribners.

225. I, G Edgar: The Story of a Grain of Wheat. Appletons.

226. I, G Eggert: Professional Farming. Welch & Co.

528 NATURE-STUDY

227. I, G Goodrich: First Book in Farming. Doubleday, Page & Co.

228. I, G Goff and Mayne: First Principles of Agriculture. American

Book Co.

229. All Hunn and Bailey: The Practical Garden Book. Macmillan

Co.

230. I, G Percival: Agricultural Botany. H. Holt & Co.

231. I, G Bailey: Principles of Agriculture. Macmillan Co.

232. I, G Bailey: Nursery Book. Macmillan Co.

233. G Bailey: Plant Breeding. Macmillan Co.

234. P Brown: Outline of School Gardening. Hyannis Normal

School.

235. All Allen and Godfrey: Miniature Window Gardening. Pott & Co.

236. I, G Barnard: Talks about Useful Plants. Funk, Wagnalls Co.

237. P, I Duncan: Mary's Garden and How it Grew. Century Co.

238. I, G Powell: The Orchard and Fruit Garden. McClure, Phillips

& Co.

239. G Morris: Farming for Boys. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

240. All Hemenway: How to Make a School Garden. Doubleday,

Page & Co.

241. I, G James: Practical Agriculture. Appletons.

242. G King: The Soil. Macmillan & Co.

243. G King: The Physics of Agriculture. Published by the Author.

244. P, I Shepard: Life on the Farm. Flanagan.

245. All Skinner: Little Gardens. Appletons.

246. I, G Publications of the United States Department of Agriculture:
Many of these are of very great value in teaching nature-study. They

consist of Year-books upon general topics in agriculture, special Bul-
letins on certain crops, methods, etc., and numerous Farmers' Bulletins.
They are upon many practical household, farmyard, and field topics.
Send for a list of the Farmers' Bulletins. The Year-books may some-
times be obtained free through the courtesy of the local Representative
in Congress, or they may be bought from the Superintendent of Docu-
ments, Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. Send also for
the General list of publications of the Department of Agriculture, in
which many Bulletins will be found upon crops, economic entomology,
soils, economic ornithology, bird protection, trees, forestry, etc. These
Bulletins are generally not distributed gratis, but are well worth buying.
The following is a list of the Farmers' Bulletins available for dis-
tribution January, 1907, and useful in nature-study, sent free to any
address in the United States on application to a Senator, Representative
or Delegate in Congress, or to the Secretary of Agriculture, Washington,

(22) The Feeding of Farm Animals.
(25) Peanuts: Culture and Uses.

APPENDIX 529

(27) Flax for Seed and Fibre.

(28) Weeds: And How to Kill Them.

(29) Souring and Other Changes in Milk.

(32) Silos and Silage.

(33) Peach Growing for Market.

(34) Meats: Composition and Cooking.

(35) Potato Culture.
(39) Onion Culture.

(41) Fowls: Care and Feeding.

(42) Facts About Milk.
(44) Commercial Fertilizers.
(49) Sheep Feeding.

(51) Standard Varieties of Chickens.

(52) The Sugar Beet.

(54) Some Common Birds.

(55) The Dairy Herd.
(59) Bee Keeping.

(61) Asparagus Culture.

(62) Marketing Farm Produce.
(64) Ducks and Geese.

(66) Meadows and Pastures.

(71) Essentials in Beef Production.

(74) Milk as Food.

(77) The Liming of Soils.

(80) The Peach Twig-borer.

(85) Fish as Food.

(86) Thirty Poisonous Plants.
(88) Alkali Lands.

(93) Sugar as Food.

(95) Good Roads for Farmers.

(96) Raising Sheep for Mutton.
(99) Insect Enemies of Shade Trees.

(104) Notes on Frost.

(106) Breeds of Dairy Cattle.

(no) Rice Culture in the United States.

(in) Farmers' Interest in Good Seed.

(112) Bread and Bread Making.

(113) The Apple and How to Grow It.

(121) Beans, Peas, and other Legumes as Food.

(126) Practical Suggestions for Farm Buildings*

(127) Important Insecticides.

(128) Eggs and Their Uses as Food.

(129) Sweet Potatoes.

(132) Insect Enemies of Growing Wheat,

53o NATURE-STUDY

(134) Tree Planting in Rural School Grounds.

(135) Sorghum Sirup Manufacture.

(137) The Angora Goat.

(138) Irrigation in Field and Garden.

(140) Pineapple Growing.

(141) Poultry Raising on the Farm.

(143) The Conformation of Beef and Dairy Cattle.

(146) Insecticides and Fungicides.

(148) Celery Culture.

(154) The Home Fruit Garden: Preparation and Care.

(155) How Insects Affect Health in Rural Districts.

(156) The Home Vineyard.

(157) The Propagation of Plants.

(161) Practical Suggestions for Fruit Growers.

(165) Culture of the Silkworm.

(166) Cheese Making on the Farm.
(170) Principles of Horse Feeding.

(172) Scale Insects and Mites on Citrus Trees.

(173) Primer of Forestry.

(175) Home Manufacture and Use of Unfermented Grape Juice.

(176) Cranberry Culture.

(177) Squab Raising.
(179) Horseshoeing.

(181) Pruning.

(182) Poultry as Food.

(183) Meat on the Farm: Butchering, Curing, and Keeping.

(184) Marketing Live Stock.

(185) Beautifying the Home Grounds.
(187) Drainage of Farm Lands.
(192) Barnyard Manure.

(195) Annual Flowering Plants.

(196) Usefulness of the American Toad.

(198) Strawberries.

(199) Corn Growing.

(200) Turkeys.

(201) Cream Separator on Western Farms.

(203) Canned Fruits, Preserves, and Jellies.

(204) The Cultivation of Mushrooms.

(205) Pig Management.

(208) Varieties of Fruits Recommended for Planting.

(213) Raspberries.

(215) Alfalfa Growing.

(218) The School Garden.

