22 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW 



Ere the summer's luring beauty 



Is in autumn glory lost, 



Through the marshes and the forests 



An imperious summons flies 



And from all the dreaming northland 



The wild birds flock and rise." 



Nor have I touched the winter, the most festive season of all the 

 year but I have, I hope, made it clear that, if the natural history 

 of the farm does not appeal to us, the fault lies absolutely with 

 ourselves. Those of us who see the possibilities are not finding 

 fault with those who do not. We are only sorry for them and 

 hope that at least they wish they could. If not — as one writer 

 rather grotesquely puts it— "instead of being on the soil they 

 might better be under it, inspiring cabbages." 



The farm is without doubt the basic industry of our country, 

 and richer in its possibilities of national contentment than all 

 other occupations. What is needed is an awakening and a develop- 

 ment of an aesthetic appreciation. To accomplish this, the 

 teacher must keep in mind the person taught, rather than the 

 thing described. Scenes are only a means to an end and if a 

 teacher is so overpowered by them as to colour his description 

 extravagantly he shows signs of weakness. In short he must 

 not rave. He must take as his guide the thought that an aesthetic 

 experience is a pleasurable contemplation of an object, whether 

 that object has a physical existence or is a mere imagery of the 

 mind, called up by poetic description, or artistic reproduction. 

 If beauty were only in the thing contemplated we might have 

 great difficulty in deciding on standards, but this fortunately 

 is not the case. Hence if a boy laughs while a foolish teacher 

 raves the situation may be perfectly normal, but exceedingly 

 ridiculous. Pure aesthetic contemplation may be well illus- 

 trated by the Psalmist as he gazes heavenward; 



"When I consider the heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the 

 moon and the stars which Thou hast ordained. What is man 

 that Thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that Thou 

 visitest him." 



