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THE

Nature Study Course

BY

SIDNEY SILCOX, B.A., DPAED

INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS. ST. THOMAS
AND

O. J. STEVENSON, M.A., DPAED.

ENGLISH MASTER. COLLEGIATE INSTITUTE
ST. THOMAS

TORONTO
MORANG & CO., LIMITED

1906

Entered according to Act of the Parliament of Canada in the year
Nineteen Hundred and Six by Morang & Co., Limited
at the Department of Agriculture

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

It has been the aim of the authors of Th^ Nature
Study Course to prepare a manual which might be
found suggestive to teachers in the various provinces
throughout the Dominion. Unfortunately, nowever,
the Courses prescribed for the different provinces,
though substantially agreeing in general character and
scope, differ in form and details. As a result, the
authors have found it impossible to treat accurately of
the work covered by the Course of any one province.
As, however, the work prescribed for Ontario is more
general than that of tne other provinces and prac-
tically covers the whole field, it has been made the
basis of the suggestions contained in this manual.
The Manitoba Course, which is the most detailed, and
the Ontario Course, which is the most general, are both
printed in full in the Appendix, for the sake of reference
and comparison. The General Note to the Nova Scotia
Course is also given in the Appendix. As pointed out
in the introductory chapter, however, teachers in all the
provinces are requested to consider the material con-
tained in the manual as suggestive, rather than as an
attempt to treat the subject exhaustively.

It should be kept in mind that Grades I to VIII in
the Manitoba schools correspond in the main to
Forms I to IV in the Ontario schools, the division in
the latter being usually made with Junior and Senior
in each Form.

CONTENTS

PAGE

Chapter I. Introduction . _ - - i

" II. The Various Methods of Teach-
ing Nature . - - - 8

" III. The Course for Form I. - - 19

*' IV. The Course for Form II. - - 32

" V. The Course for Form III. - - 44

" VI. The Course for Form IV. - - 69

Appendix A. The Ontario Nature Study

Course - - - - - 93

*' B. The Manitoba Nature Study

Course ----- 103

" C. The Nova Scotia Nature Study

Course - - - - - 119

" D. Bulletins of the Ontario Agri-
cultural College - - - 121

" I have not yet told you how heartily I agree with you in the
desirableness of encouraging the study of natural history, especi-
ally among children, whose eye can be so easily educated to
observe, and where restless natures must have some occupation. . .
The dullest country can scarcely be dull if the human being -can
look with seeing eye on the things around him, the most difficult
outward circumstances can hardly be without remedy if he be
aware of even a small portion of the mystery and might of the
nature that surrounds him. They ought to learn this practically.'*

— Tennyson.

"Study nature — not scientifically — that would take eternity
to do it so as to reap much good from it. Do not study matter
for its own sake, but as the countenance of God. Study the
forms and colors of leaves and flowers, and the growth and habits
of plants; not to classify them, but to admire them and adore God.
Study the sky! Study water! Study trees! Study the sounds
and scents of nature ! Study all these as beautiful in themselves,
in order to recombine the elements of beauty. No sight but has
some beauty and harmony."

— KingsUy,

THE

NATURE STUDY COURSE

CHAPTER I

Introduction

IT is self-evident that the style of education which
is suited to one age may be entirely unsuited to
another. Even in a single generation there may
be such important changes in social life as to demand
radical changes in educational methods. But unfor-
tunately it is difficult to make rapid changes in edu-
cational matters. We are very often not conscious
that social life has altered, and we do not see the
necessity for change. Moreover, we feel the danger
of experimenting with methods in education, and be-
sides, the difficulty in making changes in the machin-
ery of the school, text-books, time tables, equipment,
etc., often prevents us from departing from the older
methods.

It is now nearly a hundred years since the begin-
ning of the great movements in social life which have
almost entirely altered the conditions under which we
live, and yet it is only recently that any attempt has
been made to bring educational theory and practice
into harmony with these changed conditions. With-
out discussing at length these changes in the social
world, it may be sufficient to state (1) That the edu-
cation of the future must take into account the masses
as well as the classes, and must consider how they are
to be educated for the best performance of their duties
in life ; (2) that it must be prepared to meet the changed

113

2 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

commercial and industrial conditions of the present
day — the centralization of industry, the stress of com-
petition, and the effects of rapid transit; and (3) that
it must not lose sight of the social character of the
individual and the necessity of preparing him to ren-
der the highest service to society.

The introduction of nature study as a subject of
the school course is an effort to meet, in part, these
changed conditions. Through the school garden the
activities of the child are brought into play. In the
study of nature he is led to consider the materials and
processes of social life. His powers of observation
are stimulated, and his study of the lower forms of
life has the effect of broadening his sympathies for
life in general.

In spite, however, of the fact that nature study now
holds an established place in the school curriculum,
there are still those among the public, and even among
the teaching profession, who consider its introduction
as a formal subject of study to have been unnecessary.
In reply it may be said that in general the best teach-
ers in the past have taught nature study, even before
its formal introduction. The fact is indisputable that
literature, composition, geography, and drawing, can-
not be properly taught except by means of nature
study. Whether formally prescribed or not, it must
be taught; and it is, one may be certain, from the
most inefficient teachers that the greatest objection is
sure to come. So-called teachers, who follow only
the bare letter of the curriculum, are sure to object
to any innovation as a probable addition to their work.

Nature study has to meet the opposition of the
humanists; that is, the worshippers of literature.
They are willing that the student of literature should
verify the statements made by Wordsworth or by
Bryant regarding nature. To them nature study is

INTRODUCTION S

useful to interpret literature, but useless to inspire it.
They forget that Wordsworth and Bryant were na-
ture students before they wrote their poetry. Why
should there not be a Wordsworth and a Bryant, a
Shelley and a Whittiv^r in every generation ? There
will not be, if we are to consider nature useful only to
interpret that which has already been learned about
her. One sees what one looks for. If a man studies
nature through another's eyes, he will see no more
and much less; errors will be perpetuated, and dis-
covery most effectually suppressed. The evil effects
will not be confined to any one subject, but will affect
the whole habit of study.

But there is no doubt also that a certain amount
of misapprehension exists on the part of the average
teacher as to what is required of him in connection
with the course; and a few suggestions as to some
of the mistakes that are frequently made, may
help to remove some of the difficulties that are
in the way.

1. In the first place, it cannot be denied that
the nature study course, even as laid down in
the official course of studies for each of the prov-
inces, is elastic in the extreme. The teacher
who attempts to cover the prescribed work in an
exhaustive manner will find that by far too much
of his time will be taken up with this one subject.
He must, then, be judicious in his treatment of the
work prescribed. Much of the course will necessarily
be covered incidentally in connection with other sub-
jects—literature, geography, etc. It will, moreover,
often be found sufficient to give suggestions, or to
consider only a single type of the plants, birds, in-
sects, etc., to be studied. The pupil who has grown a
single plot of lettuce, or a single row of sweet pease,
has learned the elementary facts concerning conditions

4 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

of soil, germination, growth, etc., and should be
able to apply these facts to the work of the garden
in general.

2. It must not be forgotten that what the child
does is of infinitely more importance than what he
knows. The teacher who wishes to be successful in
nature study work must learn at once how to direct
the activities of the pupil in connection with the school
garden, the aquarium, the terrarium, the cross-coun-
try excursions, etc. There are, it must be admitted,
certain parts of the prescribed work in which the
child's activities cannot be called into play, but this
is distinctly the most unimportant part of the work,
and should call for less time and attention, on the
part of both teacher and pupil, than the other sec-
tions of the course.

3. The different divisions of the nature study
course must be correlated. It is impossible to treat
of them successfully as separate unrelated subjects
of study. The study of the codling moth, for ex-
ample, involves, of necessity, the study of the apple
upon which the larva feeds, of the bark upon which
the pupa fastens, and of the downy woodpecker which
destroys the pupae. The consideration of any object
in nature involves a study of its surroundings.

"All are needed by each one;
Nothing is fair and good alone."

And the attempt to teach separate isolated facts is
sure to destroy vitality and prevent a proper interest
in the work.

4. As is pointed out elsewhere in the following
pages, the teacher must guard against over-analysis
and minute dissection. The object of nature study
is not scientific accuracy, but a living interest in the
actual forms and activities of nature. Facts that are

INTRODUCTION O

trivial, or technical, or so plain as to be obvious to
all, should not be considered unless they bear an
important relation to other important facts.

5. As nature study must be based upon the
activities and experiences of the child, it is evident
that it must, if possible, find its materials near home.
The pupil must in the first place become acquainted
with the birds, animals, plants, insects, soil, etc., near
the school, preferably in connection with the school
garden. When these are exhausted it will be time
enough to go farther afield. Unfortunately much of
our literature on nature deals with the remote and
the uncommon, whereas there is abundant material
near at hand to interest and instruct, and in the
world of nature, as well as in other departments of
life, it is generally true that the "best things lie close
about our feet."

6. The teacher who follows the general rule that
nature study must be based on the activities of the
child, will not make the mistake of attempting to
teach things out of season. It is not necessary that
the exact order laid down in the course of study
should be slavishly followed without regard to nat-
ural conditions. It is useless to attempt to deal with
autumn leaves in the spring, or with bees in mid-
winter. Under each division of the school course
there are subjects particularly fitted to different sea-
sons of the year, and the successful teacher will so
arrange his work that the subjects of study will be
appropriate to the actual existing conditions.

7. Care must be taken that individual lessons
do not cover too much ground. It is impossible, for
instance, to treat of such a subject as Winter Birds
in a single lesson. The consideration of a single
winter bird, such as the English sparrow or the chick-
adee, is sufficient for a single lesson, or for a number

6 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

of lessons. And in the study of any object in either
animate or inanimate nature it is well to remember
that the subject cannot be treated and finally dis-
missed in a single lesson. Nature is continually un-
dergoing change, and, moreover, in many cases, in
animal life especially, it is impossible to have the
object of study under continuous observation. It may
take a whole year to study the robin, or the honey
bee, or the codling moth.

8. It is impossible to lay down rules to define
accurately the limit of work in the various grades.
The experience and judgment of the teacher are the
best guides; for much depends on the character of
the individual school, and on its position and sur-
roundings, as well as on the character of the pupils.
The teacher should bear in mind that it is tne in-
terest of the pupil in nature that is important,
and not the number of facts which he acquires,
and this should be a sufficient check on the tend-
ency to cover too much ground and treat the subject
too exhaustively in the lower grades.

In connection with the various points indicated in
the foregoing paragraphs, the teacher should pay
particular attention to the general instructions as
to the method of dealing with the subject of nature
study, as laid down in the Public School Programme
of Studies for Ontario:

"From the character of the subject, the course must be more
or less elastic, and the topics detailed in the programme are in-
tended to be suggestive rather than prescriptive. It may be
that, owing to local conditions, topics not named are amongst
the best that can be used, but all substitutions and changes shall
be made a subject of consultation with the Inspector. The treat-
ment of the subject must always be suited to the age and experi-
ence of the pupils, and to the seasons of the year, accessibility of
materials, etc. Notes shall not be dictated by the teacher. Mere

INTRODUCTION 7

information, whether from book, written note, or even the teacher,
is not nature study. The acquisition of knowledge must be made
secondary to awakening and maintaining the pupil's interest in
nature and to training him to habits of observation and investi-
gation. Books for reference and supplementary reading should,
however, be provided in the school library. Some valuable pub-
lications on the subject of nature study, for the teacher's use,
may be obtained free, on appUcation to the Ontario Department
of Agriculture, Toronto,"

CHAPTER .II

The Various Methods of Teaching Nature

FROM various sources we have become acquainted
with the sugar-coated, the information, the
observation, the scientific and the practical
methods of teaching nature. In addition to these
there is a class of teachers who believe in no method
at all. Since nature is all around the child, these
advocates of no-method study (in spite of evidence to
the contrary) think that the child will become saturated
with nature.

The adherents of the sugar-coated method believe in
presenting the facts of nature in the form of storiettes,
or fables, or in animal dialogue. Of these, the stories
of animal life by Thompson-Seton, Eraser, Roberts,
Long and Clara Pierson are classic examples. Need-
less to say, these are all right in their place. One
should read nature literature, but only after having
sufficient experience with nature to be able to inter-
pret from within his own consciousness the writings
of these master observers of animal life. When this
method is applied to plant life, the result is truly dis-
gusting to the real student and teacher of nature.

The followers of the information method scorn
the presentation of natural facts in sugar-coated doses.
They believe that nature has an intr nsic interest, and,
believing that one cannot have too much of a good
thing, they aim to make their pupils acquire an ency-
clopedic knowledge of nature. Facts are to be learned
from every source, — ^from books, from the teacher,
from nature, from any source — but facts must be

[8]

METHODS 9

learned. Training is secondary. Consequently, such
a method is of no more value than the learning of
Latin paradigms. Indeed, if one must acquire facts
in this way, it would be far better to learn Latin and
Greek paradigms and conjugations than the concrete
facts of nature.

The teachers who practise the observation method
take one step in advance. They are after facts, but
these facts must be acquired through the senses,
chiefly sight and hearing, though smell, taste, and
touch are not to be despised. They have probably
never heard of any other senses than these five. These
teachers usually seek to help their pupils along the
flowery path of nature knowledge by extreme analytic
questioning. The questioning is exhaustive and ex-
hausting.

Examples —

How many leaves has this plant .'^

How many lobes on each leaf .^

How many teeth on each lobe ?

How many feet has this animal ?

How many toes on the right fore foot ?

How many toes on the left hind foot ?

Account for the difference. Compare with the
dog, the cat, the cow, the horse, the sheep, the pig,
the hen, the mouse, the rat, and man.

What is the length of its tail ? Of its whiskers ?
Why?

These teachers take their pupils on observation
excursions to the woods, to parks, and to ponds and
lakes. They count the pebbles on the shore and the
waves upon the lake. They catch fish in order to
count the fins and the number of rays in each; to
examine the teeth and gill-rakers and compare them
with the teeth and gills of other fish, and with tadpoles.

10 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Next comes the class of teachers who advocate the
scientific method.

Reforms usually begin at the top. After centuries
of poring over books had passed, a genius arose who
advised a return to nature. The universities heard
the call first and laboratories sprang up where campus
and grove had formerly delighted the eye and fostered
the love of sport. The students deserted the campus,
with its freshness and beauty, for the fumes and ugly
retorts of unventilated basement laboratories. Then
the high schools heard of the demands of the univer-
sities and immediately seats were removed to give place
to sinks, pipes and Bunsen burners; to rows of chemi-
cals and glass-topped counters. Then, lastly, the
public schools heard of the new learning in the high
schools — but laboratories in public schools were im-
possible. Some enthusiastic teachers thought to make
one room serve the purpose of dissecting room, hydro-
gen sulphide generator and gas manufactory — with
disastrous results in school and at home. At last a
new genius arose who discovered nature outside the
school-house — a natural laboratory of sights, sounds and
chemical changes, beyond the power of man to imitate.
The return to nature was accomplished in the public
school. But, nevertheless, the scientific method of the
university and the high schools is still overshadowing
the true study of nature. In botany it shows itself in
the time spent on classifying and in describing, by
means of carefully ruled schedules, each plant brought
from its habitat to wilt and die upon the laboratory
altar. In zoology, the scientific method shows itself
in the dissection of repulsive alcoholic specimens or in
experiments on living animals in unnatural environ-
ments. The scientific method has no place in nature
study, though nature study is indispensable to the
successful study of science.

METHODS 11

Opposed to the scientific, and indeed to all other
teachers, stands the unscientific or no-method teacher.
The exact methods of the laboratory are an abhor-
rence to him. He has no aim. There is no unity
in his method. One day he serves up the sugar-
coated nature pill; the next, he reads Thompson-
Seton's 8tory of a Grizzly, the next he gives a
talk on the raising of wheat in connection with a
problem in arithmetic requiring the reduction of so
many pounds of wheat to bushels. No effort is made
to organize the facts learned. No attempt is made
to remember them. The teaching is neither utili-
tarian nor academic. The unscientific teacher makes
nature study an excuse for shiftlessness, and quiets
conscience by deceiving himself into believing that
sometime, somewhere, somehow, his efforts may bring
forth fruit, though all is barren now.

But in addition to these methods there remains
the practical method or the method. The method
of study in any subject must be based upon
the interests of the child — not upon secondary,
but upon fundamental interests. The fundamental
interests are, in order of development, love of activity,
family interests, community interests, property inter-
ests, artistic interests and religious interests. In con-
nection with all these, there must be immediate
application of these interests to secure a definite,
immediate, concrete result. In order to make such
application there must be a knowledge of the result
desired, and an intelligent, more or less independent,
manipulation of means to secure it. In later life
pupils should invent or discover. He who learns
all that has been discovered, is a wise man, but he
who learns just enough of it to lead to the discov-
ery of new knowledge, is a genius. We have been
laboring to educate wise men. Henceforth let us

12 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

turn our attention to the production of geniuses. The
method aims to develop genius. We have called this
method of nature study The Practical Method.

This method makes nature study a part of daily
experience, of family, community and active interest,
leaves the child scope for invention and discovery,
gives a motive of perennial interest — as perennial as
the seasons themselves — appeals to the inner man and
to the artistic sense, and develops property-ownership,
which leads to respect for the property of others. It pro-
vides the conditions for developing the moral virtues,
and opportunities for daily practice of them. Is there
really a method that will accomplish all these desir-
able results ? Yes, the method awaits the teacher —
and the teacher is the only weak link at present in the
chain of development. A good teacher is above
curricula.

" If so be, you don't believe in God, Mr. Bennett, owin' to town
opinions, you try the gardenin' business. That'll make a man of
ye ! I alius sez if Adam had stuck to the gardenin' business and
left the tailorin' trade alone, we'd have all been in Eden now!'*
— Marie Corelli, in God's Good Man.

The practical method begins in the soil, grows in
the soil, and builds upon the solid soil. It begins in
the garden, and ends in eternity. Put your pupils
in the garden, or on soil in which a garden may be
made. Let both them and it develop, for without de-
velopment there is no education. The development and
its history as they occurred in a Canadian city are
given herewith.

In this city, nature study started with the ob-
servation method, beginning with mineral specimens in
connection with geography. Specimens of about one
hundred different native rocks and minerals were
obtained and kept in suitable cases. These speci-
mens were obtained from the Geological Survey

METHODS 13

Department at Ottawa. In addition to their usefulness
in teaching geography, the minerals and rocks sug-
gested the establishment of a museum. Cases were
accordingly built in private rooms; children brought
specimens that had lain around the home fireplace
or bric-a-brac corner for several dusty years. Pupils
or teachers who had friends in manufacturing concerns,
obtained from them samples of the different stages
through which the raw material passed to become the
finished product. The cocoa bean and the stages of
manufacture into cocoa and chocolate were shown.
Spruce wood and the stages of manufacture into pulp
and into paper were exhibited. Some Indian relics
and natural curiosities were presented. A collection
'of birds, which had stood for many years in a store
window, in a glass case, was purchased. One pupil
brought a duck-billed platypus, which had been
donated by an interested friend. A parent donated
a fine specimen of the white owl. There were in
time, squirrels, badgers, a beaver, a peacock, silk-
cocoons, birds' nests, eggs, grains, and colored pictures
of birds and mammals. Still the real discovery of
nature was not yet.

Meanwhile nature study was discussed; insect
larvae were brought by pupils and eagerly watched
during their transformation into pupae and adults;
these were prepared as mounted museum specimens;
tadpoles were secured and their development ob-
served and described with absorbing interest; mud-
turtles and snakes were captured and brought to school
to be observed for days. At last one teacher of agri-
cultural lineage planted some wheat, as did the now
famous **red hen." The sprouting and growth of this
wheat proved so interesting that another teacher
planted some pansies, and still another teacher trans-
formed a barren school-room into walls and banks

14 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

of living green, which later blossomed, in company
with the minds of a delighted and happy class of
pupils. The discovery was almost made.

Finally at the spring session of the Teachers' As-
sociation this question was asked, *' Shall we distribute
seed to the pupils and have a flower show.^" The
answer was in the affirmative. The following selection
was made for each grade from the lowest to the highest
public school class:

Grade 1. — Nasturtium.

2. — ^Balsam.

3. — Calliopsis.

4. — Centaurea.

5. — Sensitive Plant.

6. — ^Ageratum.

7.— Ten Weeks' Stock.

8. — Verbena.
Teachers. — Asters and Chrysanthemums.
Each pupil received from five to ten seeds (too
few) according to the size of the seeds. Out of about
10,000 seeds distributed, 520 plants were successfully
raised, and these were exhibited on the 24th of June,
1904.

From reports received from teachers, a few definite
results may be stated. A girl, fourteen years of age,
in the highest grade, had never exhibited any interest
in any subject of school study. She received seeds
and planted them. After they had come up and were
growmg satisfactorily, she came to her teacher and,
with manifest interest, informed him of the progress
of the plants. She seemed to take more interest in
her other school studies and was successful in passing
her examination into the high school at the end of
the term. One such result is worth 10,000 seeds!

In several cases, pupils, unfamiliar with the seed-
ling which should appear, raised weeds to maturity.

METHODS 15

Such an experience should arouse a desire to know
plants in order to distinguish weeds from beneficial
plants.

One teacher reports: "It established a new interest
between the home and the school, and helped to in-
terest both parents and children in school work. A
much greater interest has been manifested in plant
life this spring."

Will some one estimate the value of this new in-
terest between the home and the school? Was it
worth 10,000 seeds, which cost $3.36? Could this
interest be aroused by a scientific description of
Malva rotundifolia ?

Another teacher reports: "The pupils have shown
a greater interest in wild flowers this spring. Some
have planted other seeds and have closely watched
their development."

The second year, flower seeds and vegetable seeds
were distributed as follows:

Grade 1. Nasturtium and Parsley.
*' 2. Pansy and Sweet Corn.
" 3. Centaurea and Sugar Beet.
" 4. Phlox and Celery.
" 5. Canadian Peanuts and Verbena.
" 6. Asters and Catalpa.