(219) Lessons from the Grain Rust Epidemic of 1904,

APPENDIX 531

(220) Tomatoes.

(228) Forest Planting and Farm Management.

(229) The Production of Good Seed Corn.

(231^ Spraying for Cucumber and Melon Diseases.

(234) The Guinea Fowl.

(235) Preparation of Cement Concrete.

(236) Incubation and Incubators.

(240) Inoculation of Legumes.

(241) Butter Making on the Farm.

(242) An Example of Model Farming.

(243) Fungicides and their Use in Preventing Diseases of Fruits.
(245) Renovation of Worn-out Soils.

(247) The Control of the Codling Moth and Apple Scab.

(248) The Lawn.

(252) Maple Sugar and Sirup.

(253) The Germination of Seed Com.

(254) Cucumbers.

(255) The Home Vegetable Garden.
(257) Soil Fertility.

(260) Seed of Red Clover and Its Impurities.

(264) The Brown-tail Moth and How to Control It.

(265) Game Laws for 1906.

(266; Management of Soils to Conserve Moisture.

(268) Industrial Alcohol: Sources and Manufacture.

(269) Industrial Alcohol: Uses and Statistics.

246^1. Publications of State Agricultural Schools. These are similar
to the Government reports. Many may be had free. Send
for list.

Physics

247. Aldous: Elementary Physics. Macmillan Co.

248. Atkinson-Ganot: Physics. Wm. Wood & Co.

249. G Atkinson: Electricity for Everybody. Century Co.

250. G Millikin and Gale: Physics. Ginn&Co.
2500. G Avery: School Physics. Sheldon & Co.

251. G Avery: First Book in Physical Science. Sheldon & Co,

252. G Benjamin: Age of Electricity. Scribners.

253. G Carhart and Chute: Physics. Allyn & Bacon.

254. G Gage: Physics. Ginn & Co.

255. G Harrington: Physics for Grammar Grades. American Book

Co.

256. Jackson: Elementary Electricity and Magnetism. Mac-

millan Co.

257. G Mann and Twiss: Physics. Scott, Foresman & Co.

532 NATURE-STUDY

258. G Miller and Foerste: Physics. Scribners.

259. G Gifford: First Lessons in Physics. Thompson.

260. G Barnard: First Steps in Electricity. Maynard.

261. G St. John: Things a Boy Ought to Know About Electricity.

St. John.

Chemistry

262. G Johnston: Chemistry of Common Life. Appletons.

263. G Linebarger: Chemistry. Rand, McNally & Co.

264. G Newell's Descriptive Chemistry. D. C. Heath & Co.

265. Newth: Inorganic Chemistry. Longmans, Green & Co.

266. Remsen: Chemistry. H. Holt & Co.

267. G Snyder: Chemistry of Plant and Animal Life. Macmillan

Co.

268. G Williams: Chemistry of Cookery. Appletons.

269. G Williams: Chemistry. Ginn & Co.

270. G Avery: School Chemistry. American Book Co.

271. G Ballard: The World of Matter.

272. G Hessler and Smith: Chemistry. Sanborn.

273. G Newth: Elementary Chemistry. Longmans, Green & Co.

274. G Richards and Elliott: The Chemistry of Cooking and Clean-

ing. Home Science Publishing Co.

275. G Black: Photography Indoors and Out Houghton, Mifflin

Co.

Manuals of Construction for Boys. — Invention.

276. I, G Barnard: Tools and Machines. Silver, Burdette & Co.

277. I, G Modern Boy's Playmate. Warne.

278. I, G Waite: A Boys' Workshop. Lothrop.

279. I, G Wheeler: Woodworking. Putnams.

280. I, G Bond: The Scientific American Boy. Munn.

281. I, G Hopkins: Home Mechanics. Munn.

282. I, G Hopkins: Experimental Science. Munn.

283. I, G Magical Experiments, Science and Play: McKay.

284. I, G Thurston: History of the Steam Engine. Appletons.

285. I, G Doubleday: Stories of Inventors. Doubleday, Page & Co.

286. I, G Cochrane: Modern Industrial Progress. Lippincott.

287. I, G Cochrane: Romance of Industry and Invention. Chambers.

288. I, G Macon: Origin of Inventions. Scribners.

289. I, G Sutherland: Twentieth Century Inventions. Longmans,

Green & Co.

290. I, G Byrn: Progress of Inventions in the Nineteenth Century.

APPENDS 533

291. I, G Baker: Boys' Book of Inventions. McClurg & Co.

292. , G Baker: Municipal Engineering and Sanitation.

293. , G Williams: Romance of Modern Invention. Lippincott.

294. , G Williams: Romance of Modern Engineering. Lippincott.

295. , G Beard'- Field and Forest Handy Book. Scribners.

296. , G Beard: The American Boy's Handy Book. Scribners.

297. , G Beard: The American Boy's Book of Sports. Scribners.

298. , G Beard: The Jack of All Trades. Scribners.

299. , G Keene: Boys' Guide to Fishing, etc. Lee & Shepard.

300. , G Thompson: The Boys' Book of Sports and Outdoor Life.

Century Co.

Books for Girls. — Domestic Economy

301. P Lucas: What Shall We Do Now? Stokes.

302. P White: The Child's Rainy Day Book. Doubleday, Page &

Co.

303. I, G Williams and Fisher: Elements of Cookery.

304. I, G Wilson: Domestic Science in Grammar Grades. Macmillan

Co.

3°5-
306.

3°7-
308..

3°9-
310.

G Beard: American Girl's Handy Book. Scribners.

G Beard: Indoor and Outdoor Handicraft. Scribners.

G Beard: What a Girl Can Make and Do. Scribners.

G Campbell: American Girl's Home Book of Work and Play.

Putnams.

G Kirkland: Dora's Housekeeping. McClurg & Co.

G Kirkland: Six Little Cooks. McClurg & Co.

311. I, G Tate: The Child's Cookery Book, Richards.

Industry

31 ia. All Carpenter: Foods and Their Uses. Scribners.

