OF INTEREST TO TEACHERS. 2 I 



" One of the most important manufacturing industries of this 

 country is that which iuchides the various Hues of textiles. Leav- 

 ing out the silk and woolen mills, which use chiefly animal fibers, 

 there are the cotton factories, the linen and jute mills, and the 

 twine and cordage mills, which use plant fibers exclusively. 

 These number about 1,200 distinct establishments, representing 

 an invested capital of more than $500,000,000 and giving pro- 

 ductive employment to more than 300,000 persons. 



" The source of the raw material required by this great in- 

 dustry is an item of no small interest. ^lost of the cotton is 

 produced in our southern states, but nearly all the other vegetable 

 fibers are imported. The importations of raw fibers, including 

 cotton, during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1903, amounted to 

 $46,161,172. These figures cover only the raw fiber. The im- 

 portations of all the different kinds of textile plant fibers in the 

 various stages of manufacture, from yarn and coarse twine to fine 

 woven goods, laces and hosiery, amount annually to more than 

 $80,000,000."' M. AI. B. 



A'alue of Nature Study. — One of the most gratifying fea- 

 tures of our educational progress is the growing interest in na- 

 ture study. Nature study at the very outset turns the child's in- 

 quiring mind to the things near at hand ; it is the first step in 

 practical education ; the first thing to make the child think of his 

 schooling, not as a foreign, unnecessary accomplishment, but as 

 a vital thing that is to blossom and bear fruit in his everyday 

 experience. 



We are more interested in the development of the nature stud}- 

 idea, too, because nature study is the stepping stone, the logical 

 introduction to the studv of agriculture. This is the policy 

 favored by our North Carolina school authorities, and the policy 

 which Dr. F. L. Stevens has kept steadily in mind in Teachers' 

 Bulletin No. 5, " A Course in Nature Study," just issued by 

 Superintendent Joyner. Prepared only after the most exhaus- 

 tive study; clear, practical, and admirably arranged, this bulletin 

 ought to be in the hands of every teacher in the South, and we 

 take it that Professor Joyner will send copies to all applicants. 

 as long as the supply lasts. 



