BALDWIN I 



MANUAL TRAINING 45 



cate, viz.: that the development of the knowledge of nature and of 

 manual training has been in connection with man's economic needs 

 and their supply. Man must eat to live, and so fishing, hunting and 

 agriculture have been developed and man has come to know the 

 natural products of earth, air and sea. 



In other words we are coming to see that the best results in manual 

 training have come to man in connection with the gaining of a liveli- 

 hood, and that man's understanding of nature and even his love of 

 nature have been developed in connection with his strivings to com- 

 pel nature for his own uses. 



We are slowly learning the lesson that if we would help the child 

 to develop naturally we must consider how he has been developing 

 through the long process of civilization. Left to himself he follows 

 this method. 



A good illustration of the natural correlation of nature study and 

 manual training is found in Elbert Hubbard's autobiography where 

 he says : 



" I left school at 15 with a fair hold on the three R's and beyond 

 this my education in manual training had been good. I knew all the 

 forest trees, all wild animals thereabouts, every kind of fish, frog, 

 fowl or bird that swam, ran or flew. I knew every kind of grain or 

 vegetable and its comparative value. I knew the different breeds of 

 cattle, horses, sheep and swine. I could teach wild cows to stand 

 while being milked, break horses to saddle or harness ; could sow, 

 plow and reap ; knew the mysteries of apple-butter, pumpkin pie, 

 pickled beef, smoked side-meat and could make lje at a leach and 

 formulate soft soap. That is to say, I was a bright, strong, active boy 

 who had been brought up to help his father and mother get a living 

 for a large family. " 



Happy is the child who gets a large share of his nature-study and 

 manual training in helping his father and mother get a living for a 

 large family. 



At a recent meeting of a farmer's club I made the following sug- 

 gestions regarding the study of nature on the farm : The life of the 

 child is made up of work and play. He gets his development 

 through both. He studies nature in connection with both. Shall we 

 help him ? Shall we show by our actions that we are interested and 

 sympathetic even when perchance other things seem more important ? 



Illustrations : The boy washing dishes discovers air under a tum- 

 bler. A tempest threatens the hay and the boy finds a bird's nest. 



