85 chapters
25 hour read
Selected Chapters
85 chapters
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL.
College of Agriculture, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. Hon. C. A. Wieting , Commissioner of Agriculture , Albany, N. Y.: Sir. —I submit herewith as a part of the Annual Report of 1903 a number of the nature-study publications for reprinting. Most of these publications are out of print and the call for them still continues. These publications have practically all arisen under your supervision, and under the directorship of Professor I. P. Roberts. Nature-study work should begin in the primary
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE SCHOOL HOUSE. By L. H. BAILEY.
THE SCHOOL HOUSE. By L. H. BAILEY.
In the rural districts, the school must become a social and intellectual centre. It must stand in close relationship with the life and activities of its community. It must not be an institution apart, exotic to the common-day lives; it must teach the common things and put the pupil into sympathetic touch with his own environment. Then every school house will have a voice, and will say: Nature-study, as a process, is seeing the things that one looks at, and the drawing of proper conclusions from
18 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET I. WHAT IS NATURE-STUDY?[1] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET I. WHAT IS NATURE-STUDY?[1] By L. H. BAILEY.
If the objects to be studied are informal, the methods of teaching should be the same. If nature-study were made a stated part of a rigid curriculum, its purpose might be defeated. One difficulty with our present school methods is the necessary formality of the courses and the hours. Tasks are set, and tasks are always hard. The best way to teach nature-study is, with no hard and fast course laid out, to bring in some object that may be at hand and to set the pupils to looking at it. The pupils
32 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET II. THE NATURE-STUDY MOVEMENT.[3] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET II. THE NATURE-STUDY MOVEMENT.[3] By L. H. BAILEY.
The crux of the whole subject lies in the conception of what education is. We all define it in theory to be a drawing out and a developing of the powers of the mind; but in practice we define it in the terms of the means that we employ. We have come to associate education with certain definite subjects, as if no other sets of subjects could be made the means of educating a mind. One by one, new subjects have forced themselves in as being proper means for educating. All the professions, natural s
33 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET III. AN APPEAL TO THE TEACHERS OF NEW YORK STATE.[4] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET III. AN APPEAL TO THE TEACHERS OF NEW YORK STATE.[4] By L. H. BAILEY.
Great numbers of our people are in industrial and agricultural environments. By means of the industrial and agricultural trades they must live. These trades must be made more efficient; and the youth must be educated to see in them more than a mere livelihood. These industrial and agricultural subjects must be put more and more into schools. My own interest lies at present more with the agricultural subjects, and these are the occasion for this appeal. The so-called "industrial" and commercial s
33 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET IV. WHAT IS AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION?[5] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET IV. WHAT IS AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION?[5] By L. H. BAILEY.
The future course of education will develop many means of training the child mind. Heretofore these means have been few and the result has been narrow. We shall see agricultural, commercial, social subjects put into pedagogic form and be made the agencies whereby minds are drawn out. These will be at least as efficient as the customary methods that we happen thus far to have employed. How much of one or how much of another is a detail that must be left to the future. Nor does it follow that the
58 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET V. SUGGESTIONS FOR NATURE-STUDY WORK.[6] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET V. SUGGESTIONS FOR NATURE-STUDY WORK.[6] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
The use of nature-study readers should be restricted. The stories in these should not be read until after the pupils have completed their own observations on the subjects of the stories. Stories about adventures of animals and adventures with animals may always be read with safety, as these do not, strictly speaking, belong to nature-study. They belong rather to literature and may be used most successfully to interest the child in nature. Blackboard drawings and charts should be used only to ill
59 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET VI. A SUMMER SHOWER.[8] By R. S. TARR.
LEAFLET VI. A SUMMER SHOWER.[8] By R. S. TARR.
Do you wish to prove that the water vapor is there, although unseen? Then, if the day is cool, watch the window and notice the drops of water collect upon it. Or, if the day is warm, bring an ice-cold glass or pitcher into the room and see the drops collect upon it ( Fig. 9 ). People sometimes say, when drops of water collect on a glass of cold water, that the glass is "sweating;" but see whether the same thing will not happen with a cold glass that does not contain water. These two simple obser
22 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET VII. A SNOW STORM.[9] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET VII. A SNOW STORM.[9] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
The storm which Lowell describes so delightfully is the first soft, gentle snow fall that comes in November or early December. "The silence deep and white" settles like a benediction over the brown, uneven landscape, and makes of it a scene of enchantment. Very different from this is the storm that comes when the winter cold is most severe and winter winds most terrific. Then the skies are as white as the fields, with never a sign of blue; if the sun appears at all, it shines cold instead of war
26 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET VIII. A HANDFUL OF SOIL: WHAT IT IS.[10] By R. S. TARR.
LEAFLET VIII. A HANDFUL OF SOIL: WHAT IT IS.[10] By R. S. TARR.
One readily sees that the soil furnishes a place in which the plants may fix themselves,—an anchorage, as it were. It is also easy to see that from the soil the plants obtain a supply of water; and, moreover, that this water is very necessary, for the vegetation in a moist country suffers greatly in time of drought, and few plants are able to grow in a desert region because there is so little water. You can make a desert in the schoolroom and contrast it with moist soil by planting seeds in two
37 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET IX. A HANDFUL OF SOIL: WHAT IT DOES.[11] By L. A. CLINTON.
LEAFLET IX. A HANDFUL OF SOIL: WHAT IT DOES.[11] By L. A. CLINTON.
Some soils are capable of performing all these offices, while others are fitted for only a part of them. Thus a soil which is pure sand and almost entirely deficient in the essential elements of plant-food, may serve, if located near a large city, merely to hold the plants in position while the skillful gardener feeds the plants with specially prepared fertilizers, and supplies the moisture by irrigation. Early in the study of soils an excursion, if possible, should be made into the woods. Great
30 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET X. THE BROOK.[12] By J. O. MARTIN.
