1 5 4 THE NA TURE-STUD Y RE VIE W U ■ 5-may, .908 



schools to recognize easily the various insect pests and plant 

 diseases and to know something of the methods of eradication. 

 Furthermore, they should be taught how to use intelligently the 

 vast bulk of literature issued by State and nation each year in 

 the interest of the rancher. 



While we have not in the past made the nature-study work co- 

 extensive with the work in geography, yet a great deal of the 

 geography work up to the fifth grade has been taught in connec- 

 tion with nature-study. It is a matter of common note that 

 pupils who have taken the greatest interest in the study of nature p 

 are our strongest pupils in geography. We believe that the re- 

 lationship between these two studies should be developed as 

 closely as possible through the first four grades and we expect 

 constantly to keep this point in view in nature-study work in future. 



Our plans for the coming year include a line of experimenting 

 to determine what plants can be grown in our gardens through the 

 winter season, in addition to the already great variety of plants 

 on our campus (removing some which are duplicated three or 

 four times), and greenhouse experiments in forcing. We shall 

 also do some work next spring in the construction and planting of 

 ornamental beds. All this work is to be done by pupils and stu- 

 dents under direction. 



During the time our students are with us they are expected to 

 learn to recognize the two hundred fifty or more plants (culti- 

 vated and wild) that grow in and about Chico, the common birds 

 of the locality and about fifty of the insects of greatest economic 

 importance. They are required to learn by actual experience the 

 methods of plant propagation, care of plants and how to direct 

 garden work generally. They are further required to familiarize 

 themselves with the literature of school-gardening and nature- 

 study in general by being often referred to bulletins and books; 

 and they are encouraged to begin at once the collection of such 

 literature as is inexpensive and not cumbersome. The Biology 

 Department of our school has a library separate from the school 

 library, and in this are contained more than twenty-five hundred 

 pamphlets (most of which have been collected in the past eight 

 months) and the best books to be had on the subjects under con- 

 sideration in this paper. We also receive regularly about two 

 dozen periodicals (most of them weekly) on agriculture and 

 horticulture. 