Grades 7 & 8. Cosmos, Asters and Broom Corn.

The result of this distribution was seven or
eight hundred plants. The most remarkable results
were obtained from broom corn, plants 9 to 12 feet
high being grown in four months from seed to seed.
Perhaps this proof of its rapid and successful growth
may result in some new industry in this community,
in which there is a large broom factory.

The distribution of the seeds gives teachers an
opportunity for teaching lessons on soil and on gar-
dening. Questions will be asked by the pupils, and

16 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

the means of learning the answers may be suggested
by the teachers.

A flower and vegetable exhibit was held on Sep-
tember 22, 1905. The success of this exhibit was
beyond the expectation of all who promoted it. The
different schools were assigned space in a large store,
and teachers and pupils vied with each other in dec-
orating and exhibiting. All the citizens turned out
to encourage the children, but eventually to admire
the beautiful arrangement of flowers and plants.

In addition, in this same year, three out of five
schools prepared and planted plots of flowers on the
school grounds. One school covered a fence with
vines, and had very presentable flower beds in both
the boys' and the girls' yards. A class in another
school planted aster seeds, and did all the work re-
quired. The result was a bed of white asters from
which fully five hundred asters were exhibited on the
above date. A class in a third school subscribed
money, bought plants, and, aided by friends who
contributed seedlings of various kinds, succeeded in
producing a flower bed that was equal to any in the
city. It was three feet wide and seventy feet long.

These three beds remained in the centre of popu-
lous districts and were unmolested from the day of
planting till the frost came. Two of them were adjacent
to the boys' walk, with nothing but a slender wire separ-
ating them from the walk; yet, no damage was done
them. This means that the boys must have restrained
much of their play to avoid damaging the plants.

To develop a proper respect for the property of
others, boys and girls must own and care for property.

"But the raising of a few plants every year will
not cover the course in nature study as outlined by
the Department," some one will sav. Quite true.
But there is scarcely an object of study mentioned in

METHODS 17

that course that will not force itself upon the child's
attention if he begins to raise plants in a garden.
If he plants corn, or lettuce, he will find something
cutting holes in the leaves. He will want to know
what it is. Investigation will prove it to be the work
of slugs. The study of the slug is then in order. What
other signs of their presence are there ? * Their slimy
tracks can be seen on ground and leaves. Why do
we not catch them at work ? They eat at night. How
do they eat ? How do they see ? How do they travel ?
New facts will be gathered from day to day about
the slug. In the course of time the pupils will dis-
cover where it stays during the day, what it does all
winter, where it lays its eggs and what they are like,
how it breathes through its side, keeps its eyes in
pockets when not in use, and is not a snail escaped
from its shell, though the snail is closely related to
the slug. See Morang's Modern Nature Study, pp.
104-108.

Before all this is learned, the pupils will wish to
know how to get rid of these destroyers of corn, let-
tuce, tomatoes and other succulent garden products.
The toad should be introduced at once as a subject
for nature study. Secure a well-grown toad; keep
it in the school terrarium for a day or two without
food; then introduce some slugs. As they go crawl-
ing about, seeking for shelter, the toad will awaken
to its opportunities. It may not be very anxious to
seize the slugs until the strangeness of its surroundings
wears off, but time will make it feel at home. The
study of the toad or frog from egg to adult is the easiest
and most interesting of nature studies. See Morang's
Modern Nature Study, pp. 88-93.

*In some cases in the treatment of the subject, suggestions have been put
into question form. These questions are intended primarily, of course, as
hints to the teacher as to the work to be covered, and should be modified by
him, where necessary, to suit the needs of his classes.

2

18 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Let pupils estimate the value of a toad to the
gardener. Once convinced that toads and frogs are
valuable animals with a mission in the world, boys
will cease throwing stones at every frog that shows
its head above water in the pond. The old fable
which ended with the moral, "It may be fun for you,
but is death to us," is not half so useful in securing
the frog's safety as a well-conducted nature study
lesson, or series of lessons, in connection with the work
in the garden.

From what has been said the reader will readily
see what is meant by the practical method, and we
will not attempt to illustrate further. The authors
believe that the ideal course in nature study,
which may be realized within the next ten or
fifteen years, will consist of an outline of work to be
done by certain grades in the schools. Along
with instructions regarding the work to be done,
there will be suggestions as to probable plants and
animals that may be met with. Actual results, as
worked out with classes of pupils, will be given as a
guide to inexperienced teachers. The correlation of
nature study, art, arithmetic, manual training and
domestic science will be the most valuable feature
of the course. At present, however, and for many
years to come, it will be necessary to be guided by
the courses at present laid down by the various Depart-
ments of Education. Many things must be studied
for the sake of interesting the pupils in their beauty
and use, though the pupils may not have the oppor-
tunity of really doing anything beyond examining
them. Accordingly, we have tried in the following
pages to show how the present course can be satis-
factorily covered in schools as at present organized.

CHAPTER III

Form I — Animal Life. Lesson Plans. Care of
Buds, Leaves, Plants and Fruits.

THE study of birds and mammals, on the part
of the pupil, should have at least two well-
marked results. It should, in the first place,
give him a clear idea of the relations existing be-
tween man and the lower animals. He will learn
that man is dependent on the domestic animals, in
part at least, for labor, clothing and food; upon the
wild animals for fur, and upon animals and birds
alike for protection from destructive and trouble-
some insect pests and injurious weeds. From an
economic and commercial point of view, therefore,
there are many important facts to be presented to
the pupil.

But there is another side of the question which
must not be forgotten. The pupil should gain from
the study of animal life, not only a multitude of facts
important in themselves, but also a training in char-
acter which is of inestimable value. One of the
things which the child too often lacks is a proper
respect for the life and property of others, and a due
sense of responsibility for the care and welfare of
other forms of life. How often we hear it remarked
that children are by nature cruel, and how often in-
stances are brought to our notice of the wanton
cruelty of boys in the way in which they torture and
persecute the different creatures that come within
their power. But if once the child is admitted to a
share in the responsibility for the welfare of the lower

fil9[l

20 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

animals, and has learned how much his own welfare
depends on the welfare of others, he has taken the
first step towards preparing himself for the duties of
citizenship which must come later in life.

The child's first introduction to the animal world
must be through his pets. The treatment of the
subject of "pets" by the primary teacher must, of
course, depend on the conditions of the school. In
the first place, however, a list of the various pets
owned by members of the class should be written
down. They may then be divided into two groups:
(1) The ordinary tame pets, such as rabbits, guinea-
pigs, pigeons, etc.; (2) wild animals and birds that
have been tamed, squirrels, raccoons, crows, etc.
Each pupil may be asked to tell all that he knows
about his particular pet, and this may serve as an
exercise in elementary composition. In some few
cases it may be possible for the pupils to bring pets
to school to be kept in the school yard or shed. In
most cases the school-room will be found to be un-
suitable for observation purposes.

In making a study of a particular animal or biiti,
the teacher must, in the first place, avoid the senseless
mechanical method of questioning which is unfor-
tunately so common in nature study work. Has a
rabbit a mouth .^ nose.? eyes.? ears.? how many.? etc.,
etc., until the pupil is weary. As far as mental train-
ing goes one might as well ask the child to count the
pickets on the school fence, or the stones by the side
of the road.

It is well, however, for the teacher to have some
general plan of treatment, such as, for instance, the
study of the food, warmth, shelter, enemies, etc., of
the particular animal to be studied. In the case of
the rabbit, for instance, have the children consider:
(a) Its food. What does it eat ? grass .? vegetables ?

FIRST FORM 21

bread ? meat ? Look at its teeth to see how they are
fitted for chewing different kinds of food. Does it
ever destroy anything ? Does it injure the fruit trees ?
How can this be prevented ?

(6) Warmth. Its fur. Is the fur thicker in win-
ter than in summer ?

(c) Shelter. What sort of a rabbit house has
been provided ? How often is it cleaned and pro-
vided with fresh straw ?

(d) Enemies. Principally the dog. Can a rabbit
hear well ? Note the big ears. Can it see well ?
Note the eyes in the side of the head, not in front.
Can it smell its enemy.? Note the constant move-
ment of the nose. Can it fight with its teeth ? Can
it run fast.? Examine the tracks in the snow to see
how it runs. Does it ever fight with its hind feet.?
Have any of the pupils ever noticed it thump with
its feet ? What position does the rabbit take when
sitting still ? Why ?

In treating of animal pets too much stress cannot
be laid on the necessity of cleanliness, and of regu-
larity in supplying them with food and water.

But some of the pupils may have as pets, birds or
animals that have been tamed, and these form even
more interesting subjects of study than the common
pets. It is necessary to learn, in the first place, how
the particular animal or bird was caught, how old
it was when caught, how it was tamed, how long it
took to tame it, how it is fed, what its habits are,
etc., etc. And then the pupils may be led to
interest themselves in taming certain animals and
birds. But it is well to remember at the outset
that it is impossible to make pets of wild ani-
mals unless they are taken when young. An old
rabbit, squirrel, raccoon, robin, etc., will always
remain more or less wild, and if kept at all must be

^2 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

confined in close captivity. But young robins, jays,
and other birds, squirrels, raccoons, and even bats
and mice may be tamed quite easily if taken in time.
In attempting to tame any bird or animal, however,
two things must be borne in mind. First, that ex-
treme gentleness is necessary in dealing with wild
life. A sudden fright, a chase after a young bird,
or rough handling, are sufficient to destroy confidence
and render futile one's best efforts. Secondly, that
regularity of feeding with proper food is essential.
A young robin just out of the nest, for instance, must
be fed at least once every hour from sunrise to sun-
set. The robin lives partly on worms and insects,
partly on berries and seeds, and the artificial diet for
the young robins should be varied accordingly, from
earthworms and finely minced raw meat to berries
and bread slightly moistened with milk or water.
Mrs. Brightburn's Wild Nature Won by Kindness^
should be in the hands of every primary teacher
who wishes to interest her pupils in the taming of
wild birds or animals.

*^ Domestic animals on the farm; their care, habits,
and uses.''

In some cases it will be found difficult to draw
the line between the pets, so called, and the domestic
animals. But cats, aogs, horses, etc., should all be
considered under the latter head. And here again,
as in the case of pets, the teacher must be careful to
avoid a mere repetition of useless facts concerning
the animal to be studied.

In the first place a census may be taken of the
number of domestic animals of different kinds at the
homes of the various pupils; and a language lesson
may be used to ascertain what the pupils know of
them. In treating of the particular kinds of domestic

FIRST FORM 23

animals in detail, it would be well to Consider in
the first place their uses, and thence lead up to their
habits and how to take proper care of them.

Let us take the horse, for example. Note its various
uses on the farm and in the city. Show how machin-
ery has taken the place of the horse in some cases.
Illustrate, if possible, by pictures of the old horse power
vs. the modern steam-thresher, the horse car vs. the
trolley, the carriage vs. the automobile. What kinds
of horses are used for driving, drawing heavy loads,
ploughing, etc. ? Note the use of the horse in the
chase, and also in war. What food is necessary for
the horse and how often should it be fed ? Protec-
tion— Does the horse get a new coat in winter.^ How
should it be protected from the rain, the cold, and
the snow. What provision should be made for fresh
air.P General Care— What treatment does the horse
require after driving.^ Should it be rubbed down?
Fed and watered ? How should it be tied in the stall
so that it can lie down and rest comfortably ? Should
blinders be used ? In training, should force or
gentleness be used.? What tricks may horses be
taught to perform.? How do they express them-
selves ? Why should they be shod ? Does i,t hurt
them.? How can one tell whether a horse is well
cared for or not.?

It is hardly necessary to emphasize the fact that
these points must be treated very simply in the pri-
mary class, and in this matter the judgment and ex-
perience of the teacher are his only guide. A similar
course of treatment to that outlined in the study of
the horse may be followed in the case of the other
domestic animals, the dog, cat, cow, sheep, etc. W^hat
good purpose does each serve .?

%4f THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

"Birds. — Their nesting, song, food, migrations in the
autumn.*'

The great difficulty in the study of birds, especially
in the primary classes, is the impossibility of observ-
ing them closely. The growth of a plant may be
watched from day to day, an insect may be caught
and ])ut in a glass case, even a squirrel may be kept
for a short time in a cage, but the birds have to be
observed when fortune favors us with a visit from
them. Moreover, in the study of birds it takes a
long time, sometimes weeks, months, and even years,
to make any satisfactory progress. Sometimes the
teacher attempts to take a short cut by making use
of a dead bird, or of a stuffed specimen. Stuffed
specimens are useful for reference, but the study of
dead animals and birds is not nature study. A good
bird picture is to all intents and purposes as helpful
as the dead specimen, and certainly the shooting of
birds for the purposes of nature study is in direct oppo-
sition to one of the most important lessons which the
subject is intended to teach. Excellent colored charts,
showing the common land birds, are published by the
Prang Educational Go., Boston, (Steinberger, Hendry
Co., Toronto). A set of these should be in every
school.

Another difficulty connected with the study of
birds is that the conditions favorable to bird-life differ
very much with different schools. Some birds are
common in the country which are seldom seen in the
city, and even some country schools are so situated
as to render bird-study extremely difficult. In gen-
eral, it can only be said that the teacher must become
familiar with local conditions and study to improve
them, and that he must of necessity learn to be
patient if he is to accomplish anything at all.

FIRST FORM 25

A few birds, such as the robin, song-sparrow, wren
and blackbird, are common everywhere — city and
country alike — and with these he may begin. Study
those birds first that are found in the neighborhood
of the school. Pupils may be led to recognize them
by their size, song, form, and movements. See
Morang's Modern Nature Study ^ pp. 43-83.

Nesting, — In the first place encourage the pupils
to provide proper nesting places for different varie-
ties of birds. Evergreens will sometimes prove an
attraction for the robins and chipping sparrows; and
children are generally interested in making bird
boxes for wrens, swallows, and bluebirds. In bird
boxes for wrens the entrance should be an inch in
diameter; for bluebirds, two inches; for martins,
three inches. These bird boxes should be placed
at least seven or eight feet from the ground in a shelt-
ered spot, out of the reach of cats and other prying
enemies. Martin boxes should be placed under the
eaves!

Nesting materials should be provided for different
kinds of birds — a pan of mud for the robin, straw
for the martin and bluebird, and twigs for the wren.
A bundle of cotton waste, horse hair, thread, wool,
etc., may prove attractive to the orioles, warblers,
vireos and other birds.

In the cities especially, a supply of food and
water will help to attract the birds. Use a shallow
dish — earthenware is the best — for the water. Cover
the bottom of the dish with gravel, and tilt it slightly
so that the water will lie from half an inch to two or
three inches deep. This dish, in which the birds
may drink or bathe, should be placed some feet above
the ground, preferably near a window among pro-
tecting shrubbery.

The two great enemies of most of our common

26 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

birds are the English sparrow and the cat. It is
practically certain that the English sparrow dis-
courages the presence of desirable birds, and it is
probable that more young birds are killed by cats
than die from any other cause. If the birds are to be
tamed, ways and means must be devised for protect-
ing them from their enemies.

Song. — The pupils should notice the character of
the songs — continued, broken, varied, monotonous,
etc. When do the birds sing most.'^ Where do the
different species sing — on the ground, tree-top, fence,
when flying.? Note the songs that are said to re-
semble certain words and phrases. Do the birds
sing all the year round ?

Food. — ^ome of the birds eat seeds only. Some
eat worms and insects. Some eat both kinds of
food. What do the robins eat.'^ Watch them after
a rain. What do the swallows, the woodpeckers and
the sparrows eat.'^ Watch the English sparrows in
the yard. Throw out some grain and see what birds
eat it. Why do the crows and the blackbirds like
the cornfields in the spring.? Why do the gold-
finches like the thistle patches ? Do any of the birds
eat the bugs and insects in your garden ? Do any of
them visit the flowers ?

Migrations in autumn. — Which direction do the
birds take in autumn when they leave us ? What birds
gather in flocks, and why.? Why do they go away
for the winter .? on account of the cold weather, or
because there is no food for them .? Which goes
first, and which stays longest.? A school record
should be kept, showing dates from year to year.
Do any new birds come nere in the winter .? Where
do they come fronj, and why ? Do you see any birds
in the fall that you do not see at any other season ?
Do you see birds flying south in flocks in the day time ?

FIRST FORM 27

''Metamorphosis of a few conspicuous butterflies and
moths.''

If two are selected for the fall and two for the
spring term, this will be sufficient. For fall, the cab-
bage butterfly and eastern swallowtail for Pt. I, and
the sulphur yellow arid milkweed butterflies for Pt.
II will answer, and in addition the polyphemus and
tomato sphinx moths may be studied by Pt. II.

Keep each species in a separate box. A chalk box
covered with mosquito netting and divided into two
compartments will answer for two species. Supply
fresh leaves of their food-plants every morning.
Attention should be directed to the plant and to its
leaves, on which the larva feeds. Some attention
should be paid to the extent of the damage done,
and, in Pt. II, to remedies. Make color drawings of
the insects and of their food plants.

''Plant Life. — Work in school garden or in window
boxes. Study of a plant from slip to flower. Car-
ing for plants in pots.''

It is much better to plant in a plot outside than
in window boxes, as so many related phenomena
appear outside that do not appear inside, though
window boxes in the school-room are very desirable
as ornaments and for object lessons. It is better to
set the window box below the window on a shelf
than on the sill. Some window sills will not furnish
bases for boxes, and special shelves must be used.
Brackets beside the window are convenient for pots.
Some teachers, where windows are numerous, train
vines in one of them. This makes a pleasing variation
in the factory-like arrangement of the windows.

For Pt .1 pupils, the nasturtium is very suitable,
and for Pt. II, the pansy. For vegetables, let Pt. I

28 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

try lettuce, and Pt. II spinach-beet (an excellent all
summer green). In some districts other flowers or
vegetables may suggest themselves and should be
tried, but anything rare or difficult should not be
attempted.

Raising plants from slips is also prescribed for
Form I. For this purpose geranium or foliage plants
are best. With a sharp knife cut off, just below a
joint, a part of a branch of either plant. Remove the
lower large leaves, leaving a few small ones at the
upper end. Place in moist sand, with very little
loam, and press the sand firmly about the stem.
Keep the sand merely moist, not water-soaked.
After roots have formed, transplant into good soil.

The common garden purslane should be studied
at the same time. This noxious weed is so tena-
cious of life that almost any part of it left on the moist
ground will send out roots and give rise to a new
plant.

*^Buds. — Their preparation for winter; their develop-
ment.''

While this work is being done, attention should
be called to buds. From the plants raised from slips,
pass on to a study of buds on the deciduous trees,
selecting the apple and maple, or lilac and horse-
chestnut. Even while the leaves are on the tree the
buds can be found. After the leaves have fallen,
examine the buds. Notice how they are protected to
prevent the moisture from drying out. Some, like the
norse-chestnut, have a gummy covering; some, like the
beech, are covered with scales; others, like the ash,
have a smooth corky covering; while still others, like
the apple, are protected by a coating of fine wool or
down. Note the different colors and shapes of buds.
If you c£Winot wait till spring to examine the bursting

FIRST FORM 29

of buds, bring twigs into the school-room in Feb-
ruary and keep the ends immersed in water. The
buds will burst, and may be studied at close range.
Try adding some nutrient solution to the water, using
the following substances : common salt, gypsum, Epsom
salts, phosphate of lime, each 2^ grains; East India
saltpetre, 5 grains; ferric chloride, yV grain. Stir all
together in half a pint of water.

'^Autumn leaves, collections, forms, tints.**

Autumn leaves should be studied in connection with
drawing and color work. When pupils have made
drawings of leaves, and colored them, they will have an
accurate knowledge of their forms and tints. Draw
attention to conspicuous differences in forms and tints.
In the case of the maples, for instance, note that
the hard, or sugar maple leaf is not finely notched, and
does not often turn red in the fall; that the leaf of the
red (soft) maple has three lobes, is finely toothed and
generally turns a brilliant red; while the leaf of the
silver (soft) maple has ^ve deep lobes and frequently
turns red.

Collections of leaves may be made for reference.
They must of course be pressed, and may be kept in
books, either loose or pasted in.

Teachers who are interested in amateur photography
may make impressions of leaves by putting them in
a printing frame, and printing on solio paper in the
regular way. See Morang's Modern Nature Study, pp.
221 and 239, for illustrations showing the forms of
some of our common leaves.

'* Economic fruits, collection, forms, how stored for the
winter.*'

Observe the gathering and packing of apples, pears,
etc., where possible. Specimens of different kinds of

30 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

fruits should be used as models for drawing and color
work. Have pupils cut shapes out of cardboard and
color them, or out of colored cover paper.

"Fruit as seed holders; dissemination of seeds.'*

Each pupil should select, early in the season, one
of his own plants to be kept for seed. Select the
hardiest and most vigorous plant for this purpose.
Mark it by attaching a label to it stating that it is
for seed. Collect these seeds and make seed packets
for them of manilla paper. While the seeds are be-
ing collected, the pod will be noticed, and also the
way it breaks open, if dehiscent.

If other seeds are to be collected, prepare a card
of convenient size, paste on it card-board rings or
squares, which will surround the seeds. While it is
always desirable to label collections, very young
pupils who cannot write may be familiarized with
the few kinds of seeds collected without labelling them.

All this work should be related to drawing and
clay modelling. It may be related, also, to number
work, as the measurements required in cutting out
paper or card-board for required articles, is the best
kind of number work. The number of seeds placed
in each receptacle, or taken by each pupil to plant,
furnishes problems in arithmetic.

This correlation must not be carried on to the
detriment of nature study — a quite possible result.

In collecting seeds attention will naturally be drawn
to methods of dissemination. For special mformation
see Morang's Modem Nature Study, pp. 237-41.