LEAFLET X. THE BROOK.[12] By J. O. MARTIN.
On a rainy day most of us are driven indoors and thus we miss some of nature's most instructive lessons, for in sunshine or rain the great mother toils on, doing some of her hardest labor when her face is overcast with clouds. Let us find our waterproofs, raise our umbrellas, bid defiance to the pattering rain, and go forth to learn some of the lessons of a rainy day. Fig. 42. The brook may be made the center of a life-theme. Along the roadside, the steady, down-pouring rain collects into pools
20 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XI. INSECT LIFE OF A BROOK.[13] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
LEAFLET XI. INSECT LIFE OF A BROOK.[13] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
The heart-leaved willows along many brooksides are found to bear at the tips of many of their branches, knob-like bodies which look like pine cones. ( Fig. 49 .) Now everybody knows that willows bear their seeds in catkins. Why, then, should so many brookside willows thrust these cones in our faces? On cutting one of the cones open, we learn the secret. A tiny colorless grub rolls helplessly out of a cell in the very centre of the cone. It is the young of a small gnat, scarcely larger than a mos
31 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XII. LIFE IN AN AQUARIUM.[16] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
LEAFLET XII. LIFE IN AN AQUARIUM.[16] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
1. The equilibrium between plant and animal life must be secured and maintained. It is probable that an aquarium in an elementary school is mainly used for the study of animal life; but animals do not thrive in water where no plants are growing. Nature keeps plants and animals in the same pond and we must follow her lead. The plants have three valuable functions in the aquarium. First, they supply food for the herbivorous creatures. Second, they give off a quantity of oxygen which is necessary t
38 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XIII. A STUDY OF FISHES.[17] By H. D. REED.
LEAFLET XIII. A STUDY OF FISHES.[17] By H. D. REED.
Before discussing some of the different kinds of fishes and their habits, it will be necessary to learn something about fins, for the fins of all fishes are not alike. When a fish moves through the water, it bends its tail first to one side and then to the other. This undulatory movement, as it is called, pushes the fish's body ahead. One can observe the movements easily upon a specimen kept alive in an aquarium jar. At the extreme end of the tail there is a broad, notched fin which aids the tai
18 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XIV. THE OPENING OF A COCOON.[18] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
LEAFLET XIV. THE OPENING OF A COCOON.[18] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
Fig. 88. End of cocoon of Cecropia, inside view, showing where the moth gets out. The Cecropia moth often measures five or six inches across—a veritable giant. Its main color is dusty brown, with spots and bands of cinnamon brown and white. On each wing is a white crescent bordered with red and outlined with a black line. The body is heavy and covered with thick, reddish-brown hairs, crossed near the end with black and white lines. On its small head are two large feathery feelers or antennæ. The
24 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XV. A TALK ABOUT SPIDERS.[19] By J. H. COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XV. A TALK ABOUT SPIDERS.[19] By J. H. COMSTOCK.
Often on summer mornings the grass of the roadsides and fields is seen to be carpeted with little sheets of glistening silk, the webs of the grass-spider. None were observed the day before; and we wonder at the sudden appearance of this host of weavers. Later in the day the webs have vanished! Have the weavers rolled them up and carried them off? We remember that there was an especially fine one near the end of the veranda steps; we examine the place carefully and find that it is still there, bu
54 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XVI. LIFE HISTORY OF THE TOAD.[20] By S. H. GAGE.[21]
LEAFLET XVI. LIFE HISTORY OF THE TOAD.[20] By S. H. GAGE.[21]
It was William Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood, who first clearly stated the fact that every animal comes from an egg. This is as true of a toad as of a chicken. The toad lives on the land and often a long way from any pond or stream, but the first part of its life is spent in the water; and so it is in the water that the eggs must be looked for. To find the eggs one should visit the natural or artificial ponds so common along streams. Ponds from springs or even artificial
42 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XVII. LIFE IN A TERRARIUM.[22] By ALICE I. KENT.
LEAFLET XVII. LIFE IN A TERRARIUM.[22] By ALICE I. KENT.
— Longfellow to Agassiz. Fortunate are the children and the teachers who are so placed that Nature's story book is close at hand. But city children and their teachers need not despair, for Nature, the old nurse, is loving and bountiful and will rewrite, in living characters, many a page from the wondrous book, for those who care to read. One such a page may be a terrarium—a confined plot of earth on which things may live and grow (from terra , "earth," as aquarium is from aqua , "water"). Within
30 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XVIII. DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS.[23] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XVIII. DIRECTIONS FOR COLLECTING AND PRESERVING INSECTS.[23] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
The objection is sometimes raised that collecting and killing insects and birds incite the child to cruelty and wanton destruction of life. This seems good a priori reasoning, but experience does not confirm it. We have always found that those who collect and take an interest in insect life are much more careful about killing or hurting insects than are other people; the entomologist of all men takes the greatest pains to avoid stepping upon the caterpillar or cricket in his path; also the young
33 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XIX. SOME TENT-MAKERS.[24] BY ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XIX. SOME TENT-MAKERS.[24] BY ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
Fig. 147. The bottle with the twigs bearing the egg-masses. The tent is being woven below. 1. A pocket lens or a tripod lens is desirable, but not a necessity. These lenses may be bought from or ordered through any jeweler or bookseller. They cost from twenty-five cents to one dollar each. It is worth while for any teacher to possess one of these magnifiers as a means of interesting her pupils in many things. 2. A bottle, a broad-bottomed one being preferable so that it will not tip over easily.