312. P, I Chamberlain: How We are Clothed. Macmillan Co.

313. P, I Chamberlain: How We are Fed. Macmillan Co.

314. P, I Chamberlain: How We are Sheltered. Macmillan Co.

315. P, I Chase and Clow: Stories of Industry. Educational Publish-

ing Co.

316. P, I Lane: Industries of To-Day. Ginn & Co

317. P, I Clifford: Information Readers. Boston School Supply Co.

318. P, I Murche: Readers in Science. Macmillan Co.

319. P, I Kirby: Aunt Martha's Corner Cupboard. Flanagan.

320. P, I Rocheleau: Geography of Commerce and Industry. Educa-

tional Publishing Co.
3200 I, G, Redway: Commercial Geography. Scribners.

534 NATURE-STUDY

321. P, I Mowry: American Inventions and Inventors. Silver, Bur-

dette & Co.

322. P, I Rocheleau: Great American Industries. Flanagan.

323. I, G Willets: Workers of the Nation. Dodd, Mead & Co.

Physical Geography and Geology

324. G Brigham: Geology. Appletons.

325. Chamberlin and Salisbury: Geology. H. Holt & Co.

326. G Davis: Physical Geography. Ginn & Co.

327. I, G Dodge: Reader in Physical Geography. Longmans, Green

& Co.

328. G Dryer: Physical Geography. American Book Co.

329. I, G Giberne: Ocean of Air. Carter Bros.

330. I, G Greene: Coal and Coal. Mines. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

331. I, G Harrington: About the Weather. Appletons.

332. LeConte: Geology. Appletons.

333. G Lucas: Animals of the Past. McClure, Phillips & Co.

334. G Mill:' Realm of Nature. Scribners.

335. I, G Nichols: Underfoot. Lothrop.

336. G Shaler: First Lessons in Geology. D. C. Heath & Co.
336(1. Shaler: Nature and Man in America. Scribners.

337. I, G Shinn: Story of the Mine. Appletons.

338. I, G Tarr: Physical Geography. Macmillan Co.

339. G Tarr: Geology. Macmillan Co.

340. I, G Redway: Physical Geography. Scribners.

341. Waldo: Elementary Meteorology. American Book Co.

342. G Wright: The Ice Age in America. Appletons.

343. I, G Fairbanks: Rocks and Minerals. Educational Publishing Co.

344. G Russell: North America. Appletons.

345. I, G Barnard: Talks About the Weather. Funk & Wagnalls.

346. G Kingsley: Town Geology. Appletons.

347- I, G Crosby: Common Minerals. D. C. Heath & Co.

348. I, G Martin: Story of Coal. Appletons.

Elementary and Home Geography

349. P, I Longmans' Pictorial Geography. Longmans, Green & Co.

350. P, I Fairbanks: Home Geography for Primary Grades. Educa-

tional Publishing Co.

351. I, G Fairbanks: Story of Our Mother Earth. Whitaker& Ray.

352. Troeger: Home Geography. Appletons.

353. Frye: Brooks and Brook Basins. Ginn & Co.

354- Dodge: Elementary Geography. Rand, McNally & Co.

355. I King: Elementary Geography. Scribners.

APPENDIX

535

356. P, I

357. P, I

358. P, I

359. P, I

360. P, I

361. P,

362. P,

363. P,

364. P,

365. P,

366. P,
367.

368.

3680.

369.

370.

371.

372.

373.

374.

375.

376.
377.
378.
379.
380.
381.

P

I

G

All

382. P, I

383. P, I

384. P, I

385. G

386. I, G
3860. All
387.

Dun ton: The World and Its People. Silver, Burdette & Co.

Shaw: People of Other Lands. American Book Co.

Schwartz: Five Little Strangers. American Book Co.

Under Sunny Skies. Ginn & Co.

Chance: Little Folks in Many Lands. Ginn & Co.

Beale& Logan: Children of the World. Educational Pub. Co.

Allen: Children of the Palm Lands. Educational Pub. Co.

Riggs: Stories from Lands of Sunshine. University Pub. Co.

Muller: Little People of the Snow. Flanagan.

Wade: Our Little Indian Cousins. Wilde.

Carroll: Around the World. Morse.

Tarr and McMurry: First Book in Geography. Macmillan

Co.
Trotter: Lessons from the New Geography. D. C. Heath

&Co.

Physiology and Hygiene

Martin-Fitz: Human Body. H. Holt& Co.

Walker: Physiology. Allyn & Bacon.

Hough & Sedgwick. The Human Mechanism. Ginn & Co.

Blaisdell: Life and Health. Ginn & Co.

Colton: Physiology. D. C. Heath & Co.

Krohn: Graded Lessons in Hygiene. Appletons.

Peabody: Physiology. Macmillan Co.

Pyle: Personal Hygiene. Saunders & Co.

Sedgwick: Principles of Sanitary Science and Public Health.

Macmillan Co.

Weeks-Shaw: Text-Book of Nursing. Appletons.
Crandall: How to Keep Well. Doubleday, Page & Co.
Blaisdell: Child's Book of Health. Ginn & Co.
Blaisdell: How to Keep Well. Ginn & Co.
Blaisdell: Our Bodies and How We Live. Ginn & Co.
Blaisdell: How to Teach Physiology. Ginn & Co.
Overton: Primary and Intermediate Physiologies. American

Book Co.
Hutchinson: Our Wonderful Bodies and How to Take Care

of Them. (First and Second Books.) Maynard, Merrill.
Baldwin: Primary Physiology and Hygiene. Werner Book

Co.

Baldwin: Essential Lessons in Physiology. Werner.
Shaw: School Hygiene. Macmillan Co.
Gulick Hygiene Series. Ginn & Co.
Baker and Burrage: School Sanitation and Decoration.