** Roots and stems, uses, comparison of fleshy forms, how
stored for winter/*

This part of the work must be taken up in connection
with the school garden. Observe the uses of roots in

FIRST FORM 31

providing food for the plant and in giving the plant a
good hold in the soil. Show how the stem enables the
plant to spread out its leaves so as to get more sunshine
and moisture. Note differences between fleshy roots,
such as the turnips, beets, etc. Observe methods of
storing roots in pits, root-houses, etc. Note the differ-
ence between roots and underground stems like the
potato, bulbs of lilies, etc. Stems bear buds but roots
do not.

^^Lije on the Farm: — Harvesting, ^primitive and modern
methods compared; preparation for winter; the barn
and its uses; activities of the farm during winter;
winter sports and social life on the farm; the varied
operations of springtime; springtime as awaken-
ing to new life.'"

This part of the course deals with elementary work,
and no special directions can be given for teaching it.
The teacher must rely on his own observation and
general knowledge. Pictures should be made use of
wherever possible.

^'Effect of sun and moisture on soil.''

Note how moisture softens and wears away the soil,
and how the sun dries and hardens it. Show that
moisture and sunlight are both needed to promote
growth. Observe the effects of rain and sunshine in
spring and early summer.

Boys and Girls, a nature study magazine published at Ithaca, N.Y.,
will be found helpful to teachers in Forms I and II.

CHAPTER IV

Form II. — Animal Life — Squirrel, Crow, Etc.

Insects and Insect Enemies. School

Gardens, Window Plants.

Study of Trees.

IN the Second Form the facts already learned about
the domestic animals are supplemented and sys-
tematized. The story of Black Beauty gives in
a very good form the life history and habits of the
horse. But pupils may be encouraged, as an exercise
in composition, to give the life history of the domestic
animals that their parents own. Take for example
a collie dog for study. How does it differ in appear-
ance from other dogs ? Is it generally found in the
city or on the farm.? As it grows up, what tricks
may it be taught ? What qualities does it possess ?
Is it a good hunter, retriever, watch dog, shepherd
dog? What can be said of its power of scent, its
courage, its speed ? How has it been fed ? One
meal a day, in the evening, is sufficient. It should
not be given much meat, but should be allowed a
bone. Does it ever hide its food ? Is it troubled
with insects ? How often should it be washed ? How
long does it live ? What diseases is it subject to ?
What faults has it.'^ Read Thompson-Seton's Wully,
in Wild Animals I Have Known. What change takes
place in it in its old age ? The dog was probably
the first animal domesticated. Why ?

In connection with the study of the life history
of the dog, the following quotation from Adolescence,
by G. Stanley Hall, may be of interest:

[32 3

SECOND FORM 33

" It appears that boys' love of, and interest in, dogs at all ages
exceeds that of girls, but rises rapidly from seven to fourteen,
where it appears to culminate. Girls' interest follows rather
nearly the same curve. Boys' interest in cats is at all ages much
inferior to that of girls, and appears to culminate at eleven, while
girls' interest does not increase after eight. Boys' interest in
the horse rises very rapidly in the early teens. Their interest in
rabbits does not appear to increase after the eighth or ninth
year, but rather to decline. Girls' interest in canaries shows
an early pubescent rise. The popularity of dogs for both boys
and girls at early puberty is more and more based upon their
intelligence. . . The appreciation of the utiUty of the dog in both
boys and girls rises rapidly and steadily through the early teens.
Disposition to train dogs increases very rapidly from ten to fif-
teen. Of all the animals, the dog is the favorite; cats follow;
then come birds, rabbits, horses, parrots, chickens, pigeons,

squirrels, and many others I can almost believe that if

pedagogy is ever to become adequate to the needs of the soul,
the time will come when animals will play a far larger educa-
tional role than has yet been conceived."

As the various facts regarding the animal under
consideration are treated, the pupils should write
them down, learning to group related ideas into sent-
ences and paragraphs. In other words, a nature
study lesson and a composition lesson may be merged
into one.

The life history and habits of familiar wild animals
may be observed more easily, in some cases at least,
from individuals in captivity. In most cases it is
almost impossible to observe the history of particular
animals in their natural habitat, and all that can be
done is to construct a life history from general ob-
servations.

Life History of the Chipmunk. — Born in June in
the underground nest. Find one of the round "auger
holes" that lead to the chipmunk's den and dig it
out. Observe the chipmunk's appearance, note the

34 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

cheek pouches, the striped coat, the short tail. What
kind of food can he carry in the cheek pouches ? Try
him with some corn, beech nuts, hickory nuts — both
the bitter and the sweet. Why does the chipmunk
not need a long tail ? Does he ever climb trees, or
jump from limb to limb ? What call does he make
when startled ? When quiet ? Do chipmunks ever
play ? When do they gather in their winter supplies ?
Where do they store them.^ When do they finally
go into winter quarters in their underground nest.'^
When do they come out ? What are their enemies ?
Do they do any harm on the farm.? Do they do any
good ?

Life History of the Black Squirrel. — For a detailed
study, see M oranges Modern Nature Study, pp. 37-41.

Life History of the Crow. — What is a crow's nest
like ? In what kinds of trees do crows build ? Do
they build new nests every year? Look for the nests
in the middle of April. Tap the tree with a stick
to see if the nest is in use. The old crow will fly off
if it is there. What do crows* eggs look like.? If
possible, find out how long it takes to hatch the eggs,
and how long before the young ones leave the nest.
What do crows feed on? Note the word scare-crow.
Do crows eat meat ? Why do we speak of the carrion
crow ? Is it true that tney rob other birds' nests ?
What are some of their habits ? Note their fondness
for bright things. Do they fly in flocks or singly?
Is it easy to get close to them with a gun? Without
a gun ? What are some of their enemies ? Why do
they attack the owls when they find them in the day
time? What sort of a call do they make? Have
they different calls ? Are they said to live long or not ?
Read W. J. Long's Crow Ways in Ways of Wood
Folk; and Silver spot, in Thompson-Seton's Wild
Animals I Have Known,

SECOND FORM 35

Life History of the Cowbird. — Observe the flocks
of cowbirds that return early in April. How do the
males differ from the females in color? Note the
distinguishing brown shade in the head of the male.
As soon as the nesting season begins, look for the eggs
of the cowbird in the nests of different birds, the
robin, the bluebird, the song sparrow, the chipping
sparrow, the yellow warbler, etc. Do you ever find
the cowbird's egg in the nests of the larger birds, such as
the robin ? When a nest is found containing a cow-
bird's egg, make careful observations. Is there a full
set of the smaller eggs in the nest ? Examine them to
see if they are sound. Sometimes the cowbird pricks
holes in the other eggs to make sure that they will
not hatch out. Does the cowbird's egg hatch out
sooner or later than the others ? Compare the young
cowbird with the other fledglings as to size. He
becomes so big in a short time that frequently he kills
the young birds of the regular brood by crowding
them out of the nest. Watch the mother sparrow
or warbler feeding the overgrown cowbird. Do the
smaller birds ever object to the cowbird's egg being
laid in the nest.'^ You may frequently find a chip-
ping sparrow's nest with a false bottom or platform
built in to cover up the cowbird's egg. What food
does the cowbird live on.^ Has it any song.^ Can
you suggest any possible good that it does ? To what
bird family does it belong.^

At this point the pupils should become acquainted
with the squirrel, chipmunk, raccoon, muskrat, wood-
hare, field mouse, woodchuck, bat, and perhaps the
porcupine and the deer. The common birds of the
district should be studied. Why go afield for nature
stories regarding rare and scarce animals, when so
many interesting birds and mammals are to be found
close at hand.^

36 THE NATUHE STUDY COURSE

''Earthworm, Habits, Structure, Uses; Toad, Habits,
Structure, Uses. Observations of Live Insects and
their Activities, Comparison of Young and Adult.''

As soon as the ground is turned over in the spring,
the robins descend upon it to secure the earthworms
and beetle larvae exposed by the spade. This is the
time to begin the study of these two animals. Why
does the robin have to wait until the earth is stirred
up ? Does the robin manage to get earthworms
where ground is not turned up ? How ? What brings
the earthworms out of the ground ? If children do
not know, tell them to sprinkle a part of the lawn
about six o'clock in the aiternoon, and then look for
earthworms. Look for them after showers. Warn
pupils to approach the place of observation quietly.
The ordinary footfall will cause the earthworms to
draw back into the ground. Can they see.? Can
they hear.? How do they travel.? What do they
eat.? When familiar with the worm-holes, children
will discover leaves, maple-keys, etc., pulled into
them and partly eaten. Try to discover the beneficial
effects of earthworms upon soil and how these effects
are produced.

A consideration of the enemies of the earthworm
will serve to introduce the study of the toad, and its
study may be prosecuted as already outlined. See
page 17.

As pupils advance in age, they are able to learn
more about insects which they have already studied.
Hence the insects mentioned in Form I, should be
studied again in Form II. In this grade there should
be more comparison. In addition to those insects
mentioned in Form I, the pupils of Form II should
become familiar with the life history of the tiger swal-
lowtail, the cecropia emperor moth, the Isabefla moth,

SECOND FORM 37

the potato beetle, and the tent-caterpillar. The food-
plant of each should be known. All these are found
m the garden or the orchard.

The method of study is as follows: Secure, if pos-
sible, the eggs of the insect, recently laid. Keep in the
terrarium (see Morang's Modern Nature Study, p. 132)
until they hatch, making a record of the changes as
they occur. Provide food, preferably a small grow-
ing plant, or the leaves, if the plant is too large to
transplant. Follow the development of the larvae
from day to day, recording only unusual changes.
At the same time observe, if possible, the same larvae
in natural conditions. Make drawings, in color if
possible, of different stages. Usually the larvae will
be obtained at a fairly advanced age. In this case,
the record will begin from date of collecting the larvae.

By the time pupils have observed all the stages
in the life history of the insect, they will know the
extent of the damage done or benefit conferred by it,
the conditions of its healthy growth, the manner of
destroying it, and perhaps something of its history
in spreading from country to country. A considera-
tion of its bird enemies will introduce the study of
these birds. The study of the tent-caterpillar^ for
instance, will necessitate the study of the oriole and the
cuckoo, as it is destroyed by these birds.

^^ Plant Life. — Co-operative and individual work in
the school garden; cultivation of plants in pots, with
observation of the development of leaves and flowers;
parts of leaves and flowers; change of flowers to fruit,
and fruit to seed; functions of the parts of flowers; the
forms and uses of trees; activities connected with forestry
and lumbering, with study of pioneer life and present
conditions on the prairie. Observation of farm, garden
and household operations.''

38 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

A pamphlet, which is a reprint from Queen's
Quarterly, on The Macdonald School Gardens of Can-
ada, or How to Make School Gardens, H. D. Hem-
enway (Doubleday, Page & Co.), will give all needed
information regarding the school garden. The teacher
in a rural school, however, should not worry about
these well-designed, elaborate gardens. He should
select a strip of land, suitable for gardening, set
the pupils to work digging it up, studying soil all the
time, and ask them to design plans for planting it.
Perhaps the boards of trustees in rural sections will,
under considerable pressure, buy an acre of land and
make provision for a complete school garden. But the
great majority of rural parents and trustees must be
educated gradually. In almost any section, however, a
teacher can secure five dollars. This will suffice to fur-
nish a few tools, a load of manure, and some seeds. Start
with these on the corner plots. Put in plants that are
pretty sure to grow and to make a good appearance.
Cover the approaches to outhouses with vines. Plan to
improve the appearance of the school building with
vines. Make window boxes and fill them with com-
mon plants, geraniums, foliage plants, sweet alyssum,
nasturtiums, etc. Hold a flower show next year. With
moderate success in the first venture, the teacher will
get a little more money and a little more ground. By
and by he will have an acre of school garden, with
well-planned plots, trees and shrubbery. The devel-
opment from small to great things is of more value to
a section than the immediate possession of a finished
garden, just as the earning of a hundred dollars is of
more value than a gift of the same amount. With
the earning develops power; with the gift comes a
cringing dependence.

Whether or not a record should be kept of the
planting and growth of the garden material, is in

SECOND FORM 39

dispute. Despite some strong assertions against keep-
ing records, the weight of opinion is decidedly in favor
of them. Some one should know the life history of eco-
nomic plants if records are kept. Those who raise plants
are the best authorities on their history. If we desire
asters on Sept. 1st, when must we plant seeds ? If we
desire ripe tomatoes in August, how can we secure
them? Even children in the second book classes
should begin to keep records. These should be more
and more exact with advancing age and increased
experience. Record at least the following facts:
Date of planting; date of first appearance of seedling;
date of appearance of first flower bud; date of open-
ing of flower; and, for vegetables and fruits, date of
first well-formed fruit and first ripe fruit.

In connection with the cultivation of plants in pots
the following suggestions contained in a paper given
at the Provincial Horticultural Convention in 1904, will
be found helpful:

"For window plants in winter a window facing the
south or south-east is preferable, especially for flowering
plants, as this aspect gives a maximum of sunshine and
avoids the cold west and north-west winds. Ferns,
palms, and many foliage plants will succeed as well in a
window facing the north or north-east as in a south
window, but flowering plants will do better in a sunny
position.

"Avoid draughts of cold air on plants, as they are in-
jurious, checking the growth, and often inducing
attacks of mildew. If outside air is given plants in
winter, and sometimes this is beneficial, give them
ventilation on sunny, calm, and not excessively cold
days. Draw the top sash of the window down an inch
or two, or, if possible, induce ventilation from an
adjoining room. Plants like fresh air but object strongly
to being in a cold draught. A thick paper window-

40 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

blind, or sheets of newspaper between the window and
plants, will protect them on extra cold nights.

"Every one who attempts to grow window plants
should have a small pile of prepared potting soil made
from well-rotted sod and thoroughly rotted stable or cow
manure. The too common practice of using earth
from the garden or black soil from the bush, is often-
times the cause of failure and disappointment in plant
growing. The earth from the garden is too often lack-
ing in fertility, and, what is of still more importance,
is too often deficient in the fibry matter found in par-
tially rotted sod. Good potting soil may be obtained
from some tough sod from an old, well-fed down or
pasture field where the soil is of a loamy nature. This
sod, before being used, should be stacked in the open,
mixed with well-rotted stable manure or cow manure,
and the pile be left to rot. Where this trouble is too
great to be undertaken, prepared potting soil may be
obtained from a florist.

"Use unglazed plain flower pots for growing plants.
For potting rooted cuttings or slips use small pots, a
two and a half or three-inch pot being usually quite
large enough for potting rooted slips. When the
plants are fairly well rooted, repot into a pot two sizes,
or two inches larger. A change into a pot two sizes
larger is usually sufficient. Over-potting, or repotting
the plant into a pot four or five times larger, is a too
common mistake with amateur flower growers, often
resulting fatally to the plant.

"Use a mixture of one part of fine sharp sand, and
three parts of the potting soil for rooted cuttings. For
repotting larger plants one part of sand to six or seven
parts of potting soil is about the proper proportion for
most window plants. Even if common garden soil is
used for potting soil, the sand will be beneficial. In
potting or repotting plants, be sure that the hole in the

SECOND FORM 41

bottom of the pot is open to allow of free drainage.
About half an inch of coarse gravel, or coal cinders,
etc., should be placed in the bottom of four or five
inch pots to secure good drainage. In six or seven inch
pots, an inch in depth of this drainage would not be
too much. Very small pots seldom require drainage.

"All freshly potted plants should be watered once as
soon as potted. Give sufficient water to moisten all
the soil in the pot. Do not give more water until the
soil shows signs of dryness. If the plant wilts a little
do not saturate the soil with water, but remove the plant
to a shaded position for a few days. Too much water
often kills newly potted plants, as there is no root
action to absorb the excess of moisture.

"Water growing plants when they require it. To find
out when plants need water, watch the surface of the
soil closely. When the rough, uneven portions of the
surface of the soil begin to have a light, greyish color,
or when the top of the soil will crumble between the
thumb and finger, the plant requires water. Give
sufficient water to moisten the soil to the bottom.
Plants should be watered only when the soil requires
the moisture, which condition can only be learned by
experience and observation. The diary or calendar
is of no use as a guide in the watering of plants. One
rule should always be borne in mind, viz. : that suffi-
cient water should always be given growing plants
to moisten, not saturate, all the soil in the pot. Light
sprinklings of water that only penetrate through an
inch or so of the soil are useless.

"In winter use tepid or rain water, at a temperature
of about 65 degrees. In spite of assertions to the con-
trary I am satisfied that water of a temperature at or
near freezing point is injurious to plant life in green-
houses, to say nothing of window plants."

The analysis of leaves ^nd flowers must not be

42 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

detailed nor scientific in this, or, indeed, in any public
school grade. The blade, petiole, and veining of the leaf,
are sufficient. Let pupils express themselves in draw-
ings and in models. The different sets of floral leaves
may be noted, and designated as first, second, third
and fourth, respectively. Any function of these leaves
that pupils discover for themselves should be recorded,
but unless discovered, the functions may well be left
for higher classes. Pupils should discover, under the
teacher's direction, that it is the fourth or central set
of floral leaves that develops into the fruit. They
should observe what becomes of the rest of the flower.
Second book classes need not know that the pollen
must fall upon the stigma to develop fruit. Confine
their attention to the outward conditions of securing
good fruit or perfect flowers,

''Forms and uses of trees.''

The common uses of trees will readily suggest them-
selves, and a study of their uses will lead to a study of
their forms. The most obvious use of trees is to
supply firewood. What kinds of trees make the best
firewood, and why ? Some kinds of trees are used for
building material, the pine for instance. Does it make
good firewood ? Why is it good for house building ?
What kinds of trees are used for shade in the city ?
In the country ? Why does the elm not make a good
city shade tree.^ How do fruit trees differ from
ordinary shade trees in size and shape ? Compare the
apple with the maple, for instance. What kinds of
trees are required for telegraph and telephone poles ?
Consider the question of height, weight, durability, etc.

After a heavy rain, or after the snow melts in the
spring, which part of the ground dries up most quickly,
that in the open, or under the trees ? Show how the
trees help to keep the ground moist. Besides giving

SECOND FORM 43

shade, trees are sometimes planted for protection from
the wind. What kind of trees make the best protection
in winter? In summer? Compare the winds on the
prairie with the winds in the wooded parts of the
country.

Besides their use to man, of what use are the trees to
animals and birds ? Note the evergreens as places
of shelter for birds in winter. What trees supply food
to the squirrels, raccoons, porcupines, etc. ?

Pictures of different kinds of trees may be readily
obtained from newspapers and magazines. A set of
twenty-four pictures of our common trees is published
by A. W. Mumford, Chicago.

Forestry, lumbering and pioneer life are best pre-
sented by a series of good pictures, except that native
trees, both in the open and in forests, can be observed
within easy reach of any school. Compare the form
of trees in the open with the same in a forest. Con-
sider which is better for lumber, which for fruit,
which for beauty.

Observations of farm and household operations
are to be made whenever occasion calls for the need
of special attention to them.

If pupils have garden plots at school or at home,
they will be interested in the weather reports of frost,
rain, etc. Weather records should be kept, so that
in years to come pupils may have a definite idea of
the latest and earliest frosts, of the relation between
winds and cool weather ; of the effect of bodies of water
on temperature of the air, etc. Refer to the weather
bulletins in the newspapers,

CHAPTER V

Form III. — ^Animal Life — ^Adaptation of Animals

TO Surroundings, Aquaria, Trees,

Soil, Weather

THE pupils have now reached a stage when they
are beginning to consider the relation of means
to end, and hence the study of adaptation is
important. In the case of the domestic animals this
will give us no difficulty. The adaptation of the cat,
for instance, for hunting at night, and for noiseless
and rapid movement, may be readily seen; and simi-
larly with other animals, the adaptation of the sheep
for rocky pastures, of the horse for travel, of the duck
for water, etc.

In the case of the wild animals, one or two salient
points in each case will perhaps be sufficient. Note
how the teeth of all the rodents are adapted to vege-
table food, and those of the carnivora to animal food.
Note the use of the tail in animals that climb from
tree to tree, such as the raccoon and the squirrels,
or in animals that live in the water, such as the musk-
rat. Compare with the wood-hare, where the "cot-
ton tail" is of service only as a guide to the young
hares in the darkness, and with the porcupine, where
it is a means of self-defence. Note the length and
strength of the legs of the wood-hare, raccoon, etc.
How are these animals adapted to outwit their enemies ?
In color, note the contrast between the wood-hare
and the skunk in white markings, and explain. In
speed, contrast the wood-hare again with the wood-
chuck. In power of scent, contrast the woodchuck
with the fox. Does keenness of scent depend in any
way on the kind of food that each requires?

[44]

THIRD FORM 45

In the case of birds the key to adaptation Ues in
the study of their food. Note the following classes :

1. The Owls. — Good sight and silence are neces-
sary. Hence the large eyes, and the thick feathers
adapted to noiseless flight.

2. The Hawks. — Speed is the important thing.
Note the length and strength of wing and the absence
of needless feathers.

3. Sparrows and Other Seed -eaters. — Note the
hard conical bill and the horny tongue.

4. Woodpeckers. — Observe the position of the
toes, the long, strong bill, the very long, barbed tongue,
the stiff tail feathers serving as a prop. Compare
with the sapsucker, whose tongue is provided with
a brush instead of a barbed tip.

5. Flycatchers. — Note the hooked bill, and the
hairs at the base of the bill, which help to entangle
the moth or fly.

6. Swallows, Swifts, etc., that catch food with
the open mouth. — Note the large mouth, insignificant
bill, long wings and tail.

7. Cuckoos. — Live principally upon caterpillars.
Hence the long bill. The stomach of the cuckoo is
lined with hair.

8. Kingfishers. — Contrast with the swallows. See
frontispiece of Morang's Modern Nature Study.
Note the heavy bill, and the stout body adapted for
diving rather than for rapid flight.

9. Humming-birds — Have a long tubular tongue
for sucking up the nectar from flowers. The long
bill enables the humming-bird to reach the insects
which it finds in the flowers.

10. Robins, Bluebirds, Thrushes, Wrens, etc. —
Note the soft bills, as these birds live principally on
worms, beetles, etc,

46 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

1 1 . Kinglets, Chickadees, Creepers, etc. — The small,
sharp bills are useful in probing small crevices.