21 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XX. MOSQUITOES.[26] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
LEAFLET XX. MOSQUITOES.[26] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
Spite of all the efforts of scientists and nature-students to popularize the mosquito, its reputation as a public nuisance is as well sustained as ever, and it seems destined to remain as unpopular as were its ancestors. There is no doubt that these creatures "abound" and that "they are great annoyances to both man and animals," as Dr. Howard tells us in "The Insect Book;" but he has laid a new and even more deadly sin at their door in stating, as he does in no uncertain terms, that "they are ac
22 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXI. THE WAYS OF THE ANT.[27] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XXI. THE WAYS OF THE ANT.[27] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
Once we wished to make an ant-nest hurriedly, and this is the way we did it: we chose an agate wash basin ( Fig. 154 ), as this would not rust, and filled it half-full of water; in this we made an island, by placing in it a three-pint agate basin turned bottom side up. We took two discarded negatives, size 4x5 inches, and cleaned off the films; then we placed one of the pieces of glass on the basin-island, took the stumps of four burnt matches and placed one on each side of this glass near its e
19 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXII. THE BIRDS AND I.[29] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET XXII. THE BIRDS AND I.[29] By L. H. BAILEY.
For some kinds of birds we can build houses. Some of the many forms which can be used are shown in the pictures at the end of this Leaflet. Any ingenious boy can suggest a dozen other patterns. Although birds may not appreciate architecture, it is well to make the houses neat and tasty by taking pains to have the proportions correct. The floor space in each compartment should be not less than five by six inches, and six by six or six by eight may be better. By cutting the boards in multiples of
16 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXIII. THE EARLY BIRDS.[30] By L. A. FUERTES.
LEAFLET XXIII. THE EARLY BIRDS.[30] By L. A. FUERTES.
Fig. 178. Cowbirds. Almost any warm day in early March we may hear a thin, clear "tsssss" in a high piping key, and on looking up see from one to five black birds, about the size of orioles, flying in a strange undulating manner—some up and some down, with the wings held close to their sides during the "drop" in their flight. They are cowbirds. The flock may swirl into the top of a tree and sit close together. ( Fig. 178 .) If this happens within eyeshot, stop and watch them for a moment. One or
20 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXIV. THE WOODPECKERS.[31] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XXIV. THE WOODPECKERS.[31] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
Fig. 183. Downy woodpecker. Fig. 184. Sapsucker. 1. What is the difference in appearance between the male and female downy? 2. How does the downy travel down a tree; does it go head-first? What food have you seen it eat? 3. How does the downy use its tail in going up and down the tree trunk? 4. Have you approached a woodpecker closely enough to see how its toes are arranged? If so, describe them. 5. How does it manage its head to make its blows forceful? 6. Are you able to discriminate between t
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXV. THE CHICKADEE.[34] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XXV. THE CHICKADEE.[34] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
One day in February we were, with much enjoyment, wading through a drifted highway that skirted a forest, the least twig of which bore a burden of soft snow. Over all hung that silence of winter which is the most "silent silence" that rests upon the earth anywhere outside the desert. No breeze swayed a creaking branch or shook from it the snow in soft thud to the white carpet below. Even the song of the brook was smothered beneath coverlets of ice and pillows of drift. We stood fast, awed by the
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXVI. THE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH.[35] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XXVI. THE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH.[35] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
— Maurice Thompson . " With more artless inquisitiveness than fear, this lively little acrobat stops his hammering or hatching at your approach, and stretching himself out from the tree until it would seem he must fall off, he peers down at you, head downward, straight into your upturned opera-glass. If there is too much snow on the upper side of a branch watch how he runs along underneath it like a fly, busily tapping the bark, or adroitly breaking the decayed bits with his bill, as he stretche
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXVII. ABOUT CROWS.[36] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
LEAFLET XXVII. ABOUT CROWS.[36] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
Why crows gather thus in companies either small or large is undoubtedly due to their natural sociability. The opportunities for exhibition of conversational powers offered by such a custom seems to be greatly appreciated by every crow. Such a babel as they raise when in early morning their watchman rouses them from sleep! They appear to be reviling him for his untimely interruption. For several minutes the woods fairly ring with their loud, coarse shouts. Then, as if resigned to their fate, they
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXVIII. HOW A SQUASH PLANT GETS OUT OF THE SEED.[38] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET XXVIII. HOW A SQUASH PLANT GETS OUT OF THE SEED.[38] By L. H. BAILEY.
Fig. 190. Squash plant which has brought the seed-coats out of the ground. Fig. 191. Germination just beginning. Fig. 192. The root and peg. Fig. 193. Third day of root growth. Fig. 194. The plant breaking out of the seed. Fig. 195. The operation further progressed. Fig. 196. The plant just coming up. It may happen, however,—as it did in a pan of seed which I sowed a few days ago—that one or two of the plants may look like that shown in Fig. 190 . Here the seed seems to have come up on top of th
15 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXIX. HOW THE TREES LOOK IN WINTER.[40] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET XXIX. HOW THE TREES LOOK IN WINTER.[40] By L. H. BAILEY.
Only the growing and open season is thought to be attractive in the country. The winter is bare and cheerless. The trees are naked. The flowers are under the snow. The birds have flown. The only bright and cheery spot is the winter fireside. But even there the farmer has so much time that he does not know what to do with it. Only those who have little time, appreciate its value. But the winter is not lifeless and charmless. It is only dormant. The external world fails to interest us because we h
19 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXX. ONE WAY OF DRAWING TREES IN THEIR WINTER ASPECT.[41] By C. W. FURLONG.
LEAFLET XXX. ONE WAY OF DRAWING TREES IN THEIR WINTER ASPECT.[41] By C. W. FURLONG.
To a great extent, one may show in an outline drawing the character and texture of surfaces. Our main object should be to train the boys and girls to observe in order to acquire a correctness of perception, for "education amongst us consists too much in telling, not enough in training." Fig. 211. The American Elm, one of the most typical of vase-form trees. One of the greatest difficulties is to impress upon the minds of beginners the fact that they must think while they look and draw. Insist up
24 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXXI. FOUR APPLE TWIGS.[42] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET XXXI. FOUR APPLE TWIGS.[42] By L. H. BAILEY.