D. C. Heath & Co.

536 NATURE-STUDY

Astronomy

388. I, G Ball: Starland. Ginn & Co.

389. I, G Holden: Earth and Sky. Appletons.

390. I, G Holden: The Sun and His Family. Appletons.

391. G Holden: The Story of Great Astronomers. Appletons.

392. G Howe: Elementary Descriptive Astronomy. Silver, Bur-

dette & Co.

393. G Newcomb: The Stars. Putnams.

394. I, G Nichols: Overhead. Lothrop.

395. P, I Pratt: Storyland of Stars. Educational Publishing Co.

396. Proctor: Easy Star Lessons. Putnams.

397. P, I Proctor: Stories of Starland. Potter and Putnams.

398. Serviss: Other Worlds. Appletons.

399. I, G Champlin: Young Folks' Astronomy. H. Holt & Co.

400. I, G Giberne: Among the Stars. Carter Bros.

401. All Porter: Stars in Story and Legend. Ginn & Co.

402. I, G Parker: Familiar Talks in Astronomy. McClurg& Co.

Biographical and Historical

403. G Butterworth: In the Days of Audubon. Appletons.

404. G What Mr. Darwin Saw. Harpers.

405. G Wright: Children's Stories of Great Scientists. Scribners.

406. G Buckley: Short History of Science. Appletons.

407. G Hubert: Inventors. Scribners.

General Reading

408. All Sewell: Black Beauty.

409. All Saunders: Beautiful Joe.

410. All Anon: Duke. Flanagan.

411. All Higginbotham: Rover's Story. Lee & Shepard.

412. I, G Brown: Rab and His Friends.

413. I, G Bolton: Our Devoted Friend the Dog. Doubleday, Page

& Co.

414. I, G Lane: All About Dogs. J. Lane.

415. P, I Carter: Cat Stories. (From St. Nicholas.) Century Co.

416. P, I Carter: Stories About Animals. (From St. Nicholas.) Cen-

tury Co.

417. P, I Johonnot: Cats and Dogs. American Book Co.

418. I, G Huidekoper: The Cat. Putnams.

419. P, I Horse and Other Stories. Cassells.

420. All Miller: Our Home Pets. Harpers.

APPENDIX

537

421. P, I

422. P, I

423- P,I

424. P, I

425- P,I

426. P, I

427. P,I

428. P, I

429. P, I

430. P,I

431- P,I

432. P,I

433- I, G

434- I, G

435- I, G

436. G

437. G

438. I, G
439- I, G

440. I, G

441. I, G

442. -I, G

443- P, I

444. P, ~

445- P,

446. P,

447- P,

448. P,

449- I,

450.

451-

452. G

453- I, G

454- G

455- G
456. G
457- I, G
458. I, G
459- I, G

Wood: Petland Revisited. Dodd, Mead & Co.

Judd: Wigwam Stories. Ginn & Co.

Eastman: Indian Boyhood. McClure.

Deming: Indian Childlife. Stokes.

Deming: Red Folk and White Folk. Stokes.

Holbrook: Hiawatha Primer. (Prose.) Houghton, Mifflin

& Co.

Button : In Field and Pasture. (Primitive Life.) Am. Book Co.
Button: Hunting and Fishing. American Book Co.
Waterloo: The Story of Ab. Boubleday, Page & Co.

Rand, McNally & Co.
(2 vols.) Rand, McNally &

Rand, McNally & Co.

Bopp: The Tree Bwellers.
Bopp: The Cave Bwellers.

Co.

Bopp: The Tent Bwellers.
Sandys: Trapper Jim. Macmillan Co.
Laut: The Story of the Trapper. Appletons.
Bostock: The Training of Wild Animals. Century Co.
Bu Chaillu: Wild Life Under the Equator. Harpers.
Ober: Crusoe's Island. Appletons.
Befoe: Robinson Crusoe.
Book of Famous Explorations. (Young Folks' Library.)

Hall & Locke.

Moffet: Stories of Banger and Baring. Century Co.
Starr: Strange Peoples. B. C. Heath & Co.
Jordan: Matka and Kotek. Whitaker & Ray.
Bamford: Land and Water Friends. Lothrop.
Bamford: Look-about Club. Lothrop.
Bamford: Talks About Queer Folks. Lothrop.
Chambers: Orchard Land. Appletons.
Chambers: Outdoorland. Appletons.
Wright: Seaside and Wayside. B. C. Heath & Co.
Holden : Wonders of Earth, Sea, and Sky. (Young Folks'

Library.) Hall & Locke.'
Holden: Real Things in Nature. (Cyclopedic.) Macmillan

Co.

Lane: Triumphs of Science. Ginn & Co.
Awdry: Early Chapters in Science. Button.
Miller: The Brook Book. Boubleday, Page & Co.
Torrey: A Florida Sketch-Book. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Torrey: A Rambler's Lease. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Torrey: Birds in the Bush. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Burroughs: Birds and Bees. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Burroughs: Sharp Eyes. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.
Burroughs: Signs and Seasons. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

538 NATURE-STUDY

460. I, G Burroughs: Wake Robin. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

461. Darwin: Origin of Species. Appletons.

462. G Gaye: Great World's Farm. Macmillan Co.

463. I, G Gibson: Eye Spy. Harpers.

464. I, G Gray: Nature's Miracles. Ginn & Co.

465. I, G Grinnell: Neighbors of Wood and Stream. Stokes.

466. All Holbrook: Book of Nature Myths. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

467. G lies: Little Masterpieces of Science. Doubleday, Page &

Co.

468. G Jordan: Science Sketches. McClurg & Co.

469. P, I Jordan: True Tales of Birds and Beasts. D. C. Heath & Co.

470. G Thoreau: Succession of Forest Trees, etc. Houghton,

Mifflin & Co.

471. Thoreau: Walden. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

472. I, G Warner: My Summer in a Garden. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

473. G Warner: In the Wilderness. Houghton, Mifflin & Co. .

474. I, G Warner: A Hunting of the Deer. Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

475. I, G White, Gilbert: Natural History of Selborne. (Abridged.)

Ginn & Co.