12. The Water Birds. — Observe the longer neck,
and the adaptation of feet and legs for wading, swim-
ming, diving, etc.

Closely related to the study of adaptation in form,
is the observation of protective coloration in bird and
animal as well as in insect life, and the relation of the
food of birds and animals to their habits, migrations,
etc. These points should be noted by the class when
the opportunity presents itself.

''Birds — Life-history of Types. ^^

The order in which types are studied must de-
pend upon local conditions. In general, begin with
the best-known families, and take as types the birds
that are most common in the district or most import-
ant from an economic point of view.

The sparrow is a good family to begin with, and
the English sparrow and the song-sparrow may be
taken as types. In northern Canada the white-
throated sparrow may be studied instead of the
English sparrow. Watch the English sparrows build-
ing in the spring. Where do they build ? Do they
ever build in trees ? The writers once found an Eng-
lish sparrow nesting in an old oriole's nest, which had
been lined with feathers for the occasion. Procure a
nest and examine it. Note the eggs, number, size,
color. Watch how often in the season the sparrows
build. Watch the old sparrows teaching the young
to fly, to get food, etc. What do the English sparrows
live on ? Examine the bill to see what kind of food
it is adapted for. Throw out some grain and other
kinds of food. How do the English sparrows treat
each other ? How do they treat other birds ? What
other birds do they keep from nesting about the house

THIRD FORM 47

or barn? Do they stay all the year round? Where
do they go for shelter on cold nights ? Have they any
song? They may be kept from increasing by shoot-
ing them off, by feeding them with grain soaked in
arsenic in the winter time, or by destroying their
nests. If a nest is desired for observation, put up a
bird box in the vicinity of the school.

Compare with the song sparrow as to migration,
time of nesting, nesting-place, nest, number and color
of eggs, song, food, enemies, and appearance, including
form and markings.

Some of the commoner birds which may be studied as
types are, the screech owl, the sharp-shinned hawk, the
bronzed grackle and the oriole, the robin and the blue-
bird, the house wren, the blue jay, the yellow warbler,
the downy woodpecker, and the chickadee. For a
detailed study of the kingbird, see Morang's Modern
Nature Study, pp. 79-83.

''Habits of Wild Fowl in different seasons.''

Except in a few favored localities it is difficult
to make any study of water birds and game birds
from direct observation. The migrations of the wild
fowl should be noted and attention should be directed
to the game laws. Interesting studies of the habits
of certain of the wild fowl will be found in Long's
Wilderness Ways, Secrets of the Woods, etc., and in
Thompson-Seton's works.

''Fish, forms and uses of different parts of the body,
food and how obtained.''

No school is properly equipped for nature study
without an aquarium. There is so much life in the
ponds, lakes and rivers of our country that we can
never gain a knowledge of it without an aquarium
in the school-room, The cheapest aquarium is the

48 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

square candy bottle, with wide mouth. Several of
these are better than one large aquarium, as many
water animals prey upon smaller ones and they can-
not be kept together in the same compartment. These
small bottles should be supplied with a few stones,
shells and clean sand to the depth of an inch or so.
Then collect the small plants tnat grow in stagnant
ponds, chara, mare's tail, anacharis, duck weed
(floating), and place a few in each bottle. These
plants will keep the water pure, and this is a most
important lesson in balance in nature. According
to the mental ability of the pupils, this balance be-
tween plant and animal life in an aquarium opens up
extensive fields of a semi-scientific investigation.

In order to keep the sides of the aquarium clean,
a few water snails and tadpoles, obtained from stag-
nant pools, should be kept in each aquarium. Water
can be kept for months in such a simple aquarium
without becoming putrid. All that is necessary is to
add more water as evaporation takes place. Dust
can be kept out by keeping linen gauze over the top
of the bottle.

Small fish, especially minnows, can be kept in
these aquaria with tadpoles and snails, but in a half-
gallon jar it is better to keep only one or two fish and
some snails, while the tadpoles may be kept in another
jar. If running water can be provided, large fish
may be kept. See Hodge's Nature Study and
Life, Chap, xxiv; Morang's Modern Nature Study,
pp. 94-103.

*'Life histories of moths, butterflies, beetles and grass-
hoppers; useful insects, as ladybird and dragon-
fly; harmful insects, nature's insecticides.''

When nature study is first being introduced, and
where no previous work has been done, the moths and

THIRD FORM 49

butterflies already mentioned under Forms I and II,
will have to be studied here. Those species are
usually common enough to be obtainable anywhere.
In addition, there are the "woolly-bear" larvae, and the
injurious moths whose larvse are so destructive of
shade trees, e.g., tussock moths, web-worms, and
canker-worms. To include these under some general
head, begin with a study of the apple tree for a third
class, and a maple tree for a fourth class. Observe
the natural leaves, twigs and fruit, so that any abnor-
mal state may be detected at once. Make drawings
of twigs, leaves and fruit, also of the whole tree. Some
of these drawings should be done in color. Model
the fruit and leaves in clay. Preserve specimens of
leaves and, in the case of the maple, cross-sections
of small limbs, showing the nature of healthy bark
and wood. If the normal leaves, twigs and fruits are
first considered, it will not be long before some ab-
normal condition will be discovered. Some leaves
will be found partly eaten. Look for the insect larvse
that ate the leaves. Some twigs and branches will
be found covered with the oyster-shell bark-louse.
Study these. Holes will be found in the bark. Look
for borers. Fruit will be wormy. Open such fruits
and in some of them will be found full-grown larvse
of the codling moth. Keep the larvse in boxes, along
with bits of bark, until they form cocoons. Con-
tinue their study so as to learn the whole history
of this most destructive pest and the best way of com-
bating it. The following is a list of pests that attack
some part of the apple tree. See Bulletin No. 144,
Apple Culture, Ontario Department of Agriculture.

Roots. — Woolly aphis.

Trunk. — Round-headed borer; flat-headed borer; Buffalo tree
hopper; oyster-shell scale; San Jose scale.

50 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Buds and Leaves. — Bud moth; fall canker-worm; spring
canker-worm; tent caterpillar; cigar-case bearer; pistol-case bearer ;
apple plant lice; buccalatrix moth; leaf rollers; leaf miners; red-
humped caterpillar and yellow-necked caterpillar.

Fruit. — CodHng moth larvae; apple maggot; curculio.

Fungus Diseases of the Apple. — ^Apple scab ; bitter rot ; black
rot; fly-speck fungus; fruitspot; powdery mildew; apple rust;
crown gall ; fire blight.

Treatment for all these diseases is described in
Bulletin No. 144. Most of these should be left for
fourth classes.

The prickly pupa-cases of certain ladybird beetles
will be found on the apple trees. The larvse of these
beetles may be found feeding upon the plant lice.
No other insect is so generally beneficial as the lady-
bird beetle, and there are many species. So common
and useful a creature should be studied assiduously.

The grasshoppers afford interesting material for
study. We constantly hear the common grass-
hopper grinding out its rasping love-song, yet we
seldom try to discover its musical instruments, the
wings and legs. Begin here. In a terrarium or in a
small glass bottle, its movements may be observed.
When we know that the sound is produced by so
simple a mechanism, we shall be interested in examin-
ing the wings and legs. Its destruction of grains and
grasses should arouse interest in its mouth parts and
internal anatomy. Its food and the destruction
which this insect causes should be discovered, and its
whole life history should be worked out as has been
done with other insects.

As before stated, an aquarium is an essential part
of equipment in nature study. As it is an imitation
of a stagnant pool, you should go to such a pool for
the animal and plant life required. Scrape up the mud
or ooze from the bottom of the pool in your sieve,
(an old tin dish with holes puncned in the bottom

THIRD FORM 51

with a nail will answer this purpose). With this
ooze you are pretty sure to bring up at some time a
grasshopper-like animal, which, however, differs from
a grasshopper in its general proportions. The fact
that it is found in water proves that it is not a grass-
hopper, for by this time pupils should have discovered
that the young grasshoppers are born in soil, not in
water. Such a specimen is almost sure to be the
larva of some species of dragon-fly. Its habits in the
aquarium will form interesting nature work.

If found in the spring, look for the emergence of
the adult in July or August. If found in the fall, it
will not emerge till next year, and it may be observed
all winter. The aquarium must be supplied with
some small reeds or sticks which project above the
water, so that when the presentiment of impending
change comes upon the larva, it will find a support
up which to climb to its future medium, the air. After
the class have observed the emergence of the adult
dragon-fly, they will be interested in the description of
the process as seen by the Water Baby, Tom, in Kings-
ley's Water Babies.

It is interesting to put these dragon-fly larvae in
with mosquito larvae, and observe what happens. Put
fish in with mosquito larvae. The extermination of
the mosquito is worthy of our most serious attention.
If we can in any way call to our aid such voracious
feeders as fish and dragon-fly larvae, let us do so.

The adult dragon-fly is no less active in the air-
pool than the larva is in the water-pool. Its peculiar
flight is due to its darting after small insects. It is
an excellent insect for permanent mounting by the
method described in Morang's Modern Nature Study,
p. 324. Children should be taught not only that it
is perfectly harmless, but also that it is one of our
most useful insects, as it preys upon harmful species.

52 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Nearly every animal preys upon some other ani-
mal. The exceptions to this are the graminivorous
animals, such as the cow, sheep, horse. When the
life of a region is unbalanced so that some particular
animal gains the ascendency and drives out all others,
nature has been violated. The disproportionate in-
crease of insects destructive to gardens and orchards,
in the last few years, is due to the decrease of birds
that prey upon insects and their eggs. The relation
of birds to insects should be made an important part
of nature study. One summer a bluebird built its
nest in a hole in an old apple tree at the corner of a
house in which lived a family of seven boys. The
bluebirds raised their family almost within reach of
a tall boy standing on the ground, yet not one egg or
bird was molested. In fact, the orchard on this farm
was well stocked with birds' nests, one tree having
three nests in it. The boys knew the value of birds
to the orchard, and would resent any one's interference
with them. Birds are nature's most important in-
secticides.

Nearly every insect larva is in danger of being
made a nursery for the rearing of the young of some
other insect. It is not unusual to find a tomato worm
covered with the cocoons of a parasitic insect, which
lays its eggs in the body of the tomato worm. The
common parasite in this case is an ichneumon fly.
The egg-laying apparatus of the female fly is remark-
able. The larvae of the tussock moth and other hairy
larvae are subject to the attack of a small ichneumon
fly (Pimpla inquisitor). The study of these destroyers
of harmiul insects is a revelation.

The borers are good types of beetles, but other
beetles are more easily obtainable. The larvae of
the May beetle are frequently turned up in digging
the garden, and among rotting wood the larvae of

THIRD FORM 53

several beetles may be secured. These may be kept till
transformation into pupae, and finally into beetles, occurs.
The life history of the borer beetles is so difficult as
to be beyond ordinary observation. Read about them.
It is well to remember that the peach borer, the
maple borer {Synanthedon acerni), and many other
borers like these, are larvse of clear-winged moths,
quite unlike beetles. For third and fourth book
classes, the maple borer is an excellent subject of
study. Where these insects are numerous, the trunks of
soft maples have the appearance of having been riddled
with bird shot. From some of these openings the
pupa-case of the moth protrudes throughout the year,
but it is at the end of May or beginning of June that
the adults may be found emerging from their pupa-
cases. They are easily captured from 7 to 9 a.m.,
as they are then drying their wings before beginning
to fly. The peach borer larva is readily found by
cutting through the bark of the peach tree wherever
gum is exuding from the tree. In fact, this is the
way to exterminate the peach borer, as the wound
in the tree soon heals.

Plant Life. — ''Germination of seeds under con-
trollable conditions and in the school garden and win-
dow boxes.''

The remarks made under Form II will apply here.

''Opening of buds.''
This has already been referred to under Form 1.

"Study of the forms and functions of the parts of
plants, and comparison of these forms and func-
tions in different plarits."

This work may be begun in this form, but should
be carried on more extensively in Forms IV and V.

54 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Select a few plants which have large and easily ob-
servable parts. In September study the yellow even-
ing primrose or the nasturtium; in October, the bottle
gentian or the pansy; in November, the late asters,
which have survived the frosts. In March, begin
with the pussy-willow; in April, study any common
flower, e.g., hepatica, or tulip; in May, lilies or spring
beauty; in June, wild columbine, or lady's slipper.
Make drawings in color of the flower selected, then
use the flower or some part of it as a unit of design,
and apply to some surface for purposes of decoration.
Aim to discover what plants do, how and where
they grow, how they propagate, and how they survive
in the struggle for existence. Each species of plant
prefers a certain habitat. Find what this habitat is.
Classify plants according to their habitat, i.e., plants
that grow in woods, in swamps, in water, in sandy
soil, in waste places, etc. It is much more important
to know how to grow plants than to know all their
Latin names and the technical terms used by botan-
ists. See Appendix to Morang's Modern Nature Study.

''Observation of the culture of farm and garden crops,
and of orchard and shade trees."

In rural schools the culture of farm and garden
crops may be observed on adjacent farms, but, even
there, and in city schools, it is desirable to plant in
school plots the seeds of the plants which must be
observed. It would be absurd to attempt to observe
every crop each year. From the numerous grains
select one for the year's work, e.g., corn. In garden
crops specialize one year on tomatoes, raising plants
from seed; another year on sugar beet, or celery, etc.
One or two species well grown are better than many
crowded together and poorly attended to. The bene-
fits of mixed farming and gardening must be kept

THIRD FORM 55

in mind, however, and the need of rotation of crops,
of properly enriching the soil, and of keeping down
weeds, should be practically demonstrated. Take some
good garden periodical, such as the Canadian Hor-
ticulturist (Toronto, Ont.) or the Garden Magazine
(Doubleday, Page & Co., New York). The Canadian
Garden, by Annie L. Jack (Wm. Briggs, Toronto),
gives all needed information for Canadian gardeners.
Any one can learn to be a gardener by starting in to
make a garden and then reading the proper books
to secure information.

Observation of orchard and shade trees should
be taken up systematically as suggested in the study
of the apple tree. Here, as in the case of grains
and garden crops, make a selection of one for
each year's study. If one tree is being studied
intensively, most of the other orchard trees will come
up incidentally for observation. The study of the
codling moth in the apple will bring up the question
of what other fruits it attacks. Examine pears,
plums, peaches and quinces, for the larvae. While this
is being done, the work of the plum curculio will be
discovered, and its life history should be studied.

It is quite worth while to raise apple, pear, peach
and plum trees from seed; to graft or bud them, to
learn how to cut back and to prune, and how to secure
more perfect fruit. See Bulletin No. 124, Ontario De-
partment of Agriculture.

" The observing and the distinguishing of the common
forest trees'"

Here again local conditions must largely determine
the order of study. Trees that are in the immediate
neighborhood of the school, or that may be readily
observed by the pupils, should be first considered.
In northern Ontario, for instance, the evergreen and

56 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

the birch will come in for consideration at the outset,
while in most parts of southern Ontario the common
hardwood trees, maple, elm, beech, etc., will be first
observed.

The study of trees may be carried on both in winter
and summer. In winter we should learn to distinguish
trees by their general shape, the character of their
branching, the bark, etc. In summer they may be
distinguished by their buds, flowers and leaves.

Let us, for illustration, begin with the winter, and
let us suppose in the first place that evergreen
trees are common in the neighborhood of the
school. Of the evergreens the pine is the most
prominent, and the two common species, the white
and the red, should be distinguished. General ap-
pearance will be a sufficient guide in this case, for
the red or Norway pine is shorter, thicker, and
redder in appearance than the white. But if any
doubt exists in the mind of the beginner, an examina-
tion of the needles will settle the question, for those
of the red pine grow in pairs, while those of the white
grow in bunches of five. Most pupils are familiar with
the spruce, both the imported and the native varieties,
for it is the common evergreen of our lawns and gardens.
But another tree which is very common in northern
Canada and which looks very much like the spruce,
is the balsam fir. The fragrance of the balsam should
be a distinguishing mark, and it will be observed, in
addition, that its needles are shorter and blunter than
those of the spruce and grow in two rows from the stem,
while those of the spruce cover the stem on all sides.
Another common evergreen is the hemlock, which has
short blunt needles and small cones, but which grows
tall and dense like the white pine. The bark of the
hemlock is used for tanning leather. Another member
of the pine family is the larch or tamarac, which grows

THIRD FORM 57

in swamps, but it cannot be described as an evergreen,
as it loses its needles every fall.

The same kind of soil that is favorable to the ever-
green generally produces the birch, and the three com-
mon varieties, the white or canoe birch, the yellow,
and the black, may be readily distinguished by their
color.

In parts of the country where the evergreens and
birch are not common, the hardwood trees come in for
observation. The American elm is our most con-
spicuous hardwood tree, and is the best one to begin
with. Note the different forms— the parasol, the um-
brella, and the fountain shaped varieties. Compare
the trunk with that of the spruce. In which case does
the trunk run in an unbroken line from the top to the
bottom of the tree ? Note the drooping elm as a favorite
place for orioles' nests. Next study the maple. Note
that the sugar maple is larger and more rugged than
the two common varieties of soft maple. Compare the
branches with those of the elm as to size. The beech
is also an excellent tree for study. Note the smooth
bark, the irregular branches and the dense rounded
crown. What animals are attracted by the beech-
nuts in the fall ? After the elm, maple and beech have
been studied, continue with the willow, poplar, oak,
ash, bass wood or linden, button wood, chestnut, and
other varieties.

In the summer the study of the leaves will assist in
the identification of the trees. Note the character of
the leaves, whether smooth or hairy, notched or un-
broken, opposite or alternate, simple or compound;
and observe also the character of the seed, whether
carried by the wind or planted by other agencies such
as animals and birds. The study of trees may easily
be carried on in connection with the study of birds
and mammals.

58 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Direct the attention of the pupils to the branching
of trees, and note the difference between trees growing
in the open and those growing in the woods. In the
latter case the lower branches, not getting much light,
drop off and the trunk of the tree grows taller and is free
from knots. Pupils will readily see which tree makes
the best timber. The increasing value of wood for
manufacturing purposes should be sufficient incentive
to turn our attention to the successful treatment of
forests. The need is very pressing.

^'Different kinds of soil, as sand, gravel, loam, leaf
mould and clay; experiments to ascertain how soils
are composed, whether of mineral or of decayed
organic material, and which best retains water.''

From some spot in or near the school-yard, cut
out a piece of sod as wide as a spade and as deep as
can be kept together. Transfer this to the school-
room and place in the terrarium, or in any suitable
place. If necessary, dig out more of the soil from
the same hole and bring it in for observation. If an
excavation for a building is being made near the
school, or if a bank is being cut through along the
road, the different layers may be observed. There
will be at least three layers of soil, but there may, be
several. The top will be the darkest, several inches
deep; then a second layer not so dark, and a third
layer entirely lacking in any black substance. Lay-
ers of sand or gravel may be found in certain locali-
ties. Feel each kind of soil. Select some of the first
layer, dry thoroughly, and weigh out half a pound.
Place on a clean shovel, and lay the shovel on hot
coals for an hour or more. Tell what happens.
Weigh the residue. What has been burned out?
What remains ? Do the same with the second and third
layers, and with pure sand and pure clay. As pupils

THIRD FORM 59

know that vegetable and animal matter burns, they
will conclude that loss in weight is due to burning
out these ingredients. The burned-out material is
the food part; the residue, the mineral part.

As clay modelling and sand moulding are necessary
in the ordinary school work, the character of clay and
sand will be learned incidentally. It will be discov-
ered that clay holds water longer than sand; that the
clay hardens as it dries, while sand disintegrates; and
if some one can be found who owns a kiln for burning
china, the value of clay in making flower-pots, etc.,
may be demonstrated.

Cut the bottoms off half a dozen bottles, place in
them gravel, sand, loam, leaf-mould, leaves and poor
loamy soil, an equal weight in each. Cork with a
notched cork and invert in a rack prepared for the
bottles. Pour an equal volume of water on each and
measure the water that drips through in each case.
Compare each material in absorbing power.

Any soil may be analyzed roughly by mixing it
in water and decanting the upper part. The coarse
gravel will settle at first, then fine gravel, then sand,
then clay, and lastly humus. Observe how every
stream carries down and deposits these constituents.
Explain why they are deposited as they are.

*'How nature prepares the soil for growth of plants.
Additional phenomena of spring in the vicinity of
the school, cause of snow melting, ice floating, etc.'^

In spring, the effects of the winter's frost on soil
may be seen. Land that was ploughed in the fall, and
that was lumpy and hard, will now be well pulverized.
The school garden will furnish an example. If rocks are
in the vicinity of the school, examine them to find
cracks due to frosts. As banks by streams or lakes
thaw out, great masses tumble down. Later the

60 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

spring rains cause huge landslides on steep hillsides.
Sometimes these may dam the stream and change its
course. Use these phenomena to give pupils a con-
ception of world-building in general .

The melting of snow should be taken up in con-
nection with the study of the thermometer. The
temperature of melting snow or ice is constant. This
fact should be discovered by inserting the bulb of a
thermometer in melting ice. The mercury will fall
to a certain point, at which it will remain stationary.
Steam from boiling water, under standard conditions,
is also of constant temperature. This fact should be
discovered by suspending a thermometer in steam in
an enclosed space, just above boiling water. The
mercury will rise until it reaches a certain point, at which
it will remain stationary as long as the bulb and stem
are surrounded by steam. Pupils should find these
points by actual experiment and mark them by tying
a small thread around the stem of the thermometer.
The distance between the two points may then
be marked on a piece of cardboard and divided
into 100 or 180 equal parts. The former gives the
centigrade scale; the latter, the Fahrenheit. The
divisions may be continued above and below these
two fixed points. On the centigrade thermometer the
freezing point is called zero and marked 0°. Fahren-
heit chose to call a point 32 degrees below freezing
point zero, so that freezing point reads 32° above
zero. On the centigrade thermometer the tempera-
ture of steam from boiling water is called 100°, while
on Fahrenheit's it is 212° (32° + 180°). If the space
between the position of the mercury in melting snow
and its position in steam were divided into 80 equal
parts, as it is in Reaumur's thermometer, then boiling
point would be just 80° degrees above freezing. The
lewer divisions this distance is divided into, the larger

THIRD FORM 6J

are the degrees. Thus in Reaumur, each degree is ^V;
in centigrade ^h^ ^^^ ^^ Fahrenheit xiiF of the differ-
ence between freezing point and boiling point.