We must now picture to ourselves how this shoot from B to 10 looked last summer while it was growing. The shoot bore leaves. Where? There was one just below each bud; or, to be more exact, one bud developed just above each leaf. These buds did not put out leaves. They grew to their present size and then stopped. The leaves fell. What are these buds of the tip shoot preparing to do in 1897? We can answer this question by going back just one year and seeing what the buds on the lower (or older) pa
20 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXXII. THE BURST OF SPRING.[44] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET XXXII. THE BURST OF SPRING.[44] By L. H. BAILEY.
The pupil should know that a winter twig has interest. Fig. 220. Opening of an apricot bud. The bud may be peach or apricot. Soon the bud begins to swell at its top. The scales open. A white lining appears. This lining soon protrudes ( Fig. 220 ). Soon the lining opens. We see that it is a flower. Or perhaps the peach bud sends out a green shoot rather than a flower. There must be two kinds of peach and apricot buds,—a flower-bud and a leaf-bud. Can you tell them apart? The flower-bud is thicker
26 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXXIII. EVERGREENS AND HOW THEY SHED THEIR LEAVES.[45] By H. P. GOULD.
LEAFLET XXXIII. EVERGREENS AND HOW THEY SHED THEIR LEAVES.[45] By H. P. GOULD.
We shall often find, if we stop to look, that much of the character of a tree,—that is, its general appearance or the way in which it impresses us,—is due to the leaves and to their arrangement on the branches. This is true of many of the evergreen trees. Why are certain kinds of trees called evergreen in distinction from those which are said to be deciduous? The reason is obvious. One kind is always green from the presence of foliage, while the other sheds all of its leaves every season. The ev
39 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXXIV. THE CLOVERS AND THEIR KIN.[46] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XXXIV. THE CLOVERS AND THEIR KIN.[46] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
There is a deep-seated prejudice that usefulness and beauty do not belong together;—a prejudice based obviously on human selfishness, for if a thing is useful to us we emphasize that quality so much that we forget to look for its beauty. Thus it is that the clover suffers great injustice; it has for centuries been a most valuable forage crop, and, therefore, we forget to note its beauty, or to regard it as an object worthy of æsthetic attention. This is a pitiful fact; but it cheats us more than
26 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXXV HOW PLANTS LIVE TOGETHER.[49] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET XXXV HOW PLANTS LIVE TOGETHER.[49] By L. H. BAILEY.
Fig. 251. A plant society waiting for the spring. Since there is intense competition for every foot of the earth's surface that is capable of raising plants, it follows that every spot will probably have many kinds of plant inhabitants. Plants must live together. They associate; they become adapted or accustomed to each other. Some can live in shade; they thrive in the forest, where sun-loving plants perish. Others prefer the sun, and thereby live together. There are plant societies. Fig. 252. W
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXXVI. PLANTING A PLANT.[50] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET XXXVI. PLANTING A PLANT.[50] By L. H. BAILEY.
If a pupil is interested in kitchen-garden vegetables, recommend lettuce and radish, or a potato. If in flowers, suggest sweet pea, bachelor's button or blue-bottle, annual phlox, candytuft, China aster. If in fruits, suggest strawberry. We desire to inaugurate a general movement for the planting of plants. The school ground should be planted. Private yards should be planted. Roadsides should be planted. In some cities and villages there are committees or other organizations whose object it is t
16 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXXVII. CUTTINGS AND CUTTINGS.[51] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET XXXVII. CUTTINGS AND CUTTINGS.[51] By L. H. BAILEY.
Having thus bewildered my reader, I may say that a bit of a plant stuck into the ground stands a chance of growing; and this bit is a cutting. Plants have preferences, however, as to the kind of bit which shall be used; but there is no way of telling what this preference is except by trying. In some instances this preference has not been discovered, and we may say that the plant cannot be propagated by cuttings. Most plants prefer that the cuttings be made of the soft or growing wood, of which t
22 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXXVIII. A CHILDREN'S GARDEN.[52] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET XXXVIII. A CHILDREN'S GARDEN.[52] By L. H. BAILEY.
Perhaps some of the children may live so near to the school-house that they can grow their plants upon the school grounds, and so have sweet peas and asters where there are usually docks and smartweeds. Grow them alongside the fence, or against the school-house if there is a place where the eaves will not drip on them. 2. How to make the bed. —Spade the ground up deep. Take out all the roots of docks and thistles and other weeds. Shake the dirt all out of the sods and throw the grass away. You m
15 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XXXIX. A HILL OF POTATOES.[53] By I. P. ROBERTS.
LEAFLET XXXIX. A HILL OF POTATOES.[53] By I. P. ROBERTS.