4750. Shaler: Our Continent. Ginn & Co.

4756. Brigham: Geographical Influences in American History.

Ginn & Co.
475C. Van Dyke, J. C.: Nature for Its Own Sake. Scribners.

Scientific and Nature-Study Periodicals

476. G, I Agricultural papers.

477. G American Botanist.

478. All Bird-Lore. (Audubon Society Organ.) Has a Nature-Study

Department.

479. P, I Birds and Nature.

480. G Country Life.

481. All Nature-Study Review. (Pedagogical and Scientific.)

482. G Photographic Times.
4820. G Plant World.

483. I, G Popular Mechanics.

484. G Popular Science Monthly.

485. G Outdoors.

486. G Scientific American.

487. G Scientific American Supplement.

488. P, I St. Nicholas and some other juvenile journals have a regular

nature-study department.
488a. G Journal of Geography.

INDEX

Adaptation, 72, 92, 103, 104, 173.
Esthetics of nature-study, 57.
Agricultural schools, 483.
Agriculture, 260, 485, Chap. XX

506.

Aigrettes, 136.
Aims of nature-study, Chaps. II,

III, XX.
Algae, 503.
Alligator, 164.
Amanita, 394.
Amphibians, 148, 149.
Animal study, 71; outline, 73.
Animals, useful. (See useful Animals.)
Annual rings, 307.
Annuals, 444.
Anopheles, 213.
Ant cage, 231.
Ants, 218, 230, 441.
Aphides, 217.
Apple, 219.
Apteryx, 103.
Aquaria, 165; animals, 168, 257;

care, 166; lessons, Chap. XX.
Aquatic insects, 177, 191.
Aquatic plants, 491.
Arbor Day, 374; programme, 384,

Chap. XX.

Art study and nature-study, 57.
Astronomy, Chap. XX.
Attracting birds, 143, 421-447.
Audubon Society, 138, 139.

Bacteria, 471, 476, 488, 494.
Balloon-spider, 248.
Balsam, 352.
Bark, 309, 352.
Bark lice, 218.
Barometer, 469.

Bat, 463.

Beautification of school grounds,
281, 374.

Beauty of nature, 17, 58.

Bed bugs, 214.

Bee-fly, 245.

Bees, 205, 225, 43°-456-

Beetles, 199; borers, 202; cucum-
ber, 201; fire-fly, 202; goldsmith,
202; June beetle, 199; lady bug,
202; potato beetle, 201; rose
chafer, 201; tiger beetle, 202.

Berries, 120, 121, 143, 352.

Biennials, 304, 444.

Bird Day, 140.

Bird houses, 145.

Bird lessons, Chap. XX.

Bird-Lore, 140.

Birds, 81, 89, 99; attracting, 143,
421, 447; Audubon Society, 139;
bills, 100; calendar, 90; care of
young, 116; color, 96, 104; eco-
nomic, 122, 221, 449; eggs, 94;
enemies, 105, 132; feet, 99; flight,
102; food, 119; fruit dispersal,
352; general structure, 99; les-
sons on, Chap. XX; migration,
116; moulting, 107; nests, 92,
no; observation, 85; plumage,
101; protection, 132; song, 95,
106; where found, 87; wing, 92-
99; young, 96.

Bird trough, 283.

Bison, 462.

Bittern, 105

Black bass, 173.

Blackbird, 106, 112, 117, 120, 124.

Blood, 456.

Bloodroot, 309

539

540

NATURE-STUDY

Bluebird, 108, 112, 117, 119, 122,

145-

Bluejay, 119, 120, 122, 126.
Bobolink, 112, 119, 120, 124.
Bones, 428.
Borers, 217.
Boxelder, 331.
Breathing pores, 314.
Breeding of farm animals, 507.
Brook, 408, 413.
Budding, 290.
Buds, 311.
Bud scales, 311.
Bugs, 192.

Building stones, 485,
Bulbs, 280, 286, 310, Chap. XX.
Bullhead, 174.
Bumblebees, 227, 417.
Burs, 349.

Butterfly, 194, 236, 416, 429.
Butternut, 331.

Cabbage butterfly, 196, 216, 236,

428.

Cage-birds, 123.
Calendar, bird, 90, 433, 449.
Cambium layer, 359, 306.
Camel, 462.
Canary, 108, 115, 428.
Canker-worm, 244.
Carbon, 455.

Carbon-dioxide, 455, 470.
Cardinal, Kentucky, 165.
Carp, 174.
Cassowary, 103.
Catbird, 84, 120, 122, 124.
Caterpillar. 416, 428.
Catkins, 330.
Cecropia, 240.
Cedarbird, 124.
Centipedes, 250.
Cereals, 353, 444, 456.
Chalcis-fly, -228.
Chameleon, 161.

Chemistry lessons, 455, Chap. XX.
Chickadee, 112, 119, 120, 122, 143

221.
Chicken, 106, 109, no, 115, 122,

145, 409.
Chlorophyll, 315, 479.

Cicada, 234, 442.

Clam, 254.

Classification, n, 27, 76, 446.

Clay, 437-

Cleanliness, 471.

Clearwing moth, 240.

Clothes-moth, 215.

Clothing, 404, 427.

Clouded sulphur butterfly, 236.

Clover, red, 227. ,

Coal, 453-

Cockle-bur, 350.

Cockroach, 215.

Cocoon, 201, 405, 416, 428.

Codfish, 173.

Coddling moth, 219, 472.

Cold frame, 275.

Coleoptera, 199.

Collecting, 43, 136, 166, 168, 176.

Coloration, protective' Birds, 104;

insects, 243; toad, 158.
Colors of foliage, 362.
Combustion, 470.
Comma butterfly, 237.
Comparison, n, 15, 27, 76.
Compass, magnetic, 427.
Competitive gardening, 292, 448,

462.
Composites, 332, 347, 443, 474, 503,

SOQ-
Condensation, 412, 427.

Conduction, 438.

Conifers, 362, 363, 408, 420, 462.