It is a peculiar thing that the temperature of melt-
ing ice is the same as that of water which is just freezing
or changing into ice. The difference between the two
is that when ice is melting, heat must be added all the
time, but when water is freezing, heat is being taken
away from the water. Whatever heat may be re-
quired to melt a given weight of ice can be recovered
from the water produced by converting it into ice.
Hence, water while cooling to freezing point, and
while freezing, gives off heat, which tends to moderate
the climate near by.

Ice. — Observation proves that water expands when
it freezes, that is, is of greater size than the water
frozen to form the ice. The weight remains the same.
When ice melts it produces a volume of water less
than its own size. Cut out a rectangular piece of ice,
measure, melt it, and measure the water formed. Cut
several rectangular pieces of ice of different sizes.
Float them in water. In the case of each piece, measure
the proportion immersed. Compare the proportions in
each case. Float a piece of ice in water in a glass
vessel, marking the level of the water in which the ice is
floating. After the ice has melted, note the level
again. Is it the same, higher, or lower? Explain.
From the foregoing experiments the pupils will be able
to understand the nature of icebergs. It is impor-
tant, too, that pupils recognize that ice below melting
Eoint acts like any other solid, i.e., expands when
eated and contracts when cooled. This will explain
how masses of ice like glaciers move down an incline.
As they become warmer during the day, they expand,
mostly down hill; as they contract at night, the con-
traction draws the whole ice-sheet more down than

62 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

up, since it moves more easily in the downward direc-
tion. Observe the effects of frost on soil, rocks, clover,
posts, etc.

Water. — Secure some rain water and some well
water or good spring water. Note how hard' soap
affects each kind of water. One kind dissolves the
soap, and, if agitated, forms a "lather." The other
becomes "curdy," and more or less milky and does
not form a "lather" readily. The former is called
soft water, the latter hard water. Keep adding soap
to the hard water. Eventually it will form a fair
lather, if agitated, because all the lime in it has been
thrown out by the soap. Put washing soda in hard
water, then add soap, and agitate. Put ammonia
into another portion of hard water, then add soap.
Boil hard water and test its hardness afterwards.
Teach pupils the test for limestone by placing some
limestone in hydrochloric acid in a test tube. Test
with hydrochloric acid the substance found in tea
kettles, after they have been used some time. Strong
vinegar may be used instead of hydrochloric acid.

Make some lime water by pouring water on hard,
fresh, unslaked lime. Let it stand for half an hour
or so. Observe the changes that occur in the process
known as slaking. When the lime has been thoroughly
slaked, mix it with water, shake well, then let it stand
until clear. Pour off the clear liquid. Add more
water, shake again, settle, and pour off as before.
The liquid poured off is lime water. Keep it in a
bottle, tightly corked.

Blow air from the lungs through some lime water
in a glass vessel. Try to collect some of the white
substance formed, after it has settled to the bottom.*

*A solid formed in this way is called a precipitate. It can be separated
from the fluid in which it is suspended by passing the same through clean
white blotting paper, folded into a cone shape. Paper specially prepared
for this purpose is called filter paper.

tHliRi) FORM 63

Test this white substance with hydrochloric acid or
strong vinegar. • Compare with Hmestone.

Blow air from the lungs through another portion of
lime water, but this time continue for ten minutes, noting
the changes that occur. If it becomes clearer after a
time, this proves that the white substance formed at
first has dissolved in the water again. Let the white
substance that remains settle to the bottom. Pour off
some of the clear liquid and boil it. If it becomes
milky, this shows that the dissolved substance has
been thrown out again. Compare this result with
the result of boiling hard water in a tea kettle. In
Form IV, infer that rain water passing through lime-
stone rocks dissolves some of the limestone. When such
water is boiled the limestone remains as a solid residue.
If water trickles through crevices in rocks and evapor-
ates, a solid residue of limestone is formed. In this
way stalactites and stalagmites are formed in caves.

^'^ Pure and impure water.''

Water that is not clear contains small solid par-
ticles in suspension, and is impure. Such solid impur-
ities can be removed by filtering. Make a filter as
follows: Place some gravel in the bottom of a vessel
provided with a tap; on top of this place some clean
sand, then a layer of crushed charcoal, then more
sand. The charcoal may be omitted if sufficient
layers of gravel and sand are used. Filters must be
cleaned frequently. This is done by removing the
old substances entirely and putting in new.

Water may, however, be clear and even sparkling,
and yet be very impure. If it has any marked odor or
taste it should be considered unfit for use. But some
substances have neither odor nor taste and yet are
injurious. The presence of ammonia in water indi-
cates that organic impurities are present. Nessler's

04 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

solution for testing ammonia may be purchased at
drug stores. This solution gives a brownish precipi-
tate if free ammonia is present. Potassium perman-
ganate is a convenient and cheap test for impurities in
water. Dissolve a few crystals in water. Add a few
drops of this solution to the water to be tested, sufficient
to make it quite pink. Place in a clean vessel in a
warm place and keep free from dust. The best kind of
protection from dust is a stopper of cotton batting or
a cover of fine muslin. If the water is impure the pink
color of the potassium permanganate will be bleached
out in an hour or two, a sediment forming at the bottom.
The presence of mineral substance in solution in
water may be proven by evaporation. (Use a clean
glass vessel for evaporation.) If any mineral sub-
stance is present, a * crust" will remain when the water
has been all evaporated. It is impossible in element-
ary work to determine what this mineral substance
is, but chlorides may be tested for by using silver
nitrate. A drop or two will give a dense, white, curdy
precipitate, soluble in ammonia.

*' Sources of heat, expansion of solids, liquids and gases,
by heat; practical applications. Temperature; ther-
mometer, construction and graduation. Methods of
transmission of heat, conduction, convection and
radiation; causes of winds and ocean currents; ven-
tilation.''

Any elementary work on physical science will give
all needed information on these subjects.

It is not advisable to make your own thermometer.
Detach a thermometer bulb and stem from its scale
and use it for experiments described. The tube must
be long enough to indicate the boiling point.

Health experts now claim that each person in a room
should be supplied with 30 cubic feet of fresh air per

THIRD FORM 65

minute. This requires 72,000 cubic feet per hour for
40 pupils. An ordinary school-room contains about
10,000 cubic feet of air. Hence the air in a school-room
should be changed seven times per hour if 40 pupils are
in a room of 10,000 cubic feet capacity. The regulations
of the Ontario Education Department require that the
air be changed only three times per hour. The mean
between these, five times an hour, should be the mini-
mum. According to this the air in a room should be
changed in twelve minutes. To learn if this is being
accomplished, charge the air in the room with smoke
when pupils are absent, closing all inlets and outlets.
Open inlets and outlets and see how long it takes to
get the room clear of smoke. Or the rate at which
air is passing out of the foul air shaft may be estimated
approximately. Thus when air can be felt to move
by the fingers, it is moving about 2^ miles per hour.
The effect on a candle flame may be used to judge
the speed of the air. Garry a candle across a room
at the rate of 3 miles an hour (22 feet in 5 sees.) ; four
miles an hour, etc. Observe effect on flame, and then
place candle near the foul air exit. Measure the size
of the opening and calculate the volume of air that
flows out each hour.

Weather records are valuable to students, especi-
ally in geography. These records should indicate the
temperature, the direction of wind, its velocity, the
character of the clouds ; if near the weather observatory,
the minimum and maximum temperatures as obtained
from weather reports each day should be recorded.
A column should be kept for remarks in which re-
cords of such phenomena as rain, snow, fog, frost,
etc., may be entered. If the school is supplied with a
barometer, a column should be made for its readings.
Barometer readings may be obtained from weather
reports in daily papers.

66

THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Date

Noon
Temp.

Wind

Clouds

Weather
Report

Barom-
eter

Remarks

Oct.17

54°

Direct' n

East

Speed
Strong

Rain clouds

Min.
39°

Max.
54°

29.95

Showery

After these records have been kept for a month or
two, pupils will be able to generalize thus: Southerly
winds bring warm weather; northerly winds bring cool
weather; easterly winds cause rainy weather, cooler
than south* or west winds ; west winds are most com-
mon and most pleasant, not causing such great changes
in temperature as other winds.

With these facts before them, pupils learn that
the part of the earth south of us is warmer than ours;
the part north is colder; the part east and west about
the same. They are then ready to learn how latitude
affects climate, and that places east or west of each
other are generally of about the same temperature.

Records should be made of the phases of the
moon, new moon and its position, full moon and
its position, and the time of rising and setting, ob-
tained from The Canadian Almanac. The position
and movements of the planets should be followed, at
least so as to know evening and morning stars.

Each day at noon the angle made by the sun with
the horizon should be measured by using a protractor.
Pupils will then learn the relation of the sun to the
seasons, and will know (what few entrance pupils in
this country know), that the shadow cast by the sun
in our latitude is always to the north. Devise a plan
for measuring the height of trees by the length of their
shadows.

A sun dial may be made by drawing a large half-
circle and dividing it into angles of from one to five
degrees, according as accurate results are desired.
Locate noon by the shortest shadow of a stick set (in

THIRD FORM 67

a perpendicular position) at the centre of the half-
circle. Or a compass may be used to find when the
shadow falls due north. But compass needles point
to the magnetic north, not to the north pole or star,
and the variation changes from year to year and is
different at different longitudes. Consequently the
line of the shortest shadow, or a Ijne pointing to the
north star, is the true noon line. When this line has
been found, each quarter of the circle may be divided
into six equal parts to indicate the hours from six
a.m. to twelve, and from twelve to six p.m. Pupils
will observe that noon by the sun is not twelve o'clock
standard time. Except on the seventy-fifth meridian
it is more or less after twelve o'clock standard time,
according as the point where observations are made
is distant from this meridian. Each degree west will
make standard time four minutes faster than sun
time. At 85° long. W., noon by the sun would be forty
minutes after twelve by standard time.

In fourth classes the nature of standard time should
be thoroughly studied. The reason for its adoption
should be discovered. This will open up the whole
question of time, and pupils will be interested to know
that news may be received in Toronto from London,
Eng., several hours before the hour at which they are
reported to have happened in the latter place.

The observation of constellations from month to
month will give children a concrete idea of the move-
ment of the earth in its orbit. Most of us know by
hearsay that the world moves through space, but we
cannot tell how this may be observed. Just as in a
boat, by keeping the eye on a fixed object on shore,
we can tell how the boat is moving, so by noting the
position of the fixed stars in the celestial sphere so
well mapped out in constellations, we may be conscious
of the earth's movement in its orbit through space.

68 THE NATURE STTJDt' COURSE

All study of stars and planets must begin with
the north star, which may be found from the position
of the big dipper (in Ursa Major). The circumpolar
stars are always visible, the only change being the
position of the constellations as the earth revolves
about its axis and in its orbit. Draw a map of the
stars as they appear at 9 p.m. on a certain date, e.g.^
Oct. 20th and Feb. 4th.

From the plan of the heavens (see Gomstock's Text-
Book of Astronomy. D. Appleton & Go.) a star map may
be constructed by keeping in mind that north, from the
north star, is downwards towards the horizon, and that
south is upwards, over the vault of the heavens. If
then we make the top of our page stand for the north,
as in ordinary maps, our plan must be turned upside
down. All stars east of the polar star are then on the
left, so that the right side of the paper is the west side
of our map; the left side, the east.

CHAPTER VI

Form IV. — ^Animal Life. — Relation of Fish, Birds

AND Wild Animals to Man; Life Histories

OF Conspicuous and Economic Insects.

Trees, Minerals and Soil.

BY the time pupils have reached this grade un-
der the present course of study, they will
be familiar with common fish, birds, and wild
animals so as to recognize them at sight. They will
also know their life history more or less accurately.
In this grade we pay more attention to relations than
in. any former grade. It is not beyond these pupils
to discover that the fins of fish, the wings and legs
of birds, and the fore and hind legs of animals are
similar in many respects. Their use to man is, how-
ever, more important than any morphological com-
parisons. The relation of mammals, birds, and fish
to man is emphasized in Morang^s Modern Nature
Study, pp. 28-31, pp. 68-71, and pp. 94, 95.

If fish are studied from the economic standpoint,
i.e., as food for man, the teacher must centre his study
about their life history, and the protection of fish
from those who destroy them for food. The species
studied will depend upon the locality, but the white
fish, perch, lake herring, and bass should be univer-
sally studied. The destruction of our fish has gone
on rapidly in the last ten years. Much may be
learned about fish from special reports, e.g., the Ontario
Game and Fish Commission's Report, 1892. Fish are
very interesting in aquaria, but we are limited to
small species or to the young of large species. Two
or three fish of different species in an aquarium, will

[69]

70 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

demonstrate which species is most pugnacious. Put a
young bass and a young shiner in an aquarium.

In addition to their use as food, fish destroy many
larvae of objectionable insects, such as mosquitoes.
They also destroy many millions of flies that live
about water, e.g,, May-flies. Possibly the great num-
ber of May-flies that annually emerge from our great
lakes is due to the depletion of fish in our fresh
waters. Make experiments by putting fish into aquaria
with mosquito larvae or other larvae.

As the May-fly is a conspicuous insect in May
and June, or later, it may be selected as a specimen
for study. Look under stones in the shallow water
of creeks or rivers. Larvae of different species of
insects will be found — May-flies, stone-flies and cad4is-
flies. The first are distinguished by the three narrow
projections at the end of the abdomen; the second by
two projections. The larvae of caddis-flies are encased
in peculiarly constructed cases, made of grains of
sand, pebbles, small shells, or sticks. These larvae
are very suitable for school aquaria, being easy to
keep and interesting to observe. Under a small micro-
scope the larva of the May-fly is doubly interesting.

From the muddy bottoms of stagnant pools the
larvae of the dragon-fly may be obtained. These have
already been mentioned under Form III. Living
forms are always interesting, however, and these
should be studied again in this grade. Structural
peculiarities should be observed now, and the larvae
of different species of dragon-flies should be looked for.

Refer to what has been said under Form III on
the study of the apple tree. Make a study of the
several insect pests mfesting the apple, pear, plum,
and peach trees.

The various galls found on golden-rod, oak leaves
and branches, maple leaves, rose bushes, witch hazel

FOURTH FORM 71

leaves, willows (pine-cone willow gall), etc., are con-
venient and useful forms to study. Nothing need be
told to the pupils, but suggestions on how to discover
the cause of the galls may be made by the teacher.
Ask the pupils to collect these various kinds of galls
late in the fall. They will be interested in observing
the various kinds of moths, flies, and wasps that emerge
from the different species. The galls may be kept
throughout the winter in a small box covered with a
piece of glass.

That plants should make such peculiar abnormal
growths for the purpose of protecting their enemies
seems, at first glance, a perversion of the order of
nature. Careful observation and reasoning will prove,
however, that, primarily, these galls protect the plant,
and, secondarily, form a home for the insect larvae.
If the golden-rod did not enlarge its stem at the point'
of attack, it would be so weakened there as to break
off with the first strong wind.

Our commonest insects are least known. Few
people know the life history of the house-fly or the
mosquito, nor are they very much concerned about
their existence. Dr. L. O. Howard, author of The
Insect Book, says: "The house-fly undoubtedly dis-
tributes disease germs. Late investigations have
shown that certain flies, and especially the common
house-fly, is responsible for the spread of Asiatic
cholera and typhoid fever." He also says that a
pound of horse manure may contain 1,200 house-
flies. As the eggs are laid in horse manure and the
larvae live there, and the pupae are formed there, it
is evident that the teacher must read or tell the life
history of the fly to the pupils. Much may be learned
by observation, however, as, for instance, the fact that
female flies live through the winter in sheltered places,
reviving in the spring, ready to lay eggs for a new brood.

72 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Give your pupils this problem. If a fly during
its lifetime lays 120 eggs, which hatch and complete
their full life history in 10 days, how many flies may
be produced by one fly in 100 days, if half of each
brood are females ? They will get tired before fin-
ishing the problem.

Advise children to screen windows, to chase flies
out of the house, and to throw chloride of lime on
piles of horse manure, or better, to remove the manure
on to land weekly and spread it or plough it under.

Of the mosquito more may be said and observed.
Its life history may be easily traced out by securing
the larvae (wrigglers), and transferring them to a bottle
covered with cheese cloth. The pupa3, adults, and
possibly eggs, may be observed in such a breeding-cage.

Tell your pupils that one species of mosquito.
Anopheles, is responsible for the spread of malaria;
while in the Southern States, another species of Culex
spreads yellow fever. The destruction of the pest thus
becomes a necessity, aside from the unpleasant results
of its bite, which are quite serious with some people.

Experiment with the larvae in your breeding
aquarium.

1. Put fish into the water.

2. Pour kerosene on the surface.

3. Add potassium permanganate in small quantities.

If the larvae always live in stagnant water, evi-
dently the simplest way of preventing their breeding
is to drain all stagnant pools near one's home. Mos-
quitoes do not fly far from their breeding places, but
wind may carry them some distance.

Look for mosquitoes in protected places in winter
months, under boards, in old wood piles, etc.

Distinguish the mosquito from tne fly. Compare
wings, legs, feelers, body.

The ants, bees and wasps should be studied in

FOURTH FORM 73

this grade. See Morang's Modern Nature Study y pp.
175-87. An artificial nest for ants may be made
as follows: Secure two panes of window glass, ten
inches square, a sheet of tin eleven inches square,
and a piece of plank one and one-fourth inches thick,
twenty inches long, and sixteen inches wide. Cut a
small triangular piece from one corner of one of the
sheets of glass. From the sheet of tin make a tray
three-eighths of an inch in depth. Cut a deep furrow
on the upper side of the plank, near the edge, to
serve as a moat, which, filled with water, will keep
the ants from escaping. Paint the plank with sev-
eral coats of paint.

Now place the tin tray on the plank, the square
pane of glass on the tray. Lay strips of wood one-
half inch wide and slightly thicker than the ant's
body, on the glass. Fill in the space bounded by the
wood with fine earth, lay on top the piece of glass
from which the triangular piece has been cut and
cover with a piece of blackened tin the same size and
shape as the upper piece of glass. Hunt for an ant's
nest. Secure the queen and several workers, eggs,
pupae, etc., if present. Transfer to the nest.

The relation between ants and plant lice should
be discovered. Do ants destroy or protect plant
lice (aphids) ?

The study of the humble-bee may well be confined
to its work in distributing pollen from flower to flower.
It is interesting to examine a living bee to note where
the pollen is gathered, on the back, face, antennae,
legs or abdomen. Bee bread, with which the young
bees are fed, is a mixture of pollen and honey. See
Bulletin No. 124, Ontario Agricultural College, for a de-
scription of how to observe bees. See also the article,
What the Little Bee is Doing, p. 94, of the Report of
the Ontario Fruit Growers' Association for 1904, Ask

74 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

some apiarist for an observation-hive to use in the
school-room.

Any one who works about rose bushes will sometimes
find strange cuttings on the leaves, some round, some
oblong. The first thought is that these attacks are
the work of insect larvae. But you will find some
pieces nearly cut out, then left. No one has seen any
insect about, but the conclusion is that some insect
is carrying away pieces of rose leaves for some pur-
pose. Why.? Two reasons will suggest themselves,
i.e., to build a nest or to store for food. Count the
number of oval pieces removed and the number of
circular pieces. In one case 27 to 11 was the ratio.
Advise pupils to be on the lookout for these
pieces of rose leaves. After several weeks have elapsed
a boy rushes up to the teacher some morning with:
" I have found some queer nests under some old
shingles on our house. They look as if made of
those rose leaves." The teacher says, "Bring as many
as you can get." The boy brings some long four-
sided structures with rounded corners. These break
up into short sections. Dissect them. Behold the
pieces of rose leaves, the oblong ones used for the
walls, the circular ones for caps or plugs. Count
again to discover the ratio; 29 to 12 was obtained
in one case. Inside is a thin cocoon, and inside this
a soft "grub." Pupils who have learned the life
history of any common insect will conclude that this
is a larva of some insect. In some cases a pupa will
be found. Let the pupils keep these until adults
emerge. The mystery will then be solved — a leaf-
cutting bee is the offender.

The nests of wasps are equally interesting. Some
boy brings in a mass of clay cells containing larvse.
Lead the pupils to discover everything possible about
them; then keep the larvae until adults emerge.

FOURTH FORM 75

The paper nests of the social wasps may be
collected in the fall without danger of the collector
being attacked by the few dormant wasps that are
still inhabiting them. Try to establish a relation
between the fabric made by these original paper -
makers and our common paper made from wood pulp.

At such times take up selections from literature
in which these insects are mentioned.

Parasitic flies come under the head of nature's
insecticides. Syrphus flies are found on flowers in
August and September, or even in October. They
resemble bees, and on that account are free from in-
terference of insect hunters. Once distinguished from
bees, they are easily recognized. The possession of
but one pair of wings shows that they belong to the
fly family (Diptera). Howard says, "They are flower
flies, par excellence." Look for them on garden
flowers. "Almost all types of bees and wasps are
mimicked by them. There are syrphus flies like
honey bees, bumble-bees, social wasps and solitary
wasps of several kinds." In the larval state they
feed upon plant lice and other small insects. A com-
mon species is Eristalis tenax, whose larvae live in
soft mud or manure. These larvae have very long
"tails." Their adaptation to their habitat makes an
interesting study.