Fig. 272. Underground part of potato plant in mellow soil. Fig. 273. Piece of tuber for planting, bearing a single eye. A single eye, with a portion of the tuber attached to furnish nourishment to the bud until sustenance can be secured from newly formed rootlets, may produce one, occasionally more, strong upright stems. A most interesting study of manifold reproduction may be made even in the winter time by planting in a fertile soil a piece of potato containing a single eye ( Fig. 273 ). As so
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XL. THE HEPATICA.[54] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XL. THE HEPATICA.[54] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
Fig. 275. Hepatica, harbinger of spring. When finally a bud has uncuddled and lifted itself into a flower, it will tell us the story of leaves in different disguises, and we may be able to notice whether the pollen ripens and is all distributed when the flower begins to fade and fall. We may note also the number of seeds and examine one of them with a lens. It is what the botanists call an akene, which simply means just one seed with a tight envelope about it. We have a careless habit of forgett
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XLI. JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT.[55] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XLI. JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT.[55] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
J. G. Whittier. Fig. 276. Jack-in-the-Pulpit. At one time or another, perhaps all of us are given to the belief that all flowers blossom for our especial enjoyment. It is hard to think back for a thousand years and imagine hepaticas blooming on our New York hills; yet no doubt, they blossomed then in far greater numbers than they do to-day. Many of our native plants played their part in sustaining the lives of the native Americans, and that little preacher, Jack-in-the-pulpit, was a turnip long
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XLII. INDIAN CORN.[56] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XLII. INDIAN CORN.[56] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
Fig. 277. Parts of corn kernel. It is fitting that a grain which is so peculiarly adapted to be the aid and support of a great civilization should grow upon a plant of such dignity and beauty as is the maize. The perfect proportions of the slender stalk to the long gracefully curving leaves; the plumed tassels swaying and bowing to every breeze and sending their pollen showers to the waiting skeins of silk hidden below; the ripened ear with its exact rows of shining yellow grains wrapped in silk
16 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XLIII. THE RIPENED CORN.[57] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XLIII. THE RIPENED CORN.[57] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
As "chore time" approached, came the wagon afield to gather the harvest of ears and take them to the cribs, where their gold gleaming between the boards gave comfortable assurance of peace and plenty. But the seed corn was stored in a way learned by our forefathers from the American Indians; the ears were braided together by their husks, by the skilled farmer, who could make a braid two or three feet long, strong enough to hold the weight of the ears that hung a heavy fringe along each side; thi
20 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XLIV. THE USES OF FOOD STORED IN SEEDS.[59] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XLIV. THE USES OF FOOD STORED IN SEEDS.[59] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
— Lucy Larcom. As is the case with our own babies, the first necessity of the infant plant is food close at hand to sustain this tiny speck of life until it shall be large and strong enough to provide for itself. If we study any seed whatever we shall find some such motherly provision for the plant baby or germ. Sometimes the germ is a mere speck with a large amount of food packed around it, as is the case with the nutmeg; sometimes the baby is larger and its food is packed in a part adjacent to
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XLV. THE LIFE HISTORY OF A BEET.[62] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
LEAFLET XLV. THE LIFE HISTORY OF A BEET.[62] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
We may read in the botany that certain plants are biennials, taking two seasons to pass through all the phases from seed to seed; but we shall not know the joy of gaining knowledge from original sources nor experience the mental training that comes with this "finding out" process until we have actually planted the beets or other things and watched them grow. The following questions relate to the study of a beet plant. Any other available plant may be reported on. The important thing is that a mi
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XLVI. PRUNING.[63] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
LEAFLET XLVI. PRUNING.[63] By MARY ROGERS MILLER.
Fig. 281. A pine tree pruned by the storm. In a tree top there is a sharp struggle for existence. But few of the twigs which started from last year's buds will reach any considerable size. One needs only to count the dead and the dormant buds on a branch, and the weak, stubby, or decayed side shoots to appreciate this fact. If part of the branches are cut out, this struggle is reduced and energy is saved. By judicious pruning the tree may be shaped to suit the needs of the owner. If a low tree i
14 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XLVII. A STUDY OF A TREE.[64] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XLVII. A STUDY OF A TREE.[64] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
— Lowell . Like a friend is a tree, in that it needs to be known season after season and year after year in order to be truly appreciated. A person who has not had an intimate, friendly acquaintance with some special tree has missed something from life. Yet even those of us who love a tree because we find its shade a comfort in summer and its bare branches etched against the sky a delight in winter, may have very little understanding of the wonderful life-processes which have made this tree a th
15 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XLVIII. THE MAPLE IN FEBRUARY.[65] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XLVIII. THE MAPLE IN FEBRUARY.[65] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
— John B. Tabb . " Tapping the sugar bush" are magical words to the country boy and girl. The winter which was at first so welcome with its miracle of snow, and its attendant joys of sleighing and skating, begins to pall by the last of February. Too many days the clouds hang low and the swirling flakes make out-of-door pursuits difficult. Then there comes a day when the south wind blows blandly and the snow settles into hard, marble-like drifts, and here and there a knoll appears bare, and soggy
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET XLIX. THE RED SQUIRREL OR CHICKAREE.[66] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET XLIX. THE RED SQUIRREL OR CHICKAREE.[66] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
Although the red squirrel is familiar to us all, yet, I think, there are few who really know its habits, which are as interesting as are those of bear or lion. Note, for example, the way he peeps at us from the far side of the tree, and the way he uses his tail as a balance and a help in steering as he leaps. This same tail he uses in the winter as a boa by wrapping it around himself as he lies curled up in his snug house. His vocal exercises are most entertaining also; he is the only singer I k
21 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET L. THE IMPROVEMENT OF COUNTRY SCHOOL GROUNDS.[67] By JOHN W. SPENCER.
LEAFLET L. THE IMPROVEMENT OF COUNTRY SCHOOL GROUNDS.[67] By JOHN W. SPENCER.
The picture is not an imaginary sketch, but a faithful representation of what stood in a prosperous rural community less than five years ago. To one familiar with country school buildings it will not be considered as a solitary "awful example," but rather as a type of many that are scattered over the State. I hope it is not your misfortune to be teaching in such a house, even though it is my desire to reach every teacher who is that luckless. However, to make my talk more real let us "make belie
17 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Designed to Open the Eyes of the Young.
Designed to Open the Eyes of the Young.
Most of these leaflets were published as companions to the Teachers' Leaflets and Lessons,—the teachers' lessons written in one vein and the children's in another. Even though the subject-matter may be largely duplicated in the two, it seems worth while to keep these separate as showing a simple method of presentation and as suggesting a means of procedure to those who would reach small children....
21 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
THE CHILD'S REALM. By L. H. BAILEY.
THE CHILD'S REALM. By L. H. BAILEY.