Contagion, 471.

Convection, 454, 470.

Conversational method, 23.

Copepods, 251.

Coral, 256, 453, 477.

Corn, 309.

Cornstalk, 306.

Correlation, 53; with art, 57; with
expression, 22, 53; with geog-
raphy, 54; with literature, 62.

Cotton, 420.

Cotton boll-weevil, 228.

Cottonwood, 330, 349.

Course of study, 399.

Courtship of birds, 107.

Cow, 79, 406, 461, 493.

Cowbird, 115, 120, 122.

INDEX

Crabs, 252.

Crayfish, 251, 442, 473.

Crickets, 232.

Cross pollination, 225, 324, 326, 329.

Croton-bug, 215.

Crow, 119, 120, 124.

Crystals, 427.

Cuckoo, 221.

Culex, 213.

Cultivation of farms, 482.

Cultural value of nature-study, 15.

Culture-epoch theory, 10.

Cutworm, 216, 294.

Daddy-long-legs, 250.

Dairy, 493.

Dandelion, 336, 341.

Deciduous trees, 363.

Deduction, n.

Deer, 407, 419, 462.

Destruction of birds, 132.

Development method, 24, 33.

Diagrams, 37, 59.

Diatoms, 338.

Digestion, 439, 456.

Dip-net, 177.

Disease, from flies, 205; from mos-
quitoes, 213. (See Bacteria.)

Distribution, of animals, 472, 501;
of plants, 476, 506.

Dog, 414.

Dogday harvest-fly, 234.

Dog-fish, 171, 174.

Doves, 145.

Dragon-fly, 189, 429.

Drawing, 37, 59.

Drinking trough, 144.

Duck, 102, 103, 115, 117, 120, 122,
123, 415, 440.

Eagle, 415.

Earth study, 55, Chap. XX., 499.

Earthworm, 255, 409.

Economic value of birds, 122; toad,

159; insects, 211, 230.
Eel, 173, 174.
Eel-grass, 167.
Eft, 1 60.

Eggs, 94, 122, 133, 134.
Egret, 137.

Eiderduck, 112.

Electricity, 500.

Electric-light bug, 192.

Elementary science, 483.

Elodea, 167.

Emu, 103.

Equisetum, 390.

Evaporation, 412, 427.

Evergreens, 420, 433.

Exhibits (garden), 430, 443, 448, 459.

Experiments, 39.

Explosive fruit, 352.

Extinct animals, 502.

Fairy tales and nature-study, 65.
Feathers, 101, 478; millinery, 123,

136, 137-

Feeding farm animals, 483.

Fernery, 282, 389.

Ferns, 388, 475, 503.

Fertilizing soil, 266, 283.

Fibrovascular bundles, 305.

Field lessons, 35, 48, 51.

Field mice, 128.

Fish, 169, 419, 479; care, 167;
economics, 172; freshwater, 173,
479; hatchery, 173; spawning,
172; structure, 170.

Fisheries, 173.

Flax, 420, 433.

Flea, 214.

Fleshy roots, 304.

Flight, 102.

Flowerless plants, 388, 503.

Flower list, 295.

Flowers, plan of study, 321, 336,
Chap. XX, 422, 423, 508; rela-
tion to insects, 225, Chap. XX;
families, 508.

Fly, 203, 457, 496.

Foliage of trees, 361.

Food, birds, 119, 126.

Foods, 439.

Forest, 366, 443; distribution, 364;
insect enemies, 221; leaf mould,
368; struggle for light, 369; uses,
see Forestry.

Forestry, 360, 504.

Formicarium, 231.

Fossils, 502.

542

NATURE-STUDY

Four-o'clock, 341.

Fox, 415.

Freezing, plants, buds, 312.

Frog, 150, 152, 409, 417; eggs, 152;

tadpoles, 156.
Fruit, 120, 352, 405, 433, 474, 49°>

Chap. XX.
Fruit garden, 278.
Fungi, 367, 368, 392, 476, 492.
Funnel-web spider, 248.
Fur-bearers, 79, 407, 432.

Game, big, 461.

Game birds, 134, 440.

Game laws, 136, 441.

Gardening, 18, 259; school, 258,

Chap. XX; window, 283.
Garter-snake, 161.
Generalization, 28, 41.
Geography and nature-study, 55.
Geotropism, 339.
Germination, 299, 423, 465, Chap.

-X..X..

Germinators, 300.
Giant silkworm, 240.
Girdle-scars, 313.
Glacial deposits, 468.
Goldfish, 168, 174, 407.
Goose, 115, 117, 123, 415, 440.
Gossamers, 248.
Grafting, 288.
Granite, 437.
Grass, 309, 353, 460.
Grasshopper, common, 184, 222,

429; green, 234.
Grebe, 115.
Greenhouse, 283.
, Grouse, 104, 108, 119, 120.
Guano, 124.
Gulls, 103.

Hair-snake, 223.

Harmful birds, 145; snakes, 149;
insects, 211; plants, see Weeds,
poisonous plants, fungi, and bac-
teria.

Harvest, 418.

Hawk, 100, in, 119, 124, 126, 128,

439-
Hawk-moth, 240.

Heat, Chap. XX.

Hemiptera, 194.

Herbarium, 338.

Herring, 173.

Hibernation, 442; frogs, 155; toad,

159; snakes, 162; turtle, 163;

cocoons, 197; flies, 205 ; plants, 312.
Hive, observation, 210.
Honey, 206.
Horned toad, 161.
Horse, 421.
Hotbed, 276.
Humming-bird, 103, 107, no, 113,

122.

Hybrids, 330.
Hydra, 256.
Hygiene, Chap. XX.
Hymenoptera, 205.

Ichneumon-fly, 228.

Illustrative material, 25, 33.

Imagination in nature-study, n.

Induction, n.

Industrial topics, Chap. XX.

Informal nature lessons, 21.

Insecticides, 294, Chap. XIV.

