If you liave a water turtle in jour aquariam, the first thing that 

 you will see is that he is very fiat. You will then find out that his 

 armor difiers from that of the land turtle. In what way ? You 

 will notice that he has a long nose. If you watch closely you will 

 learn why it is a good thing for a water turtle to have a long nose. 

 His feet differ from a land turtle's. How ? 



Try to keep some turtles in the school room. Arrange quarters 

 for them so tliat they can be in the water or on a dry surface. 

 Feed them pieces of raw meat. 



PLANT SOCIETIES. 



You know that different plants grow in different places. You go 

 to the open field for daisies, to the woods for mosses, to the swamp 

 for Jack-in-the-pulpit. You know, too, that certain plants live 

 together ; and these plants form " Societies " as boys and girls do 

 when they agree to live together in a Junior Naturalist Club. You 

 do not expect to find daisies growing alone in the field. Moss does 

 not cover the entire floor of the forest ; Jack-in-the-pulpit is not 

 sole proprietor of the swampy land. 



Let us begin to think about the plants that live together. Watch 

 them when they first appear. Note the number and kind in each 

 place or society. What changes take place in the society during the 

 summer ? Do new plants come in as the days go by ? 



How pretty some plant colonies are ! Down in the valley, saxi- 

 frage and ferns grow on the side of a bank. On sunny afternoons 

 shadows from the tall pines above lie across the little colony. There 

 are other plants there besides tliose bearing the white blossoms and 

 the green fronds. You will always find, however, that in every 

 plant society one or two plants seem to have right of way. 



The prettiest colonies are not always the most interesting. 



" I like the plants which you call weeds, — 

 Sedge, hardhack, mullein, yarrow, — 

 That knit their roots and sift their seeds 

 Where any grassy wheel-track leads 

 Through country by-ways narrow.' 

 469 