(Compare Leaflet VII.) — Whittier . " Surely, it is going to snow," says Grandfather, as he puts an armful of wood into the old box beside the fire; and a happy feeling comes over you, and you like Grandfather a little better because he has promised you a snow storm. "What a wise old Grandfather he is!" you think. He always seems to know what is going to happen out-of-doors and you wonder how he learned it all. Perhaps I can tell you why Grandfather is so wise. When he was a boy he lived on a fa
23 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LI. A SNOW STORM.[68] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LI. A SNOW STORM.[68] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
— Whittier . " Surely, it is going to snow," says Grandfather, as he puts an armful of wood into the old box beside the fire; and a happy feeling comes over you, and you like Grandfather a little better because he has promised you a snow storm. "What a wise old Grandfather he is!" you think. He always seems to know what is going to happen out-of-doors and you wonder how he learned it all. Perhaps I can tell you why Grandfather is so wise. When he was a boy he lived on a farm and was in the outdo
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LII. A PLANT AT SCHOOL.[69] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET LII. A PLANT AT SCHOOL.[69] By L. H. BAILEY.
I dropped a seed into the earth. It grew, and the plant was mine. It was a wonderful thing, this plant of mine. I did not know its name, and the plant did not bloom. All I know is that I planted something apparently as lifeless as a grain of sand and that there came forth a green and living thing unlike the seed, unlike the soil in which it stood, unlike the air into which it grew. No one could tell me why it grew, nor how. It had secrets all its own, secrets that baffle the wisest men; yet this
9 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LIII. AN APPLE TWIG AND AN APPLE.[71] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET LIII. AN APPLE TWIG AND AN APPLE.[71] By L. H. BAILEY.
(Compare Leaflet XXXI.) Yesterday I went over into the old apple orchard. It was a clear November day. The trees were bare. The wind had carried the leaves into heaps in the hollows and along the fences. Here and there a cold-blue wild aster still bloomed. A chipmunk chittered into a stone pile. I noticed many frost-bitten apples still clinging to the limbs. There were decayed ones on the ground. There were several small piles of fruit that the owner had neglected, lying under the trees, and the
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LIV. TWIGS IN LATE WINTER.[72] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LIV. TWIGS IN LATE WINTER.[72] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
Along a country road, through a drifted field, over a rail fence, and into the woods I went, gathering twigs here and there as I passed. A February thaw had come and these first messengers of spring, reaching out from shrub and tree, were beginning to show signs of life. Many young people do not believe that spring is near until they hear a robin or a bluebird. The bare little twigs tell us first. Look at them as you go on your way to school. Are they the same color in February that they were in
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LV PRUNING.[73]
LEAFLET LV PRUNING.[73]
If you think a minute, you will see that pruning is necessary in the plant world. Suppose a branch has thirty buds, and that every bud should produce thirty branches, each of which in turn should produce thirty more,—do you think there would be any room left in the world for boys and girls? Would a tree be able to hold so many branches? You certainly have noticed decayed holes in trees. Did you ever wonder why they were there? I suppose that most persons never wonder about it at all; or if they
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LVI THE HEPATICA.[74] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LVI THE HEPATICA.[74] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
Since the little woods plants have come to live with me I have learned to know them well. Perhaps the most important lesson they have taught me is this: The blossoms may be the least interesting part of a plant. Will you find out what hepaticas have to tell as the seasons pass? Even before you hear the first robin, go into the woods, find one of the hepaticas, and mark it for your own. You will know it by the old brown leaves. Then watch it day by day. The following questions will help you to le
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LVII JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT.[75] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LVII JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT.[75] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
But the blossoms they laugh and they dance, they are wilder than ever to-day; And as nobody stops to listen, so never a word has he said; But there in his pulpit he stands, and holds his umbrella over his head, And we have not a doubt in our minds, Jack, you are wisely listening, To the organ-chant of the winds, Jack, and the tunes that the sweet birds sing! Lucy Larcom . "It is Indian turnip," said I. "No," said Grandmother, "it's memory root. If you taste it once you will never forget it." And
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LVIII. THE DANDELION.[76] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY and L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET LVIII. THE DANDELION.[76] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY and L. H. BAILEY.
The first warmth of spring brought the dandelions out of the banks and knolls. They were the first proofs that winter was really going, and we began to listen for the blackbirds and swallows. We loved the bright flowers, for they were so many reflections of the warming sun. They soon became more familiar, and invaded the yards. Then they overran the lawns, and we began to despise them. We hated them because we had made up our minds not to have them, not because they were unlovable. In spite of e
2 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
Dandelion.
Dandelion.
— Lowell . (Compare Leaflets XLVII and XLVIII .) The hills are bright with maples about the time Jack Frost appears, and many people say that he makes the leaves turn red and yellow. Wise folk tell us, however, that Jack Frost is not the artist; that leaves change to autumn tints when their work is completed. Boys and girls may not know that leaves "work;" yet all through the long summer days when you have been playing in the shade of some old maple, the leaves over your head have been very busy
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LIX MAPLE TREES IN AUTUMN.[77] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LIX MAPLE TREES IN AUTUMN.[77] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
The hills are bright with maples about the time Jack Frost appears, and many people say that he makes the leaves turn red and yellow. Wise folk tell us, however, that Jack Frost is not the artist; that leaves change to autumn tints when their work is completed. Boys and girls may not know that leaves "work;" yet all through the long summer days when you have been playing in the shade of some old maple, the leaves over your head have been very busy. Uncle John says that each leaf is a "starch fac
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LX A CORN STALK.[78] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LX A CORN STALK.[78] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
Hearing a note of surprise in his voice, I told him something about corn-raising in this country. We then decided that it is a good thing to represent corn on one of the United States coins, since it is a source of much of our wealth. But aside from its value, Indian corn should interest us because it is a wonderful plant. Boys and girls do not know much more about it than does any old black crow. You have watched the farmer plant corn and you like to eat it. Jim Crow has watched the farmer plan
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXI IN THE CORN FIELDS.[79] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LXI IN THE CORN FIELDS.[79] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
But this is the harvest time and we are ready to learn a new lesson from the corn fields. As we watch them now let us answer the following questions: 1. How is the corn cut? 2. How many ears do you find on a stalk? 3. Are the ears on the same side of the stalk or on opposite sides? 4. Take into the school room as many kinds of corn as you can find and describe each as follows: a—The shape and color of the kernel. b—Number of rows of kernels. c—The number of kernels in each row. 5. Perhaps the gi
51 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXII. THE ALFALFA PLANT.[80] By L. H. BAILEY and JOHN W. SPENCER.