Tachina flies are likewise parasitic, but more
directly so. In this case the parent lays its eggs on the
body of the host, usually a leaf-eating caterpillar. The
fly is much like a house-fly, with stripes along the back
of its thorax. Possibly the fly itself will escape one's
notice, but if teacher and pupils will collect, in the
fall, the cocoons of the tussock moth from trees, they
will find many with egg masses on them, many empty,
and many dead. Open these dead ones. They may
contain larvae or pupae. Let pupils draw conclusions.

76 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

warning them to bear in mind that no larva
is capable of reproducing its kind. Place several of
these dead larvae or pupa-cases in a covered box, and
eventually the adult insects will emerge. This is a
much better way of discovering parasitic insects than
by hunting for adults and classifying by means of a
book. However, ichneumon flies are so striking with,
in the case of the female of one species, the long, three-
parted, tail-like ovipositors, that the adult is sure to
be met with at work depositing its eggs in the tun-
nels of borers. As the larval life is passed in the bodies
of borer larvae under the bark of a tree, it is not easy
to learn the life history at first hand.

The life history of the plum curculio should be
worked out in this Form. Secure plums that have
been stung. Keep under cover until the larvae pass
into pupae, and eventually into the adult beetle stage.
Its small size protects the plum curculio from ordinary
observation. Look for its depredations on other
fruits, e.g., peach, cherry. Compare the effect on differ-
ent fruits. Begin early in the season to look for stung
fruit. If fruit is found to be affected, spread a sheet
under the branches and jar the tree, but do not shake
it. The adult beetles will drop, as so many insects do
when apprehensive of danger. The beetle is less than a
quarter of an inch in length. Look for the snout,
which is bent back under the body when not in use.
Spraying with Paris green also destroys this beetle.

^' Plant Life. — Study of organs of plants and their
functions; study of economic and wild plants from
seed to fruit in the school garden, home garden, farm,
and forest; weeds injurious to crops and methods of
destroying them; buds and twigs.'

Enough has been said about school gardens. These
should lead to the establishment of home gardens,

FOURTH FORM 77

and the study of plants should be closely related
to both. Transplant ferns, flowers, and vines, from
the forest into suitable locations around the school
or the home. Domestication of wild fruits and ani-
mals has practically ceased. There is no reason why
it should not be revived. There are hundreds of
species of wild flowers to experiment with. If some
motive, such as producing a new or an improved
species, is established, pupils will want to discover
the functions of the parts, and will be interested in
cross-fertilization. In this work, the insects must be
prevented from visiting the flowers. It needs no special
scientific knowledge to accomplish important results.
Mr. Groff, of Simcoe, Ont., has made such a success
of gladioli, forming new species at will, that he is
known over the whole American continent. It is
this kind of a result that we ought to aim at, not the
collection and labelling of dried specimens, a method
which destroys species instead of creating them.

Classification and collection are doubtless useful
in some respects. But why waste precious, time
classifying and collecting plants commonly known ?
Limit the number to be collected each year to not
more than twenty, and make the collection represent
life history rather than the mature plant. The seed-
ling is always different from the plant. The early
summer plant may differ markedly from the fall con-
dition, while the plant in bud, in full bloom, and in
fruit, offers an interesting field for comparison. If
such is the aim, the mere discovery of the name of
the plant is of very little importance. The teacher
may tell the pupil what it is, or direct him to some
book in which he may find it.

The study of weeds injurious to crops, and methods
of destroying them, is of special importance. This
subject is treated fully in Bulletin No. 128, Ontario

78 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Agricultural College. This bulletin should be in the
hands of every teacher, in the rural schools at least.
The study of buds and twigs will be a part of the life
history of the plant. Discover at what time buds are
formed, and their relation to flowers and leaves. To the
careful observer every twig has its history recorded
upon its surface. There are leaf scars, scars of
bud scales marking off the year's growth, terminal
and lateral buds, and breathing pores (lenticels).
See that the pupils are familiar with the normal
twigs of the apple, pear and plum; the maple, horse-
chestnut and spruce, so that they may be able to de-
cide as to abnormalities.

" Trees. — Wood, rings, grain, hark, uses.'*

By the time pupils have reached Form IV, they are
supposed to be familiar with the forms of the common
trees, and to have some knowledge of the purpose
which trees serve in nature. In this Form attention
is directed to the internal structure of the tree, and to
its value in the commercial world.

In the study of wood, any section of a small tree,
freshly cut, or, better still, the stump of a large tree
recently cut down, will serve pupils to distinguish
readily the four divisions in the wood: 1st, the dark
centre, the dry, dead, part of the tree; 2nd, the sap-
wood forming the body of the tree around the dark
centre; 3rd, the cambium layer of cells in which the
actual growth of the tree takes place, and 4th, the
bark, or corky covering of the tree.

These divisions of the skin or trunk will be readily
learned through the process of grafting. In grafting
it is necessary to learn where the actual growth takes
place, as the growing area of the two parts must be
brought together. For directions for grafting, see Bulle-
tins Nos. 124 and 144, Ontario Agricultural College.

FOURTH FORM 79

Pupils should be able to draw conclusions as to what
takes place each year in connection with the growth of
the tree. Last year's cambium layer has this year
become part of the sapwood, and a little more of the
sapwood has dried out and become darker in color like
the centre of the tree. Each successive cambium
layer that becomes part of the solid tree forms a ring,
and with some trees it is possible, by counting these
rings, to tell how old the tree is.

Besides these rings pupils will notice that fine lines
run from the centre of the tree to the bark. These
lines are called medullary rays or pith rays, and they
help to give the grained appearance to the wood.
Pupils should make a collection of specimens of differ-
ent kinds of wood found in the locality. These speci-
mens should of course be uniform in size and should
show the grain of each species of tree distinctly. Each
specimen should be labelled and should be provided
with a hook or eyelet, so that the collection may be
displayed on a rack on the wall.

A study of the uses of various kinds of wood will
lead pupils to examine the furnishings of the school-
room, furniture at home, building materials, imple-
ments, etc., to see what kind of wood has been used
in their manufacture. For example, the hard maple
(sometimes having round points in the fibre which give
it the name of birds'-eye maple), is used for furniture
and wood-work of houses; the white ash is used for
handles of tools, oars, interior of carriages, etc. ; walnut
is used for cabinet-making, gun-stocks, coffins, etc.;
hickory is used for parts of implements requiring great
strength and toughness; the white birch is used for
shoe lasts, pegs, spools, etc.; chestnut, cedar, and
other trees are used for ties, rails, etc., because they
are durable when in contact with the soil. The white
oak is used in shipbuilding, for furniture, interior

80 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

finish of houses, etc. The elm is used for making
wheels, staves, floors, boats, etc. Needless to say, a
knowledge of these facts is invaluable both to city and
to country pupils.

Side by side with the study of the wood should go the
study of the bark. Examination will show that a cer-
tain part of the bark, the part outside the cork "skin"
of the tree, is dead. Sometimes this cork covering or
skin is on the very outside of the tree, as in the case of
the beech, and then the bark is smooth and there is
little or no dead coating. Sometimes it is set in deep
as in the case of the sugar maple, and then the trunk is
ribbed and ridged; for as the tree grows from year to
year this dead outside covering must naturally crack
and split. Sometimes, as in the case of the buttonwood,
the dead bark falls off every year, and the tree wears
its new white garment of fresh bark throughout the
winter. In some trees, as the shagbark hickory
and the silver maple, the cork covering is itself irregular
in shape, and the outer bark consequently peels off
in scales or plates instead of breaking into furrows.

It should be noted that the bark of some trees has a
commercial value. From the bark of the white birch
canoes are made, and the bark of the hemlock is used
in tanning leather. A Muskoka farm, even if it be too
rocky for profitable agriculture, is a valuable asset if
covered with a good growth of hemlock.

Winter is perhaps the best time of the year to study
the bark of trees, and the relation of the bark to the rest
of the tree should then be specially noted. The cork
covering of the tree forms a watertight jacket to keep
the moisture of the tree from evaporating, and the tree
from drying out. Careful examination will show that
even the lenticels or breathing holes in the bark of the
tree are sealed up. Each bud and twig is covered with
a coating of hair or gum, and even the tiny rootlets are

FOURTH FORM 81

wrapped up in cork jackets for the winter. The effect
of this cork covering in protecting the tree may readily
be seen by comparison with a potato. The peeHng of
the potato is a corky texture, and when it is removed
the potato dries up very quickly.

Pupils should propagate geraniums, begonias, foli-
age plants, strawberries, raspberries, roses, etc., in
order to supply window boxes or garden plots. Again
we say, if these are not to be raised, do not waste
time talking about means of propagation. It is no
whit better to be memorizing rules for propagating
plants than to be memorizing lists of names — in fact,
it is much worse, for it violates all nature,

''Observing local minerals and rocks, their properties
and uses.''

The work in geography requires that pupils know
the products of their own and other countries. Min-
erals are very important products and rocks are ex-
tensively used in building. It is only reasonable,
therefore, that pupils should know the nature of mineral
ores. If the school is not in the vicinity of rock quar-
ries or mines, secure specimens of common rocks,
granite, quartz, sandstone, limestone, etc., and of
mineral ores of common minerals, e.g., copper, lead,
iron, tin, asbestos, zinc, nickel and silver. Pupils
should familiarize themselves with the general ap-
pearance, color and hardness of these ores.

A table of hardness may be roughly made out
as follows:

1. Scratched by finger nail .*. softer than finger
nail.

2. Does not yield to the finger nail. Does not
scratch copper.

3. About as hard as copper.

4. Between 3 and 5.

82 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

5. Scratches glass feebly. Yields easily to knife.

6. Scratches glass easily.

7. Yields with diflficulty to edge of file.

8. Harder than flint or rock crystal.

The minerals which form a series of successively
hard substances from 1 to 10 are:

1. Foliated Tale or 6. Feldspar.

Graphite. 7. Rock Crystal,

2. Rock Salt or Mica. Quartz.

3. Calcite. 8. Topaz.

4. Fluor Spar. 9. Corundum.

5. Apatite. 10. Diamond.

Many substances that look alike, e.g., copper
pyrites and iron pyrites, are immediately distinguished
by their hardness. The latter will scratch glass, the
former will not. Many white specimens are distin-
guished in the same way. Calcite looks much like
quartz, though possibly smoother, but it will not
scratch glass, while quartz readily does so.

It is quite out of the question in public school
work to study mineralogy, but some familiarity with
common ores can be acquired without much effort,
and much may be gained thereby. Ask the Geo-
logical Department at Ottawa for specimens of com-
mon Canadian rocks and ores. These will be deliv-
ered, already labelled and named. See M oranges
Modern Nature Study ^ pp. 282-4.

^'Experiments to show composition of soils and their
relation to drainage, temperature, etc.; varieties of
soils adapted to different crops; fertilizers.*'

See what has been said under Form III on soils.
In this Form, show pupils the litmus paper tests for
acids and antacids (alkalies), i.e., acids turn blue
litmus paper red, and alkalies turn red litmus blue.

FOURTH FORM 83

Test soils with litmus paper to determine whether
acid or alkaline in reaction.

Show pupils, by adding acid to an alkali, e.g.,
vinegar to ammonia, that an acid destroys an alkali;
and by adding ammonia to vinegar, that an alkali
destroys an acid. Use litmus paper to indicate the
change. If soils are very acid or very alkaline in
reaction, they should be treated so as to destroy the
acidity or alkalinity, respectively. Pupils should be
able to tell how to do this after seeing the above ex-
periments. The question is, what kind of substance
^hall be used t Let pupils test lime for acidity or
alkalinity. Upon what soils should it be placed ?
Tell pupils that experience has proven that, for sour
or acid soils, lime is the best substance to destroy the
acidity. If soils are very alkaline, acids in some form
must be added. Clover ploughed under will help
such soils; or superphosphate of lime may be used to
advantage.

Consider the effects of drainage and tillage on
sour, wet soils. Take two tin cans, punch the bottom
of one full of small holes. Place over these holes
broken pieces of flower pots and gravel to the depth
of an inch, then fill up with wet, sour soil, as indicated
by litmus paper. Fill the other can with the same
kind of soil, without providing for drainage. Keep
working over the soil in the can that is drained. Test
from time to time for acidity. Tell the pupils that
air contains some ammonia. Ask them to explain
the effect on sour soil, of letting air containing am-
monia circulate freely through it.

Mr. C. C. James, Deputy Minister of Agricul-
ture for Ontario, says: "Thorough drainage and
tillage — these are the two main points in improving
all soils. They are even more important than manur-
ing. This word manure is the same as manoeuvre.

84 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

which means 'to work by hand'; the draining of
the soil and the tilling are means of fertiUzing or
manuring. The deeper the soil is worked, the freer the
access of the air and the better the soil."

Germinate seeds in sour soils and in well-aired,
sweet soils. Compare results. Try liming the sour
soils. Compare with growth on unlimed soils. Give
the lime time to mix with the soil before planting any-
thing in it.

Ammonia not only neutralizes the acids in sour
soils, but it serves as a valuable food for plants. House
plants often grow better if watered with water to
which a little ammonia has been added — a dessert-
spoonful to a quart is sufficient. Experiment with
half a dozen plants of the same kind. Water one
with ordinary well water or tap water, another with
rain water, a third with ammonia water of strength
mentioned above, a fourth with stronger ammonia
solution, a fifth still stronger, etc. Try to discover
the best strength of ammonia solution. Use other
solutions and experiment in the same way. Salt-
petre may also be tried.

Ammonia, saltpetre, and most manures, are valu-
able because they contain nitrogen. Four-fifths of
the atmosphere is nitrogen, but plants cannot assimi-
late this free nitrogen. A valuable discovery has been
made, however, in connection with plants like clover,
pease, beans, etc. On the roots of these plants are little
swellings, in which certain kinds of bacteria live.
These bacteria are able to assimilate nitrogen directly
from the air, and the plants then make use of it. Hence
clover, pease and beans tend to increase the amount
of nitrogen in the soil, and should precede crops like
wheat, which require a good deal of nitrogen in order
to mature well. See Bulletin No. 148, Ontario Agri-
cultural College.

FOURTH FORM 85

^'Implements and tools used on the farm and dn the
household; mechanical principles applied in their
construction.''

The writer began the study of "Natural Phil-
osophy" at an early age, and continued it for many
years, until at last it became modified to the present
physical science course. In those early days the whole
work consisted in working problems, based upon the
study of lever, pulleys, inclined plane, wheel and axle,
screw and wedge, but there was no experimental work of
even the simplest kind. After many years of this kind of
study, a real problem presented itself, in which it was
necessary to use pulleys to raise a very heavy door
leading to a cellar. It was then discovered that
the knowledge gained was lamentably inadequate.
The real problem was solved, however, and ever after-
wards problems regarding the relation of power to
weight in a system of pulleys were much more inter-
esting and much more readily solved. Had the real
knowledge come first, as it should, much valuable
time would have been saved, and the culture value
of the book problems would have been vastly increased.
Let modern teachers see that modern methods prevail.
Go as far as experiment can take you and your pupils,
but no further. Expend your time and effort on real
problems as they arise in experience.

The simplest tool is the lever. Secure a strong,
straight stick, about six feet long, as light as possible
in order to sustain the weight required. Mark off
the length into six equal parts. Rest the stick at its
first division across the narrow edge of a board, as
indicated in the diagram.

86

THE NATURE STUDY COURSE
12 3 4 5

Attach scale pans to each end and balance the whole
by placing weights in pan A. Now place a 5-pound
weight, or any convenient weight not exceeding the
capacity of an ordinary dynamometer* (12 pounds).
Apply the dynamometer at point 2 and record the pull
necessary to balance the 5 pounds. Apply at 3, 4, 5
and 6 respectively, recording the pull in each case.
Discover the relation of the pull required at each
point to the distance of the dynamometer from the point
1. Draw conclusions as to the principle of the lever
in the relation of power and weight in this arrange-
ment when the point of support, the fulcrum, is be-
tween the power and the weight. Then investigate
the relations of power and weight when both are on
the same side of the fulcrum, thus,

i

and finally, when the power is between the weight and
the fulcrum, thus,

♦Dynamometers may be secured from a dealer in school supplies at 25 or
50 cents each. Hardware merchants are not allowed to sell them.

FOURTH FORM

87

Introduce each case of the lever with the actual
moving of some weight. The first case is that of the
common pry or handspike, prying downwards upon
a block, thus,

If the pry is used by shoving against the weight, the
ground forming the fulcrum, we have the weight
between the power and the fulcrum.

If the pry is used by resting one end on the knee,
grasping the pry with the hand and lifting a weight
at the end of it, we have the power between the weight
and the fulcrum.

Discover by experiment which condition is most
economical of powder, i.e., the one in which the rela-
tion of power to weight is least.

Pulleys are so common in connection with hay-
forks, that every country child has the object before
him long before the principle involved is considered.
Arrange a miniature system to illustrate the fork.

Determine experimentally the relation between
power and weight. Owing to friction it is difficult

88 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE-

to establish exact principles by these experiments,
but the inexact results obtained by experiment are
far more valuable than the exact abstract impossi-
bilities arrived at from pure mathematics. The wheel
and axle is often used in drawing water from a well or
in raising weights; the inclined plane is a common
device in the form of a sloping plank. Make experi-
ments with each, even if the results are expressed
merely as greater and smaller, without indicating
exact proportions.

'''The atmosphere; its composition.''

Many simple experiments are possible to show
common properties of the air. We may burn out
some of the air under a glass, inverted over water,
and observe the consequent rise of water to take the
place of the part burned away. This is most simply
done by placing a few heads of matches on a floating
cork and inverting a glass jar over them, just after they
are made to burn. The result will, however, be only
approximately correct at best. Tell the pupils that
oxygen is burned out and that it forms about one-
fifth of the air by volume. Show that the portion of
air remaining will not support the combustion of a
candle, match, etc. The small traces of ammonia,
carbon dioxide, and argon, in the air cannot be de-
monstrated by experiment.

When the amount of carbon dioxide exceeds four
parts in 10,000, its presence may be detected by the
following method: Bring a 10- ounce bottle filled
with water into the room the air of which is to be
tested. Empty the water, thereby filling the bottle
with the air of the room. Add a half ounce of lime
water. Shake vigorously. If the lime water becomes
clouded, the quantity of carbon dioxide is too great
for health.

FOURTH FORM 89

The fact that carbon dioxide is given off from the
lungs is proved by passing expired air through Hme
water. Taking the result as a test of carbon dioxide,
investigate the product of combustion of a burning
candle, splinter, or lamp flame, by holding a wide-
mouthed bottle over each for a few seconds, and then
testing with lime water as above. Deduce from
these tests the vitiation of the atmosphere by people,
animals, gas flames, etc. Ignorance with regard to
this vitiation of the atmosphere in the case of large
coal-oil stoves or gas radiators is inexcusable. Em-
phasize the fact that a constant supply of fresh air
is needed.

That water is a product of any ordinary flame
can be demonstrated by holding a tin cup, filled with
snow or ice, in the flame for a few seconds. If the
cup is kept cool by putting ice or snow in it, enough
water may be collected to be appreciable. Devise
some method of condensing the steam from boiling
water so as to obtain distilled water.

^'Reciprocal relation of plants and animals as regards
the atmosphere.''

This is best demonstrated by beginning with life
in an aquarium. Fish live in an aquarium in which
plants are growing. Place the same fish in water in
which there are no plants and they die. It is possible
to collect gas from water plants if the aquarium is
placed in direct sunlight. If enough can be collected
show that the gas is oxygen. From what is known
of the production of carbon dioxide by animals, lead
to the conclusion that the plants must use up this
carbon dioxide, and thereby continue their growth,
giving off oxygen for the respiration of the animals.
Animals and plants in the air have exactly the same
relation as iii the water. This may be explained after

90 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

a careful study of balance in the aquarium. Ques-
tions of ventilation should be discussed in this con-
nection.

^'Impurities in the air.^^

We have dealt with carbon dioxide. Its presence
is evidence of the probable existence of organic im-
purities, the waste tissue of the different parts of
the body, especially the lungs.

The Nature Study Review, January, 1906, gives a
simple way of proving the presence of putrefactive
germs in the air and in dust: "Prepare seven tubes
for containing clear beef broth. Ordinary test-
tubes, 5 inches long, are the best, but ordinary bottles,
though not quite so convenient, answer every purpose.
Glean the tubes or bottles thoroughly, dry them and
plug each tube with cotton. Then place them in the
oven of your kitchen stove, and bake them just long
enough to turn the cotton slightly yellow. . . .
This we call sterilizing the tube. . . . Now pre-
pare your broth to put into these tubes. You may
make the broth by allowing some chopped meat cov-
ered with water to soak over night, and then squeez-
ing it through a piece of cheese cloth to get the liquid
out. Boil this liquid and pass it through filter paper
in order to make it clear. Any druggist will let you
have a piece of filter paper and will show you how
to use it. When you have got the broth clear,
place a little of it, say two inches deep, in each of
your test-tubes. In opening the tubes and pouring
the broth in, it is possible that some germs from the
air may fall into your broth. You must therefore
again sterilize the tubes and the broth in them.
You must steam them in a steamer for thirty min-
utes. One steaming is not sufficient. . . . You
must steam them thirty minutes to-day, thirty minutes

FOURTH FORM 91

to-morrow, and thirty minutes next day.* After the
third day the broth is completely sterilized.

"Now for the experiment. You may set tube No.
1 away without opening it at all. From No. 2 you
may take out the stopper, keep it out one minute, then
replace it. From No. 3 you may remove the stopper
and leave it out thirty minutes. From No. 4 remove
the stopper, then pick up a little dust on the point of
a knife and drop it into the tube. . . . To No. 5
add dust as in No. 4, close the tube and set it in a pan
of boiling water for 10 minutes. To No. 6 add dust
as you did in No. 4. and also add a little carbolic acid.
To No. 7 add a drop of ordinary drinking water. Now
set the tubes away in a moderately warm place, and
look at them day by day for a week or two. Any
cloudiness or change that occurs means decay. Draw
conclusions from the different results. Such an ex-
periment is of great value to girls who may be inter-
ested in preserving fruit, milk, etc."

