Rural School Leaflet 1343 



every pupil can recognize and distinguish the forty, fifty, or more kinds of 

 trees growing in the locality. 



In connection with the study of trees, it is desirable, as well as interesting, 

 to make a collection of tree specimens that will show for each species the 

 young and the old bark, the leaves, the flowers, the fruit, a cross section, 

 and a longitudinal section of the wood. The diff:erent parts from a given 

 tree may be mounted on a neat background and preserved for exhibition 

 and study. Further information regarding tree mounts will be found 

 on page 1387. 



One caution is necessary and concerns the matter of respect for property, 

 which should be taught in making the tree collections. No tree should 

 be mutilated or destroyed in order to secure specimens of wood or bark. 

 The length of time it takes to grow a tree may be emphasized. There 

 are many opportunities, if the children are on the lookout for them, to 

 secure specimens of wood and bark when trees are cut down by the owners 

 or from the stumps of trees that have been cut down in the past. 



In addition to the study of trees from the natural history point of 

 view, it is desirable to consider, with the boys and girls, the importance 

 of properly caring for the farm woodlot in order that the greatest amount 

 of wood shall be grown in the shortest possible time. There are many 

 uses for wood on the farms aside from its value as fuel, and these uses 

 may be considered when the treatment of the woodlot is discussed. 



FORESTRY IN THE RU RAL SCHOOLS 

 Frank B. Moody 



In the new educational movement to have children in the mral districts 

 taught in terms of their daily life, agriculture, domestic science, and other 

 practical subjects are being introduced into school work. Some educators 

 who are deeply interested in having boys and girls take an interest in all 

 phases of agriculture consider that a little forestry, such as the care of 

 the woods, might have a place; that side by side with instruction in the 

 care of the orchard and of the shade trees about buildings and along 

 highways, tlie raising of a useful crop of wood might give opportunity 

 for educational work. 



Forestry experience teaches the following principles: 



I. Certain phases of forestry, such as the planting and the care of the 

 woods, are a real part of agriculture, since they have to do with raising 

 a crop from the land. The methods are simple, and the results are even 

 more certain than those of other lines of agriculture. Forestry can make 

 the land profitable. It is especially suited to this country, in so far as it 

 is developed with less labor and can make a larger income from poor lands — 

 such as a rough and mountainous country — than any other form of 