LEAFLET LXII. THE ALFALFA PLANT.[80] By L. H. BAILEY and JOHN W. SPENCER.
(Compare Leaflet XXXIV.) All the things that the farmer sells are produced by plants and animals. The animals live on the plants. It is important that we know what some of these plants are. Some plants are grown for human food. Such are potato, wheat, apple, lettuce. Some are grown only to feed to animals. Such are grasses and clover,—plants that are made into hay. Hay is the most important crop in New York State. In fact, New York leads all the States in the value of the hay and forage. This va
8 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXIII THE RED SQUIRREL.[81] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LXIII THE RED SQUIRREL.[81] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
Young naturalists may think it is a difficult thing to become acquainted with red squirrels, but you will often find them willing to be sociable if you show them a little kindness. I have many times watched two or three squirrels playing about a friend as she sat in her garden. They seemed to find her nearly as interesting as the old pine tree near by. They are inquisitive animals. "How did you tame them?" I asked. "I fed them occasionally," she replied. "At first I put some nuts on the grass se
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXIV ROBIN.[82] By L. H. BAILEY.
LEAFLET LXIV ROBIN.[82] By L. H. BAILEY.
Perhaps you think you know robin. Suppose that one of your friends never saw a robin; do you think you could close your eyes and describe him so that your friend would know how the bird looks? Then tell me where robin builds its nest, and of what materials; and how many eggs are laid and their color; and how long the mother bird sits; and how long the fledglings remain in the nest. You can readily find a family of robins in some near-by tree, or perhaps even on the porch; and you can learn all t
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXV CROWS.[83]
LEAFLET LXV CROWS.[83]
How Jim Crow does harm: — 1. By killing toads, frogs, small snakes, and salamanders ("lizards"). Why are these little creatures first rate farm hands? 2. By pulling up sprouting corn. Some farmers prevent this by tarring the corn. 3. By stealing eggs, small chickens, and tiny birds. It is said that the crow is rarely guilty of these wrongs. What do you know about it? How Jim Crow does good: — 4. By eating large numbers of insects: grasshoppers, caterpillars (including army worms and cut worms),
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXVI. A FRIENDLY LITTLE CHICKADEE.[84] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LXVI. A FRIENDLY LITTLE CHICKADEE.[84] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
One cold December day a chickadee found himself alone in a wood. He looked very much like other chickadees, a small, gray bird, wearing, as someone has said, "a black hood with white side pieces and a black vest." He was like others of his kin, too, in that he was a skillful acrobat. He could stand right side up on a twig or cling to it upside down—one position seemed as easy as the other. But I am not sure that this little chickadee was like his fellows in one respect. I have wondered whether t
11 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXVII. THE FAMILY OF WOODPECKERS.[85] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LXVII. THE FAMILY OF WOODPECKERS.[85] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
The red-head is not uncommon. Keep on the lookout for him. His head, neck, throat, and upper breast are red; the rest of his body is blue-black and white. He is a handsome fellow, a bright bit of color in wood, garden, orchard, or field. Let us see what we can learn about him. 1. Try to get a nearer view of any bird that you see sitting on a telegraph pole or fencepost. It may be a red-headed woodpecker. 2. Is this little fellow as good a drummer as his relatives? 3. His mate likes his music. If
10 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXVIII. DESERTED BIRDS'-NESTS.[89] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LXVIII. DESERTED BIRDS'-NESTS.[89] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
Winter is the best time of year to hunt for birds' nests. It is hard to find them in the spring and the summer. The parent birds intend it shall be. If you succeed in getting a nest, take it into the school room so that the other members of your club can study it with you. Where did you find the nest? What is its size and shape? Name it, if you can. Was it built on the horizontal crotch of the branch, or on an upright crotch? How was it fastened to the branch? Notice the materials of which it is
1 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXIX. THE POULTRY YARD: SOME THANKSGIVING LESSONS.[90] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY and JAMES E. RICE.
LEAFLET LXIX. THE POULTRY YARD: SOME THANKSGIVING LESSONS.[90] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY and JAMES E. RICE.
A rosy-cheeked girl, a freckled-faced boy and a little bald-headed baby were the only young persons at the Thanksgiving dinner. The baby was not old enough to be invited, but we were so thankful to have her with us that we could not resist drawing her chair up to the table. The turkey was a big one and "done to a turn." We old folks thought so, the freckled-faced boy thought so, and the rosy-cheeked girl thought so. The baby, so far as I could judge, thought not at all. She chewed energetically
55 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXX. LITTLE HERMIT BROTHER.[91] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
LEAFLET LXX. LITTLE HERMIT BROTHER.[91] By ANNA BOTSFORD COMSTOCK.