^'Gravity, air and liquid pressure, the barometer. Co-
hesion and adhesion, the nature of these forces;
phenomenon of solution and diffusion; amorphous
and crystalline forms of matter. Practical use of
heat, steam and electricity in connection with the
study of industries.''

Pupils know that magnets attract iron and that
all heavy bodies fall to the earth if unsupported.
They must recognize that the magnet attracts the
iron, and it is easy to explain the falling of bodies by
reasoning that the earth attracts them. This at-
traction, which exists between all bodies in propor-
tion to their masses, is called gravity when the earth
is the attracting body. It is this that makes all bodies
weigh something. When the body is placed on the

♦The steaming may be done after cooling for two hours or so.

92 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

scale pan, the earth continues to pull upon them and
the scale pan is lowered. Weights placed on the
opposite scale pan will balance the given body as
soon as the pull of the earth upon them is equal to
the pull upon the given body. The effect of this
force of gravity upon falling bodies cannot, however,
be definitely demonstrated in this grade.

For the remainder of the foregoing work see any
book on elementary physical science.

Be sure that pupils have a motive for studying
each topic. If no motive exists beyond the mere
learning about cohesion, etc., wait until a motive
arises, or create one.

APPENDIX A

The Ontario Course in Nature Study and
Elementary Science

GENERAL

From the character of the subject the course must be more
or less elastic, and the topics detailed in the programme aie in-
tended to be suggestive rather than prescriptive. It may be
that, owing to local conditions, topics not named are amongst
the best that can be used, but all substitutions and changes shall
be made a subject of consultation with the Inspector. The
treatment of the subject must always be suited to the age and
experience of the pupils, and to the seasons of the year, acces-
sibility of materials, etc. Notes shall not be dictated by the
teacher. Mere information, whether from book, written note,
or even the teacher, is not Nature Study. The acquisition of
knowledge must be made secondary to awakening and main-
taining the pupil's interest in nature and to training him to habits
of observation and investigation. Books for reference and sup-
plementary reading should, however, be provided in the school
library. Some valuable publications on the subject of Nature
Study, for the teacher's use, may be obtained free on applica-
tion to the Department of Agriculture, Toronto.

FORM I

Animal Life. —

General appearance and habits of pet animals, their care
and food; domestic animals on the farm, their care, habits and
uses; birds, their nesting, song, food, migrations in the autumn;
metamorphosis of a few conspicuous butterflies or moths.

[933

94 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Plant Life. —

Work in school garden or in window boxes; study of a plant,
as a geranium or pansy, from slip or seed to flower; caring for
plants in pots; buds, their preparation for winter, their develop-
ment; autumn leaves, collections, forms, tints; economic fruits,
collection, forms, how stored for winter, fruit as seed holders,
dissemination of seeds; roots and stems, uses, comparison of
fleshy forms, how stored for winter.

Life on the Farm. —

Harvesting, primitive and modern methods compared; prep-
aration for winter; the barn and its uses; activities of the farm
during winter ; winter sports and social life on the farm ; the varied
operations of spring time; spring time as awakening to new life;
effects of sun and moisture on the soil,

FORM II

Course of Form I cmitinued
Animal Life. —

Life-history and habits of domestic animals and of familiar
wild animals, as the squirrel, chipmunk, robin, crow; earth-
worm, habits, structure, uses; toad, habits, structure, uses; ob-
servation of live insects and their activities, comparison of young
and adult stages.

Plant Life. —

Co-operative and individual work in school garden; culti-
vation of plants in pots with observation of the development
of leaves and flowers; parts of leaves and flowers; change
of flower to fruit and of fruit to seed; functions of the parts of
flowers; the forms and uses of trees; activities connected with
forestry and lumbering, with study of pioneer life and present
conditions on the prairie.

Observation of farm, garden, and household operations.

ONTARIO 95

FORM III

Course of Form II continued
Animal Life. —

Adaptation of different kinds of animals to their respective
habits and surroundings; birds, Ufe-history of types, habits of
wild fowl in different seasons; fish, forms and uses of different
parts of the body, food and how obtained; life-histories of moths,
butterflies, beetles and grasshoppers; useful insects, as ladybird
and dragon fly; harmful insects; nature's insecticides.

Plant Life. —

Germination of seeds under controllable conditions and in
the school garden and window boxes; opening of buds; study
of the forms and functions of the parts of plants, and comparison
of these forms and functions in different plants; observation of
the culture of farm and garden crops and of orchard and shade
trees; the observing and the distinguishing of the common forest
trees.

Different kinds of soil, as sand, gravel, loam, leaf-mould
and clay; experiments to ascertain how soils are composed, whether
of mineral or of decayed organic material, and which best retains
water. Additional phenomena of spring in the vicinity of the
school, cause of snow melting, ice floating, etc.; how nature pre-
pares the soil for growth of plants. Distinction between hard
and soft, pure and impure water; tests and methods of purifica-
tion of water.

Sources of Heat. —

Experiments to show the effects of heat in the expansion of
solids, liquids, and gases; practical applications. Temperature;
thermometer, construction and graduation. Methods of trans-
mission of heat, conduction, convection, and radiation; causes
of winds and ocean currents; ventilation.

96 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

FORM IV

Course of Form III continued
Animal Life. —

Relation of fish, birds, and wild animals to man; life-his-
tories of conspicuous and economic insects; organs and functions.

Plant Life. —

Study of organs of plants and their functions; study of eco-
nomic and wild plants from seed to fruit in the school garden,
home garden, farm, and forest; weeds injurious to crops and
methods of destroying them; buds and twigs; wood, rings, grain,
and bark, uses, etc.

Observing liOCAL Minerals and Rocks, their Properties

AND Uses. —

Experiments to show composition of soils and their relation
to drainage, temperature, etc.; varieties of soils adapted to dif-
ferent crops; fertilizers, etc. Implements and tools used on the
farm and in the household, mechanical principles applied in
their construction.

The Atmosphere. —

Its composition; combustion, simple experiments, study of
candle flame products; changes produced in the air by respira-
tion; reciprocal relation of plants and animals as regards the
atmosphere; impurities in air.

Gravity. —

Air, and liquid pressure, the barometer. Cohesion and
adhesion, the nature of these forces; phenomenon of solution
and diffusion; amorphous and crystalline forms of matter. Prac-
tical use of heat, steam, and electricity in connection with the
study of industriea,

ONTARIO 97

FORM V

Elementary Science

The first courses in Botany, Zoology, and Physics are pre-
scribed for the Fifth Form of the PubHc Schools. Both the first
and the second courses in Botany, Zoology, and Physics, and
the course in Chemistry are prescribed for the Continuation
Classes of the Public Schools and for the Lower School of the
High Schools.

Botany

First Course — September to November

The structure and functions of flower, leaf, stem, root, etc.;
organs of the flower, their functions, pollination, fertilization.
Uses of hairs, spines, prickles, tendrils, and petioles. The sim-
pler fruits and the means of dispersion of seeds. Formation of
tree buds; preparation for winter; annuals, biennials, perennials.
The fall of fruits and leaves of deciduous and evergreen trees.
The study and interpretation of the marks on trees and shrubs.
Comparison of higher plants with higher animals; relation of
each to food; means of obtaining and storing it; dependence of
animals on plants.

Afril to June

Relation of plants to light, moisture and heat; water as a
solvent, circulation in plants, experiments; soluble and insoluble
material in soils; importance of each class of material to the
plant; uses of roots and leaves in absorbing food from soil and
air, experiments. Struggle for light and moisture, germination
of the seed, development of the parts; examples — bean, morn-
ing-glory, pumpkin, corn, wheat. The expanding of buds and
the opening of the spring flowers. Objects of pruning trees,
transplanting and thinning vegetables. Times of germination and
flowering of common plants in their native situations. Propa-
gation of offsets, runners, tubers, slips, seeds, grafts, budding.

98 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Conditions governing the growth of the early wild flowers. Modi-
fications in plant growth suitable to environment. Plant societies
in different localities. Identification of plants with regular
flowers.

Second Course — September to November

Morphology of the composites and grasses. Identification
of the simpler ones.

Plant societies continued; peculiarities of each which adapt
it to its situation. Special study of weeds, means of controlUng
them. Morphology and habits of some typical ferns, as bracken
fern, shield fern, moon-wort, sensitive fern. Morphology and
habits of a mushroom, a polypore, a boletus, a puff-ball. Para-
sitism and saprophytism. Study of plant enemies and remedial
treatment — the simpler forms. Comparison of spring and au-
tumn flowers. Comparative study of fruits. Special study of
leaf, its modifications and adjustments for securing a favorable
light position; its importance in obtaining and elaborating food
material; the part it plays in evaporation.

April to June

Common orchard and forest trees. Special study of the
coniferae; the bud; form, permanence and phyllotaxy of leaves,
flowers; comparison of twigs and wood with those of other trees.
Comparative study of pith and cortical layers. Distinction be-
tween endogen and exogen. Meaning, significance, and methods
of cross fertiUzation. Man's influence on plants. Plant physi-
ology, elementary and experimental; chlorophyll; movements
of gaseous and liquid nutriments and waste products. Mor-
phology of complex inflorescences. Study of the fungi continued.
Economic uses of plants, food, clothing, ornament, medicine,
rubber, tea, spices, etc. General view and comparison of the
characteristics of the larger classes of plants taken up in the course.

ONTARIO 99

Zoology

First Course — September to November

Relations of insects to flowers. Study of grasshopper, potato-
beetle, tomato-worm, house-fly, spider, centipede. The life-
history of at least two insects having complete metamorphoses.
Collection of caterpillars infesting common plants, for observa-
tion of their metamorphoses. Recognition of some of our com-
mon birds; the relation to their habits of the structure of bills,
legs, feet, wings, and nests, the arrangement of toes, and the color
of feathers and eggs (aquatic, terrestrial, aerial); times of their
migrations.

April to June

The life-history of the frog. Continuation of the study of
the birds; especially in regard to their methods of obtaining food
and nesting. Life-history and habits of any common economic
insects, such as the tent-caterpillar, the cabbage-butterfly, the
ladybird, or other predacious beetle. Familiarity with the names
and general appearance of the common fishes, frogs, newts,
lizards, turtles, and snakes of the locality.

Second Course — September to November

The mammalia, chief characteristics. Our native Cana-
dian mammals, their adaptation to our climate, their coloration,
dociHty, habits, food, enemies. Modifications for aerial life
(bat, flying-squirrel), arboreal life (squirrel), subterranean (wood-
chuck, mole), aquatic (beaver, muskrat). Herbivorous and
carnivorous animals, peculiarities of each. Adaptation of the
fish, the frog, the bird, the mammal, to their habits of life. Ho-
mologies of fins, scales, etc. Comparison of the teeth and integu-
ments of a few typical animals. Adaptation of animals for secur-
ing food, avoiding enemies. Preparation of animals for winter.

April to June

The food supply of birds and insects; those beneficial or
injurious. Special study of the bills and feet of birds and of the

100 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

mouths and wings of insects. Distinction between biting and
sucking insects. Life-history of any two of the following: carpet-
beetle, scale insect, saw-fly, codhng moth, mosquito, pea-weevil;
rearing the insects to study their metamorphosis; observation of
conspicuous orchard or garden pests of the season, with protec-
tive treatment of plants. Economic uses of animal products:
silk, wood, fur, leather, etc. General view and comparison of
the larger classes of animals taken up in the course.

Physics

First Course — November to April

Forms of matter: solids, liquids, gases; different states of
the same kind of matter; crystalline and amorphous conditions;
theory of constitution of matter. Physical and chemical change.
Simple and compound substances. Metric units and standards
of length, area, volume, weight, mass density; experiments in
measurements with use of instruments, such as rule, balance,
burette, caHper. Properties of solids. Properties of liquids;
transmission of pressure by liquids; illustrations, construction
and uses of hydraulic press. Relation of pressure to depth and
density; pressure at a point equal in all directions; buoyancy and
flotation. Properties of gases, weight, elasticity, atmospheric
pressure, barometer; expansive force of gas, with applications,
as air cushion, bicycle tire, football, compressed air motor, air
gun, etc.; relation between the volume and the pressure of gas
(Boyle's law). Construction and use of air pump, common pump,
force pump, condenser, (as bicycle pump) ; buoyant force of gases.
Solution, diffusion; part played by these processes in nature.
Specific gravity; common methods of finding specific gravities
of solids, Uquids, and gases.

Second Course — November to April

Experiments illustrating the transformation of other forms
of energy into heat; experiments to illustrate the expansion of
solids, liquids, and gases by heat ; distinction between temperature

ONTARIO 101

and heat. Methods of measuring the change of temperature,
with description of centigrade and Fahrenheit thermometers;
change of state, phenomena of fusion, ebuUition, evaporation,
Hquefaction and soHdification ; latent heat; methods of trans-
ference of heat; conduction, practical methods of heat insulation,
principle of Davy's safety lamp, convection currents; methods
of heating and ventilating houses.

Lode-stone, magnetic attraction; magnetization and de-
magnetization; polarity; magnetic induction: earth's inductive
influence; construction and practical use of the mariner's com-
pass and dipping needle; geographical and magnetic poles; con-
struction of simple voltaic cells; chemical effects of the electric
current, decomposition of water by electricity; magnetizing effects
of the electric current; the construction of an electro-magnet,
with some of its more common practical applications, as electric
bell, telegraph, and telephone; heating and lighting effects of
the current, arc and incandescent lamps.

Nature and propagation of sound; principles of construction
of some of the more common musical instruments, as piano,
vioHn, harp, horn, and organ; reflection of sound, echoes; musi-
cal tones; pitch and quality.

Nature and propagation of light, simple experiments illus-
trating the reflection and retraction of light; the prism, the dis-
persion of light, color.

Chemistry

Oxygen: preparation, properties; oxidation, examples; com-
bustion ; reduction ; dependence of organic world on oxygen. Water :
decomposition by electricity, common impurities, tests. Hy-
drogen: preparation and properties. Ammonia: preparation,
properties, economic uses. Carbon: forms, occurrence, prop-
erties and uses; carbon dioxide, preparation by combustion in
air, occurrence in the atmosphere, preparation from limestone,
properties, comparison with air, relation to plant and animal
life, tests; carbonic acid. Limestone: forms, occurrence; lime
and its manufacture; action of water on quick lime; action of

10^ THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

acids on limestone; other carbonates; mortar, building stone,
animal shells, uses of limestone and its products. Air: separation
of oxygen from nitrogen; properties of the latter. Acids, bases,
salts, distinguishing characteristics.

Note 1. — The objects of the course are to train pupils in correct obser-
vation and deduction; to give, in connection with the instruction in Geog-
raphy, a fair knowledge of the world around them to those who will remain
at school only a year or so; and to lay the foundation for the more detailed
study of each subject in the case of those who will continue the work. The
spirit of the Nature Study of the lower forms should be retained, but the
teacher should introduce a more systematic treatment of the subject with
such organization of the material in Botany and Zoology as will lead to sim-
ple classification. The course should be correlated with Geography, Drawing
and Composition.

Note 2. — The order of the topics here given is merely a suggested one.
In Botany and Zoology, the extent and the character of the details of each
topic are left to the principal and the teacher, and should be determined by
the accessibility of the material and other local considerations. The course
in these subjects should be practical throughout. Each pupil should possess
a good lens and be taught how to use it. Approved methods of collecting
and preserving botanical specimens and of keeping live animals suitable
for study should be systematically followed. An herbarium and a museum
of local specimens should be provided where practicable. The pupils should
be encouraged to provide specimens from the locality. Much of the prac-
tical work, especially the observations, will necessarily be done out of doors
by the pupils alone, under the direction of the teacher, or by the pupils
conducted by the teacher. The course in Physics should be experimental as
far as possible, and the pupils should be encouraged to work at home and to
prepare simple apparatus. The amount of the apparatus required is at the
discretion of the Public School Inspector.

Note 3. — Books for reference and for supplementary reading should be
provided in the school library. Systematic written descriptions and draw-
ing should be required throughout the course, and the exercises should be
dated and presented for comparison and inspection, the work being sys-
tematically supervised by the teacher. In none of the science subjects shall
notes be dictated by the teacher.

APPENDIX B

The Manitoba Course in Nature Study and
Elementary Science

GENERAL NOTE

This work has been arranged by grades, with definite topics
for each. It does not follow, however, that all the material suggest-
ed shall be covered during the year. The course has been made
wide enough to enable every teacher to select such topics as are
suitable to the varying conditions met with.

In general, the treatment of a topic should involve the fol-
lowing : —

1. Observation by the pupils.

2. Expression —

(a) By oral or written language, or both.

(b) By drawing, painting or modelling.

(c) Reading of descriptions, and study of selected liter-
ature, such as stories, myths, and poems.

Special Notes for Grades I and II. —

The purposes of the Nature work in Grades I and II
should be the following: —

1. To develop the right moral spirit leading to sympathy,
kind treatment and right feeling towards life, particularly towards
animal life.

2. To develop the spiritual nature leading to reverence,
truth, belief.

3. To cultivate a love for the beautiful, and to train in the
expression of it.

4. To help the children to see those things in nature that are
best worth seeing and to understand the meaning of the things seen.

11103]

104 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

5. To maintain an interest in school life and to aid in the work
of other studies, especially language and literature.

GRADE I
Plant Life. —

1. The anemone, pussy-willow, dandelion, golden-rod, gentian,
or other typical plants, with reference to color, odor, beauty, season,
home and the enjoyment afforded.

2. The making of bouquets for the school-room and the
home. A study of color, harmony, arrangement and placing.

3. A study of a few common trees of the locality, such as
the ash-leaved maple, elm, ash, the hawthorn, the willow and the
poplar. Ready recognition of these by their general appearance,
bark, leaves, etc. Their value as to beauty, shade, protection
and wood.

4. The planting by each pupil of a few sun-flower and bean-
seeds for the purpose of becoming acquainted with the beginning
of plant life. Reference may be made to soil, moisture, tempera-
ture and season. Observation of root-hairs, root-branches,
struggle of plantlets to get to the light, etc.

5. The planting, by each pupil, at school or at home, of
nasturtiums, sweet-pease or other easy and suitable seeds for the
purpose of developing the feeling of ownership) and 'personal
interest.

6. The coloring and falling of the leaves in autumn. The
protection of the buds in winter. The swelling and opening of
the buds in spring.

7. The trees in winter — general appearance, the long winter
sleep, the deserted birds* nests, etc.

8. The scattering of the seeds. Reference being made to such
plants as the dandelion, thistle, anemone, sweet-pea, wild cucum-
ber, and to such trees as the basswood, poplar, maple, etc.

9. Collection and arrangement of material by individual
pupils.

MANITOBA 105

Animal Life. —

1. Bird life. Reference to movements, habits, food, sun,
beauty, enemies, nesting, care of the young birds, migration. A
general appreciation of the companionship of the birds. Individ-
ual experiences of the pupils with particular birds.

2. Stories of birds.

3. The poultry-yard. Feeding and caring for the hens;
gathering the eggs, observing the mother-hen and her family.

4. Birds in winter.

5. Butterflies and moths. Reference to color, beauty, move-
ments, etc.

6. Study of simple life-history of butterfly or moth.

7. Conversations about domestic pets of pupils.

8. Conversations about some of the wild animals of the
district.

9. Stories of animals.

10. Preparation for winter — by pupils, by animals, by insects.

Inanimate Life. —

1. Introduction and development of terms describing direction
and distance.

2. Observation of the weather. The winds, their direction
and what they bring. Rain and snow, where they come from,
their use.

3. The sun and the moon.

GRADE II

See General Note
Plant Life. —

1. The planting by each pupil of pease and pumpkin seeds,
as in Grade I.

2. The care of a geranium-slip in a pot. Each pupil to be
responsible for the planting and care of his or her own.

106 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

3. The study of individual trees continued. The oak and
the elm. Comparison of each with the trees already studied as
to appearance, time of leafage, flowering, etc.

4. Acquaintance with a few of the more common plants of
the roadside and the vacant lot. (From 8 to 13 plants should be
studied.)

5. Collecting, arranging, mounting, sketching, and compar-
ing of typical leaves.

Animal Life. —

1. Observation of a few of the common birds of the locahty,
particularly the pigeon, wild duck, wild goose, and the prairie
chicken.

2. Incidental observation of the birds of the district, as in
Grade I.

3. Observing the habits of the ant, bee, wasp, and
grasshopper.

4. The study of the dog. Fidelity, courage, unselfish devo-
tion, strength, endurance, intelligence, ability and willingness
to learn. The dog as a companion and a playfellow. Games
and tricks of the dog. Stories of dogs. Treatment. The wolf
and the coyote.

Inanimate Nature. —

1. Dew. Where found ? Where not found ? When found ?

2. Frost. The crystals. The frost pictures on the school
window. The windows of a deserted house. Frost and dew.
Frost and snow.

3. Clouds. Movements, appearance, beauty, usefulness, etc.

4. Snow. Where snow comes from. Appearance of the
flakes. How snow beautifies the earth. The enjoyment snow
brings.

Snow in relation to the bird, animal and plant life. The
children of the Northland.

5. Learning to read the thermometer.

MANITOBA 107

GRADE III

Note. —

Observation work of this grade should receive the following
modification: — The field should be widened and some supple-
mentary reading introduced; home geography should be given a
more definite place on the school programme. Topics not directly
within the range of the pupil's observation may be studied when-
ever the relationship is close to actual experience.

Drawing, as a means of expression, should be emphasized at
every point. The Hterature bearing on each topic should be read
by pupils and teachers.

Plant Life. —

1. The germination of com and scarlet-runner seeds, as in
previous grades. Observations should be followed by oral de-
scription and drawing.

2. Observation of the marsh marigold, colt's foot, arrow leaf,
cat-tail, or other water-loving plants.

3. Observation of such flowering shrubs as the hawthorn,
cherry, plum, spirea, honeysuckle and lilac. A ready recognition
of these.

4. The autumn flowers — gentian, pansy, petunia, aster, and
golden-rod. Reference to season, appearance, etc.

5. Collection by pupils of leaves and dry fruits.

Animal Life. —

1. The study of such birds as live near the water or frequent
the meadows. Special reference to the red-winged blackbird,
boboHnk, and meadow-lark.