Insects, aquatic, 191, 430; bees,
205; beetles, 199; beneficial, 205,
224, 230; bugs, 192; butterfly,
cabbage, 194, monarch, 197; but-
terflies, frontispiece, 236; cocoon,
201; collecting, 176; dragon-fly,
189; flies, 203, 459; harmful, 211,
221, 430; insects and birds, 121,
126, 175; insects and flowers, 326;
killing, 180; lessons, Chap. XX;
locust, 184; moths, 198; mount-
ing, 181, 489; net, 80; parasites,
227; protective adaptation, 243;
spreading, 182; structure, types,
184; where found, 176.

Instinct for nature in children, 16.

Inventions, 454, 469.

Iodine test, 316, 462.

lo moth, 241.

Iron, 453.

Jack-in-the-pulpit, 309.
June beetle, 200.
June grass, 309.

INDEX

543

Kallima, 244.
Katydid, 234.
Killing insects, 180.
Kingbird, 122.
Kingfisher, 113.
Knotweed, 349.

Laboratory for grades, 484.

Lacey act, 138.

Lady bug, 227.

Lady's-slipper, 226.

Lapland longspur, 133.

Layering, 288.

Leaf-scar, 313.

Leather, 79.

Leaves, function, 313; modified,

320, 480.
Leech, 255.
Lepidoptera, 198.
Lesson plan, 25.
Levers, 469.
Lice, 214.
Lichen, 392.
Light, 486, 499.
Light and leaves, 318, 320, 340.
Lighting, 427.

Literature and nature-study, 62.
Liverwort, 391.
Living creatures for illustrations,

35> 46.
Lizard, 160.
Lobster, 252.
Locust, 184, 222, 429.
Lumbering, 505.
Luna moth, 242.

Machines, 454.

Magnet, 455.

Magnetism, 500.

Malaria, 213.

Mammal lessons, Chap. XX,

446. _

Man, history of civilization, 502.
Maple sugar, 423.
Marble, 454.
Marchantia, 314.
Martin, 145.
Meal-worm, 201.
Metals, 438, 455, 468, 485, 487.
Microgaster, 228.

Migration, birds, 91, 116, 415, 428,
489; butterflies, 238; plants, 340.

Milk, pure, 439.

Milkweed butterfly, 197, 237.

Milkweed, seed, 348.

Millinery plumage, 123, 133.

Millipedes, 250.

Mimicry, butterflies, 238; insects, 243.

Minerals, 438, 468, 485.

Minnows, 173.

Mocking-bird, 109.

Mollusks, 253.

Monarch butterfly, 197, 237.

Morning-glory, 341, 342.

Mosquitoes, 211,429,496; culex, 213;
extermination, 214; malaria, 213.

Moss, 390, 475, 503.

Mother-of-pearl, 255.

Moths, 198, 236, 416.

Moulds, 476, 495.

Moulting, birds, 107; insects, 188.

Mourning-cloak, 236.

Movements of plants, 338, 496.

Mud-puppy, 152, 160.

Muscles, 428.

Museum, 43.

Mushrooms, 367, 392, 476, 492.

Naturalist, the, 49, 83.

Nature readers, 64; reference list,
see Appendix.

Nature-study, aesthetics, 14, 58;
correlation, 53; cultural value, 15;
culture-epoch theory, 10; curi-
osity, 6; educational value, 8;
ethical value, 18, 259; illustrative
material, 33; imagination, n;
method of presentation, 21; mo-
tive, 3; reason, n; social aspect,
3; utility, 12.

Necturus, 152.

Nests, 92, no.

Net, insect, 180.

Newt, 1 60.

Night-hawk, 109, no, 118, 122.

Nightingale, 109.

Note-book, 484.

Nuthatch, 112, 119, 120, 143.

Nuts, 352.

Nymph of dragon-fly, 190.

544

NATURE-STUDY

Oak, 331, 493.

Observation, 8, 47.

Onion bulb, 310, 321.

Orb spider, 248.

Orchard, 460; enemies, 217; birds,

Chap. XX.
Oriole, 104, 106, in, 113, 120, 122,

124, 221.
Orthoptera, 189.
Oscillatoria, 339.
Ostrich, 103, 136.

Owl, 101, in, 112, 119, 124, 126, 128.
Oxygen, 500; from plants, 319.
Oysters, 255.

Painted beauty butterfly, 237.
Parachute fruits and seeds, 336, 447.
Parasites, insects, 224, 227; fungi,

392-

Peacock, 106.

Penguin, 103.

Perch, 173.

Perennials, 281, 296.

Pets, 72, 404.

Phcebe, in, 112, 122.

Photography, 500.

Photosynthesis, 316.

Physiography lessons, 499, see Earth-
study.

Physiology, human, Chap. XX.

Physics lessons, Chap. XX.

Pickerel, 173.

Pictures, 36.

Pigeons, 135.

Pill-bug, 251.

Pine, seeds, 349; lumber, 373, 433.

Pitcher-plant, 320.

Plant-lice, 217.

Plants, physiology, Chap. XVII,
450, 479, 496; movements, 338,
496; useful, 353, 356, 420, 433,
490; poisonous, 492; aquatic,
491; improvement, 505; intro-
duction, 506; diseases, 493, 504;
graded lessons, Chap. XX.

Plantain, 315.

Planting, 271; trees, 378.

Pleasures in nature, 14.

Plover, 1 1 8.

Plumage, 102.

Poetry of nature, 17, 65.

Poisonous plants, 492.

Pollination, 209, 224, 324, 326, 329,
459, 465, 481, Chap. XX.

Polygonum, 349.

Potato, 310, 431, 433.

Potting, 283.

Poultry, 145, 447, 464.

Prairie chicken, 120, 122.

Prairies, 366.

Preparation of teachers, 25, 34, 41, 49.

Presentation methods, 21, 23, 24.

Promethea moth, 241.

Propolis, 209.

Protection of birds, 132, 464; mam-
mals, 502; trees, 374.