The reason why these New York counties expect company is that they entertained a large number of similar guests in 1882, 1865, 1848, 1831, 1814, in 1797, and probably at intervals of seventeen years long before that; in 1797, however, was the first record made of the appearance of these visitors. Every time they came they probably outstayed their welcome; yet they had the good quality of allowing their hosts sixteen years of rest between visits. In order that the Junior Naturalist may recognize
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXXI. A HOME FOR FRIENDLY LITTLE NEIGHBORS.[92] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LXXI. A HOME FOR FRIENDLY LITTLE NEIGHBORS.[92] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
(Compare Leaflet XVII.) Last year when vacation days were over our young people found it hard to leave the acquaintances that they had made during the summer,—the garden-folk, the road-side-folk, and the wood-folk. Let us take them indoors with us this year. It will not be difficult to provide a home for some of the more friendly ones and they will help to make the schoolroom a cheerful place. How pleasant it will be in the long afternoons to hear the cricket's merry tune or see the flutter of a
18 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXXII. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.[93] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LXXII. MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES.[93] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
The eggs are laid singly or in clusters. They are usually found on the plant which is the favorite food of the young. Look for the shining masses of the eggs of the tent-caterpillar on apple and wild cherry trees; also for the yellow eggs of potato beetles on potato leaves. The larva or "worm" hatches from the egg. During this period in its history the insect eats and grows . If you doubt that they have good appetites, undertake to feed a few healthy caterpillars this spring. If you doubt that t
6 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXXIII. THE PAPER-MAKERS.[94] BY ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LXXIII. THE PAPER-MAKERS.[94] BY ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
A Castle Made of Paper . Many school rooms in the State have a hornet's nest which some boy or girl has brought to show the teacher. It is usually hung on the wall or used as an ornament on top of the bookcase. Let us take it down some day this month and learn something about it. Do you think the nest can be called a castle? Why not? Look inside. Is it not several stories high? Are there not spacious galleries in it? Is it not as well guarded when the wasps are at home as if an army of soldiers
4 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXXIV. SOME CARPENTER ANTS AND THEIR KIN.[95] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
LEAFLET LXXIV. SOME CARPENTER ANTS AND THEIR KIN.[95] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.
(Compare Leaflet XXI.) One bright August morning, as we were walking along the edge of a wood, we found an old tree trunk lying on the ground. I am sure it had been there a long time. Large pieces of bark were loose enough to be lifted up; being naturalists, we took advantage of this fact to see whether anything was living underneath. What queer little outdoor folk we found: "thousand-legged worms," sow-bugs, a black beetle that looked as if its back were made of patent-leather, and best of all
3 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXXV. A GARDEN ALL YOUR OWN.[96] By JOHN W. SPENCER.
LEAFLET LXXV. A GARDEN ALL YOUR OWN.[96] By JOHN W. SPENCER.
My Dear Nephews and Nieces : Would you like to have a garden this summer—a garden all your very own? If so, you can surely have one. A man up in a balloon could have one if he were to try; a man living down in a coal mine could not, because there would be no sunlight. Plants must have light from the sun, which is the vital source of all light. I consider that anyone who cares for a plant, growing either in a window box or in a tomato can, has a garden. Yes; a plant growing in an eggshell constit
13 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXXVI. THE GARDENS AND THE SCHOOL GROUNDS.[97] By JOHN W. SPENCER.
LEAFLET LXXVI. THE GARDENS AND THE SCHOOL GROUNDS.[97] By JOHN W. SPENCER.
My Dear Boys And Girls: Of course you believe that Columbus discovered America, even though you were not with him. If you had been on the deck of his ship when San Salvador raised its head on the rim of the sea, you would be talking about it every day of your life. As it is, your knowledge comes to you through books, and you think you are fortunate if you are able to answer questions correctly on examination. This leads me to remark that there is much more interest in things that we have helped
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXXVII. SOMETHING FOR YOUNG FARMERS.[98] By JOHN W. SPENCER.
LEAFLET LXXVII. SOMETHING FOR YOUNG FARMERS.[98] By JOHN W. SPENCER.
My Dear Nephews and Nieces: I wish to make farmers of you all. I will try to tell you how to have farms all your own—farms on which you can plant seeds and see the plants grow. Once a little girl in Buffalo, who is one of my Junior Naturalists, asked me whether I would call at her home and see the harvest from seeds she planted on one of her farms the spring before. The principal of the school went with me, for he knew all about the little girl's success, and seemed proud of what she had accompl
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXXVIII. BULBS.[99] By JOHN W. SPENCER.
LEAFLET LXXVIII. BULBS.[99] By JOHN W. SPENCER.
A BULB GARDEN. To succeed with the cultivation of flowers, the first thing to have in mind is to make the plant comfortable. This condition should be not only the first thought, but also the last thought. If you can do this successfully, the plant will do the rest of the work and your results will be abundant. What plant comfort is, is a question more easily suggested than answered, for it is a very large subject—about as large as the surface of the earth. As a venture we will say that there are
5 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXXIX. A TALK ABOUT BULBS BY THE GARDENER.[100] By C. E. HUNN.
LEAFLET LXXIX. A TALK ABOUT BULBS BY THE GARDENER.[100] By C. E. HUNN.
Perhaps you would like to hear from the gardener. Your Uncle John has told you something about preparing a bed for your plants. His advice is very good; but the bulbs we are to talk about are like those notional children whom he mentions and they do not want tallow candles for any part of their meal. You should know that bulbs do not want to come into direct contact with the stable fertilizer. They want the fertilizer below them where the feeding roots may nibble at it when the bulb is hard at w
12 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter
LEAFLET LXXX. HORSES.[101] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY and I. P. ROBERTS.
LEAFLET LXXX. HORSES.[101] By ALICE G. McCLOSKEY and I. P. ROBERTS.
A few minutes ago I went into the stable to see Peg and Nan, the two bay horses. On the outside of each stall I found a door-plate, with Nan written in large, black letters on one, Peg on the other. I visited each old friend in turn. They are quite different in disposition, these two horses. Nan is gentle, affectionate, patient; Peg is spirited, unfriendly, restless. I am very fond of them both and as yet have not been able to decide which I enjoy the more, quiet Nan or spirited Peg. All horses
7 minute read
Read Chapter
Read Chapter