2. Incidental observation of the birds of the district.

3. The life -history of the toad or the frog.

4. The horse. Treated similarly to the '* dog " of Grade II.

5. FamiHar conversations about the wild animals of the
district.

108 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Inanimate Nature. —

1. Evaporation. Reference made to the tea-kettle, wash-
day, sprinkling the floors and streets, the drying of roads, ponds,
and clothes. A good drying day. Practical experiments at home
and at school.

2. A hail-storm. Character of the weather preceding the
storm. Appearance of clouds, wind. Observation of the hail-
stones; damage done. The character of the resulting weather.

3 Making weather records during the months of January,
April, June, and October.

4. A study of the common forms of land and water as an
introduction to a subsequent world study. Such forms should
include* hill, valley, slope, brook or creek, pond or slough, lake,
meadow, upland, plain, cape, bay, isthmus, peninsula, etc.

GRADE IV

See note under Grade III
Plant Life. —

1. Germination. Structure of the dry seed. Need of
water. Parts of the embryo. Function of the seed-leaves, be-
havior of seed-leaves, as shown in the cases of seeds studied in
previous grades.

2. The planting of a potato or a potato section by each pupil.
Observation of growth from week to week. Keeping a record
of this.

3. Study of cross-sections of twigs, branches and stems.
The meaning of the rings and the story they tell.

4. Comparative study of (a) marsh marigold, anemone and
buttercup, or (b) the potentilla, geum and strawberry, for the pur-
pose of showing relationships. Simple technical terms may be
introduced when required by the pupils.

5. The wheat-field. Planting, growing, cutting, threshing,
marketing, grinding, baking.

MANITOBA 109

6. Making collections of leaves, flowers, weeds, or such other
specimens as the pupils are interested in.

Animal Life. —

1. Special study of the meadow-lark, cow-bird, crow, robin,
oriole, or other birds.

2. Comparative study to show how wings, bills, feet, color,
and nests are suited to the lives of the different birds.

3. Incidental observation of the birds of the district.

4. A study of the spider as a house-builder and hunter; his
habits, manner of moving, food, perseverance and other qualities.
Stories of spiders.

5. The house moth. The eggs, the larvae, the cocoon and
the pupa, the imago, the egg; or a study of the wasp —a paper-
maker, making the nest, feeding the young, guarding the young,
the wasp in the winter season.

6. Incidental observation of the gopher and other wild
animals of the district.

7. The dairy cow. Food, drink, habits, value to the home,
gentleness, love for her young, her home instincts, etc. Treat-
ment of the cow. Stories of the cow.

8. The domestic cat. -Eating, drinking, sleeping, move-
ments, senses. Adapted to mode of Hfe. Relation to mice and
birds. Stories of cats, tigers, lions, etc.

Physiology. —

1. Study of the human body; (a) Comparison with bodies
of animals, adaptation. (6) Division of head, trunk, hands,
hmbs, feet.

2. Study of the organs of sense (practical). Hygiene per-
taining to the above.

Inanimate Nature. —

1. Continued study of the physical features of the neigh-
borhood. A special study of any local watercourse, reference

110 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

being made to source, course, outlet, slopes, channel, banks, bed,
basin, watershed, tributary, current, rapids, shallows, winding,
building, and wearing banks, delta. Work of streams. Rela-
tion of stream to farm, town and district. Life in the stream
and on its banks. (A preparatixm for the study of a river.)

2. Drawing plan of school-room, school-house and grounds,
home. Making a map of the district and recording the geo-
graphical facts discovered.

3. The study of the "earth as a whole" — an immense ball
rotating on its axis and exposed to the light and heat of the sun.
Cold, hot and temperate regions. Introduction and use of the
terms "equator" and "poles." The land and the water-masses
in continents and oceans. The position and names of these.
The earth-plateau. The general character of the climate. Pro-
ductions and peoples of each continent. The value of each
continent to the others (a simple introduction to the meaning of
exports and imports). The polar and the equatorial winds.

Note.^ — The foregoing should he taught largely from the
school globe and the sand-map,

GRADE V

Elementary Science
Note. —

The work of Grades III and IV should receive the fol-
lowing extensions: — There should be greater emphasis placed
upon the practical side of the work. Considerable attention
may be given to manual-training, experiments, finding the reason
of things, and practical application of knowledge. While re-
taining the spirit of Nature Study, the teacher's aim should be
in the direction of a more logical argument, a more systematic
treatment and a simple classification.

Plant Life. — •

1. Trees. Care of individual trees, value of windbreaks,
shade trees, bluffs, forests.

MANITOBA 111

2. What becomes of the dead leaves, grass and trees ?

3. Experimental work for the purpose of determining: —

(a) How many seeds will germinate out of a hundred

seeds of each of the following: Stink-weed, Canada
thistle, wheat, etc. Recording results.

(b) What plants and how many are produced during one

season on any small area.'*

(c) Observation of the vegetation that will occupy a

burned prairie, a burned woodland or a clearing.

4. Distinction between the root and the stem. Making a
collection of roots and stems.

5. The study of leaves in relation to light. This work to
be based on observation and experiment. The dandelion, bed-
straw, horse-mint and shepherd's purse are suggested.

6. Comparative study of typical plants continued. Note
resemblances and differences. At least eight plants to be con-
sidered.

7. Making a flower calendar for — April and May; Sep-
tember and October.

Animal Life. —

1. The value of birds. Their protection.

2. How birds conceal and disguise their nests.

3. Study of some birds of prey; habits, structure, flight,
sense-discrimination, cunning, etc.

4. The study of some of our winter birds.

5. Incidental observation of birds and conversations based
on them.

6. Insect life in relation to shade trees — aphis-fly, cater-
pillar and leaf gall of the maple suggested.

7. Rearing mosquitoes and butterflies from eggs in order to
obtain life-histories.

8. Recognition of the ladybird beetle with a view to pro-
tecting it. Finding the larvae on trees infested by aphides.

112 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

9. Observation of insect life in an old log, a rotten stump,
a sand hill, etc.

10. Incidental observation of insect life.

11. A study of some of our mammals, as the deer, bear,
wolf, rabbit, badger, gopher, etc.

12. A study of the common toad continued. Rearing the
toad from the egg, the life of the young toad, the change from
water to land, the Ufe on the land. Domestication of the toad.

Human Physiology. —

1. Our food and drink. Necessity of food and drink. The
best kind of food. Cooking of foods. When and how we should
eat and drink. Iced water, tea, coffee, candy, pickles, gum, to-
bacco and alcohol.

2. Digestion. Chewing the food, swallowing, the stomach.
Hygiene pertaining to the above.

3. Breathing. Measuring the chest when the lungs are
compressed and when the lungs are inflated. Number of breath-
ing acts per minute. The importance of breathing good air.

4. The blood, (a) The pulse; number of beats of pulse
per minute, when seated, when standing, when rested, when play-
ing, (b) The veins and the arteries, (c) The heart.

5. The bones and the muscles.

Physics. —

1. The study of solids, liquids and gases as to characteristic
properties.

2, Heat. Sources, effects on solids, Hquids and gases.

GRADE VI

See note under Grade V
Plant Study. —

1. Experiments and observations to show the relations of
water to plants, reference being made to the following : —

MANITOBA 113

(a) The greater portion of the weight of plants is water.

(b) Vegetation is more luxuriant in damp ground and in

rainy seasons.

(c) The plants must have water.

(d) This water is taken in by the roots.

(e) The leaves and branches of plants are arranged to

form a system of water-troughs.
(/) The water passes through the stem and the leaves in

definite channels.
(g) The surplus water is evaporated.
2. An examination of the plant societies found in some of
the following situations: —
(a) By the roadside.
(6) Along a water-course.

(c) On alkaline grounds.

(d) On marshy grounds.

(e) In vacant lots.

(/) On the city boulevards.

(g) Along a portion of a railway track, etc.
In this study note should be made of the plants comprising
each society; the plants predominating and thus giving character
to the group. What conditions of sun, shade and soil seem to be
most favorable to the well-being of each society ?

3. Seed dispersal. By winds, by animals, by water, by
special contrivances.

4. Comparing and drawing: —

(a) Cross-section of a young maple and a corn-stalk.
(6) The veining of the leaves of the above plants.
(c) The seed leaves of a maple or an oak and the seed
leaves of a grain of corn.

5. An acquaintance with the appearance of a mushroom,
a bracket fungus, a puff-ball, a horse-tail, and a fern, for the
purpose of extending the meaning of "plant life."

6. The comparative study of the stink-weed and the shep-
herd's purse; the clover and the pea; noting resemblances and
deepening the meaning of relationship among plants.

114 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Animal Study. —

1. Special study of the nighthawk, wren, blue jay, and rose-
breasted grosbeak.

2. Comparison of typical scratchers, climbers, waders, swim-
mers, and perchers, noting common and distinctive character-
istics.

3. Observation of the inter-dependence of insects and flowers.

4. Special study of the grasshopper. Finding the eggs, ob-
serving the young hoppers and the growth of their wings, the
adult, the most favorable weather, food and how eaten, behavior
in wet or in windy weather, etc.

5. Special study of the rabbit. Home and home life, habits,
structure, enemies. A type of the " gnawers." Stories of rabbits.

6. What are our native wild animals.^ In what way are
these animals adapted to the country ?

7. What are the wild animals that formerly inhabited this
province.^ Are their remains to be found? What led to their
extinction ?

Physics. —

1. Water, its use. Hard and soft water. The character
of the wells and the springs of the district.

2. Water as a solvent. The boiling of water.

3. Convection of heat. Reference to water and to air.

4. The heating and the ventilation of the school-room.

5. The lever in its three simple forms.

Physiology. —

1. Foods and food materials.

2. Digestion.

3. Food habits and cooking.

4. Circulation.

5. Respiration.

6. The frame work and motion of the body.

MANITOBA 115

GRADE VII

Note. —

The work of this grade and the succeeding one should be
similar in character to that of Grades V and VI, but should be
still more scientific as to logical arrangement, systematic treat-
ment and classification.

The relation to the practical affairs of everyday life should
be made more prominent and as much opportunity as possible
should be given to manual work by the pupils, e.g. making simple
apparatus, performing suitable experiments, etc.

The interests in these grades are directed more toward eco-
nomic values, toward the controlling of the forces of nature, toward
the understanding of observed facts and toward the making of
new applications of physical principles.

Plant Study. —

1. How plants obtain food from the soil: —

(a) Some substances are soluble and others are insoluble

in water.
(6) The former substances pass readily through the roots.
(c) The food is left in the plants when the water has

evaporated.

2. Uses of roots: —

(a) They fix the plants in the soil.

ih) They obtain nourishment from the soil.

(c) They act in some cases as storehouses.

3. Leaves: —

(a) Classified as persistent and deciduous.

(6) Classified as foliage-leaves, scale-leaves, bract-leaves

and floral-leaves,
(c) Parts — blade, petiole, stipules.
{d) Study of form and venation.

4. The arrangement of leaves as represented by the bed-
straw, anemone, shepherd's purse and the mint.

5. The meaning of spines, tendrils, prickles and hairs.

116 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

6. The distribution of plant life as follows: —

(a) Where is plant life most vigorous ? Why ?

(b) Where is plant life least vigorous ? Why ?

(c) What locations have the greatest variety of plant
forms ?

(d) What locations have the least variety of plant forms ?

(e) What plants are found in the woods ?

(/) What plants are found in the alkaline grounds ?
(g) What plants are found in the cultivated fields ?
(h) What plants delight in a northern exposure ? Why ?
(i) What plants delight in a southern exposure ? Why ?

7. The simple classification of fruits, the pupils to determine
the basis of classification.

8. Observation of the order in which flowers open, reference
being made to the shepherd's purse, the three-flowered avens,
the buttercup and the dandehon.

9. Flower arrangements, reference being made to the mustard,
the yarrow, the sun-flower, and either the carroway or the meadow
parsnip.

Animal Study. —

1. The food supply of some of our wild birds. A commence-
ment to be made in this grade and continued in the next.

2. A special study of the cat-bird, the downy woodpecker,
the flicker and the tame or wild pigeon.

3. What birds tenant the nearest groves?

4. The relation of the English sparrow to our native song
birds.

5. Study of the cockroach and the field cricket.

6. Simple classification of insects according to the character
of the wings. The following is suggestive: Dragon-fly, locust
or grasshopper, aphis, potato-beetle, moth, house-fly, and ant.

7. The insect pests of the ash-leaved maple and other shade
trees.

MANITOBA 117

8. The appearance, habits, food, home, etc., of the earth-
worm. The value of the earth-worm to man. Difference between
an earth-worm and a caterpillar; between a spider and a grass-
hopper.

9. The gopher and the grain fields. The badger and the
grain fields.

10. A comparison of the gopher and the red squirrel.

Inanimate Nature. —

1. Study of the soil. Testing the productiveness of the fol-
lowing by planting the same kind of seed in each: —

(a) Clay.

(b) Sand.

(c) Clay and sand.

(d) Clay and humus mixed.

(e) Sand and humus mixed.

(/) Clay, sand and humus mixed. Applications.

2. Sun-drying a pound of each of the above. Finding by
weighing the dry remnants the amount of water lost in each case.
Experimental work for the purpose of ascertaining which of the
above will retain the moisture the longest when subjected to the
continued heat of the sun. AppH cations.

3. Have the natural features of the district determined to any
extent the locations of the dweUings of the people.

Physics. —

1. Distillation. Meaning of term. A method of distiUing.
The story of a rain-drop.

2. Evaporation, reviewed, enlarged and applied.

3. Capillarity as shown by a lamp-wick, a piece of blotting
paper, a lump of sugar, a cotton cloth, the soil. Applications.

4. The meaning and the value of the forces of adhesion and
cohesion.

5. The pulley, and the wheel and axle.

118 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

Physiology. —

1. The kidneys and the skin, and their duties.

2. The care of the skin.

3. Stimulants and narcotics.

4. The nervous system.

5. The senses.

6. Health and disease,

GRADE VIII

See note under Grade VII

Agricultube. — OutUned as follows : —

1. The plant, including the seed, the young plant, the plant
and the water, the plant and the soil, the plant and the air, the
structure and growth of plants, naming and classifying plants.

2. The soil. Nature and origin of soil, tiUing and draining
the soil, improving the soil.

3. Weeds.

4. Insects of the fields.

5. The rotation of crops.

6. The garden.

7. Bees and birds. The food supply of our wild birds,
continued from Grade VII.

8. Forestry.

9. Roads.

10. The country-home.

11. The science of everyday life, including the atmosphere,
water, heat, and a simple analysis of the air,

Physics. —

A practical study of the inclined plane, as follows: — A type
of machine; a machine cannot create work; what is gained in
power is lost in speed ; wasted work ; the law of the incHned plane.
Applications.

APPENDIX C

The Nova Scotia Nature Study Course

GENERAL DIRECTIONS

The noting, examination and study of the common and
more important natural objects and laws of Nature as they are
exemplified within the range of the school section or of the pupils*
observation. Under this head, pupils should not be required to
memorize notes or facts which they have not, at least to some
extent, actually observed or verified for themselves. There should
be a short "Nature Lesson" given every day on the daily collec-
tions and observations of the pupils themselves — not on the state-
ment of teachers or books — the lesson always being based on the
objects or observations. Many books on the list recommended
for school libraries are useful guides to the teacher for portions
of the work prescribed in some of the grades. These guide books
are to be used only to show the teachers how to give such lessons.
They are entirely prohibited as text-books for either pupil or
teacher, for under no circumstances should "notes" from the
books be given to pupils. All such studies must be from the
objects. Observations under this head form some of the best
subjects for English composition or drawing exercises in all grades.

In schools with pupils of several grades under one teacher
(as in most rural schools), many of these lessons may profitably
engage the whole school. In nearly all, either the whole senior
or whole junior divisions of the school can take part. A skilful
teacher can thus give profitable object lessons to several grades
of scholars at once; at one time giving a Grade V lesson, at another
time a Grade VI or Grade VII or Grade VIII lesson, which will
also contain enough for the observation and interest of Grade I,
Grade II, Grade III and Grade IV pupils. An object lesson
given to the highest class can thus, to a certain extent, be made
a good object lesson for all the lower classes. The older pupils
will see more and think more.

01191

120 THE NATURE STUDY COURSE

It must be remembered that the memorizing of notes and
facts merely stated to pupils is strictly forbidden under this head.
Such memorizing is pure cram, and is injurious instead of being
useful. The teacher may not have time to take up in class every
object indicated in the Nature lessons of the course. In such
cases the pupils should be given two or three objects nearly related
to the typical specimen examined in school, with directions to
search for and examine them at home, as illustrated in the speci-
men class lesson. Without much expenditure of time the teacher
can note this work has been honestly attempted to be done by
each pupil. The lessons must be direct from Nature itself, but
under the guidance of the teacher, who can save time in bringing
the pupils to the point desired by his more matured experience.
They are intended to train the observing and inductive faculties,
to show the true way of discovering something of the nature of the
world which immediately surrounds us, and which is, and will
continue to be, re-acting upon us in one manner or another. This
knowledge is so much power over Nature, from which we have to
win our material existence. It is also essential as an element in
any true and useful system of philosophy.

More stress has been laid here on the natural history of each
section than on elementary physics and chemistry. Not because
physical phenomena are less important; but because the elements
of these sciences are the same all the world over, and there is no
end to the cheap and well -illustrated guides to practical work in
them which will well suit a section in Nova Scotia as well as one
in England or in the United States. But there are no such simple
guides in the biology of each section, nor in many others of its
scientific characters. The teacher, then, must become a student
and master himself; for such exercises have special power in
developing the habit of accurate observation (which is the sound-
est basis for any career, ranging from that of the poet and pro-
fessional man to the tiller and lord of the soil, the tradesman, the
manufacturer, the inventor) and in developing in connection with
history and civics an intelligent attachment to both the material
and the ideal features of our country.

APPENDIX D

The following is a list of bulletins of the Ontario Agricultural College, published by
the Ontario Department of Agriculture, Toronto. They may be had free on application.

Birds of Ontario in Relation to Agriculture, by C. W. Nash.
Check List of the Birds of Ontario, by C. W. Nash.
Serial
No. Date. Title. Author.

111 Dec. 1900 Lucerne or Alfalfa R. Harcoiu-t.

112 Dec. 1900 Foul Brood of Bees F. C. Harrison.

113 Mar. 190i Sugar Beet Experiments in Ontario A. E. Shuttleworth.

1 14 May 1901 Dairy Bulletin (see No. 143) Dairy School.

115 July 1901 Comparative Values of Ontario Wheat for

Breadmaking purposes R. Harcourt.

Notes on Varieties of Winter Wheat C. A. Zavitz.

116 Aug. 1901 The Hessian Fly in Ontario Wm. Lochhead.

117 Jan. 1902 Pasteurization of Milk for Butter-Making /§• J?\P^^P-

IF. C. Hamson.

1 18 Jan. 1902 Yeast and its Household Use F. C. Harrison.

119 April 1902 Ventilation of Farm Stables and Dwellings J. B. Reynolds.

120 May 1902 Bitter Milk and Cheese F. C. Harrison.

121 June 1902 Ripening of Cheese in Cold Storage compared /H. H. Dean.

with ripening in ordinary Curing Rooms. . . . \F. C. Harrison.

122 June 1902 Spray Calendar Wm. Lochhead.

123 July 1902 Cold Storage of Fruit (J- ^. Reynolds.

l-H. Li. Hutt.

124 Dec. 1902 Nature Study, or Stories in Agriculture Staff. O. A.C.

125 Dec. 1902 Roup (A Disease of Poultry) (£ o' ^.^"'^^°°'

126 April 1903 Peas and Pea Weevil (C- A. Zavitz.

IWm. Lochhead.

127 May 1903 Farm Poultry W. R. Graham.

128 Aug. 1903 The Weeds of Ontario IS; ^- ^^*7l^°°;

\Wm. Lochhead.

129 Dec. 1903 Bacon Production G. E. Day.

130 Dec. 1903 Bacterial Content of Cheese cured at dijBFerent /F. C. Harrison.

Temperatm-es IWm. T. Council.

131 Dec. 1903 Ripening of Cheese in Cold Storage compared JH. H. Dean.

with Ripening in Ordinary Curing Room \R. Harcourt.

132 Dec. 1903 Roup; An Experimental Study /^- 9 Harrison.

\H. Streit.

133 Dec. 1903 Present Condition of San Jos^ Scale in Ontario. Wm. Lochhead.

134 June 1904 Hints in Making Nature Collections in Public

and High Schools W. H. Muldrew.

135 June 1904 The Cream-Gathering Creamery ' /H. H. Dean.

\J. A. McFeeters.

136 Aug. 1904 Some Bacterial Diseases of Plants prevalent in JF. C. Harrison.

Ontario \B. Barlow.

137 Aug. 1904 A Bacterial Disease of Cauliflower and Allied

Plants. .■::■... F. C. Harrison.

138 Feb. 1905 The Composition of Ontario Feeding Stuffs W. P. Gamble.

139 Feb. 1905 An Experimental Shipment of Fruit to Winnipeg J. B. Reynolds.

140 Feb. 1905 The Results of Field Experiments with Farm

Crops ' C. A. Zavitz.

141 April 1905 Gas-Producing Bacteria and Their Effect on

Milk and its Products F. C. Harrison.

142 May 1905 Outlines of Nature Study Wm. Lochhead.

143 June 1905 Dairy School Bulletin Dairy School.

144 June 1905 Apple Culture H. L. Hutt.

145 June 1905 Butter Preservatives Ir" h" ^^urt

The Quail, by Edward Harris, 5c.

Ottawa Department of Agriculture.
Bulletin No. 52 — Insects Injurious to Grain, etc.
Calendar Guide to Spraying. 1905.

Catalogue of Canadian Birds.. Parts I. II. Ill, Macoun, 10c. each.
Annual Reports.

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