Protective coloration, birds, 96, 104;
frog, 155; toad, 157; insects, 243.

Protective devices of insects, 241.

Puff-balls, 395.

Pumps, 469.

Pussy-willow, 311, 333.

Quail, 104, no, 119, 120, 122.
Questioning, 29.

Rabbit, 407.

Rattlesnake, 163.

Reasoning in nature-study, ji, 66.

Red admiral butterfly, 236.

Reference books, see Appendix.

Reptiles, 148, 160.

Respiration, 471.

Robin, 103, 106, 107, in, 112, 116,

117, 118, 120, 122, 124.
Rock formation, 453.
Rodents, 78, 415, 439.
Root, 303, 339.
Root-stalk, 309.
Rose-breasted grosbeak, 82, iif

122.

Runners, 308.

Russian "thistle," 346, 351.
Rusts, 493.

Sage, 225.
Salamander, 159.
Salmon, 173.
Sap, rise of, 304, 479.
Sapsucker, 125.

INDEX

545

Scale insect, 218.

Scarlet tanager, 106, 122.

School garden, 258, 263.

School grounds, beautification of,
281, 374-

Sea-urchin, 255.

Seal, 463-

Seed, study of, 302; collection of,
418; starting, 275, 299; selection
for improvement, 496; for school
garden, 269; dispersal, 342, 431,

474-

Seedlings, 496; see Germination.

Sensitive plant," 342.

Sensitiveness of plants, 338.

Sexual coloration, 106.

Sheep, 80, 419, 428, 462.

Shrubs, 281, 298.

Silk-moth, 229.

Skink, 161.

Skylark, 108, 109.

Sleeping position of plants, 341.

Slips, 462.

Snails, 253.

Snake, 161, 433.

Snowbird, 119, 120.

Squash, 375.

Squash-bug, 216.

Squirrel, 78, 404, 415.

Squirrel-tail grass, 350.

Soil study, 482.

Solomon's-seal, 309.

Songs of birds, 95, 108.

Sound, lessons, Chap. XX.

Sparrows, 103, 104, 116, 119, 120,
126, 129; house or English spar-
row, 107, 114, 119, 126, 145.

Specimens, 34, 43, 46.

Sphinx-moth, 226, 238, 240.

Spider, 246, 417.

Spines, 321.

Spinneret, 250.

Sponge, 257, 478.

Spores, £04, 503.

Spraying, 295.

Spreading board, .182.

Starch-making by plants, m6, 478.

Starch test, 316, 462.

Starchy foods, 456.

Starfish, 255.

Steam-engine, 485.

Stems of plants, 305, 339; modified,

308; underground, 308.
Stickleback, 174.

Stories, as illustrative material, 39, 64.
Strawberry runners, 308.
Sucker, 173.
Sugar, sources, 447.
Sugar-beet, 448, 498.
Sugar-cane, 447.
Summary, 29.
Sunfish, 173.
Sunflower, 333, 340, 443.
Swallow, 103, in, 112, 113, 122, 132.
Swallow-tail butterfly, 236.
Swamp vegetation, 445.
Swan, 440.

Swarming of bees, 209.
Sweet-pea, 226, 352.
Swift (bird), 102, 113, 122.
Swift (lizard), 161.
Syrphus-fly, 228.

Tachinid fly, 224.

Tadpoles, 150.

Teeth, 427.

Tendrils, 321, 341.

Tent caterpillar, 220.

Thistle, 336.

Thousand-legs, 251.

Thrush, 97, 104, 108, 122, 124.

Tiger caterpillar, 199.

Toad, 156, 417.

Toadstool, 392, 367, 476, 492.

Tomato worm, 239.

Transpiration, 314, 361.

Transplanting, 277.

Trees, general, 307, 338, 358, Chap.
XX; stem section, 307, 358; an-
nual rings, 307; cambium layer,
359; bark, 359; branching, 360;
leaf arrangement, 361; foliage,
361; autumn colors, 362; leaf
fall, 363; tree flowers, 363, 450;
seed dispersal, 364; .life condi-
tions, 364; forest, 366; life cycle,
367; planting, 378; tree list, 379;
shade trees, 498; Arbor Day, 374,
384; trees in winter, 420; leaf
collection, 431.

546

NATURE-STUDY

Trillium, 321.

Triton, 160.

Tropical fruits, 491.

Trout, 173.

Tsetse fly, 224.

Tuber, 310.

Turkey, 106, 108, 115, 122.

Turtle, 163.

Twigs, 313.

Useful animals, 79, 80, 122, 134, 145,
224, 406, 407, 414, 419, 421, 428,
432, 461, 462, 479; plants, 353,
356> 37°> 420, 433, 460, 490.

Utility of nature-study, 12.

Vegetables, 295, 405.

Ventilation, 454.

Viceroy butterfly, 238, 244.

Vines, 296.

Violet-tip butterfly, 237.

Vireo, in, 122.

Virginia creeper, 341.

Waahoo, 352.

Walking stick, 244, 442.

Warblers, 122.

Wasp, 205, 457.

Water, 439, 468, 470, 471.

Water-fleas, 251.

Water hyacinth, 167.

Water milfoil, 167.

Water power, 485.

Weather, 469, 486, Chap. XX.

Weeds, 120, 121, 126, 351, 465, 474.

492.

Wheat, 353, 460.
Whip-poor-will, 104, 109, no.
Wild-flower garden, 282, 297.
Wilting of plants, 314.
Wind, 486, Chap. XX.
Wind pollination, 327.
Window-boxes, 284, 297, 420, 433.
Window gardening, 283, 284.
Wing, 92, 122.
Wolf, 419.

Wood, 307, 358, 463.
Woodbine, 341.
Wood-lice, 251.
Woodpecker, 112, 119, 120, 121, 125,

126, 143, 221.
Wool, 80, 407.
Wren, 112, 114, 145.
Wrigglers, 211.

Yearly growth of twigs, 313.

Yeast, 495.

Yellow fever and mosquitoes, 213

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