17 



CO-OPERATIVE EXPERIMENTS IN FORESTRY. 



This branch of the Union work is not completely organized yet. 

 There is one forest nursery established at the College, but its output is 

 limited. A larger one has been equipped this summer to meet the de- 

 mands of the Province. 



For the season of 1907 some seedlings may be ready, and at any 

 rate seeds will be available for distribution to the schools. However, it 

 is not necessary here as in agriculture and horticulture to develop im- 

 proved varieties. Our forest trees are valuable for their wood and not 

 for their fruits. Seeds that are as good as any imported may be gathered 

 everywhere. This will be an especially attractive side of the nature study 

 collecting. A list is given of the commoner trees, the seed of which it 

 would be profitable to propagate. 



Up to the present, the work has been along the line of reclaiming 

 waste land. From now on help will be available to those wishing to im- 

 prove neglected farm wood lots. It is in this line that the school's in- 

 terest may be directed. Much can be done by calling attention to im- 

 proper conditions and suggesting lines of improvement. It is not meant 

 that the teacher's office is to come forward and point out mistakes ; he 

 would serve a good cause poorly by doing that as a rule. But by the 

 direction of observation, he may lead the children to see the mistakes for 

 themselves. 



This directive work may be done incidentally while following the 

 line of work suggested in the departmental Course of Study, viz. : — Form 

 I : Collecting and studying autumn leaves; Form II. : Forms and uses 

 of trees; forestry and lumbering operations; pioneer life of district; 

 Form III. : Culture of shade trees ; identification of common forest trees ; 

 Form IV. : Buds and twigs; woods : rings, grain, bark, uses, etc.; forest 

 plant life. 



Nature study teaching here fails in its largest function if it does not 

 lead to a doing on the part of the scholar which will be of life value. And 

 while the collecting, pressing, and mounting of leaves, the collecting and 

 identifying of seeds, the polishing and mounting of different kinds of 

 woods, have their proper share in the education of the boy, they must not 

 be considered an end sufficient in themselves. They are for his youth. 

 The end which is outward and visible should be rather an improvement 

 in regard to the planting and care of shade trees at home and at school, 

 and of wood lots on his own farm or on municipal waste lands. This 

 may come into active evidence only after school days, but it is the school's 

 part in education nevertheless. The real end of it all is inward and in- 

 visible ; it is the development of a character through an interest in the 

 shaping and controlling of one of nature's grandest products — trees. 



The teacher in the one-room rural school is not expected to teach 

 technical forestry as it is taught in the schools of Germany or at this 

 College. His function is directive. He leads his pupils to observe the 

 conditions of the surrounding woods. He instructs him in proper con- 

 ditions. He gets him to feel that there is need for improvement. He 

 encourages him in the attempt, and directs him to the proper source for 

 information and help. It may be that only one boy or one girl is stirred 

 2 Bull. 152. 



