Teachers' Leaflet. 511 



are infested and some sound peas, and note that though the infested peas 

 may germinate, they will not prove thrifty. The Baltimore oriole has 

 been observed tearing open pea pods and eating the peas, and the ignorant 

 farn'ier thought he was damaging the pea crop, but experiments have 

 shown that this bird ate only such peas as contained weevils. 



References. — "Injurious Insects," Treat, p. 56; Comstock's "Man- 

 ual for the Study of Insects," p. 581.' 



THE CARROT. 



Preliminary Work.- — The carrot is a most convenient plant for winter study, 

 for if it is placed in a pot of soil and kept wet in a warm room, it will soon send 

 out its leaves and be ready for study. A little talk may be given the children about 

 the history of the carrot. It is said to have been taken to England in Queen 

 Elizabeth's time by the Hollanders, who are said to have first cultivated and 

 improved it. From there it was brought to America soon after the landing of the 

 Pilgrims. It was used formerly much more upon the table than at present. It is 

 a most nutritious and when well cooked a delicious vegetable. However, it is 

 now used more largely for stock feeding; all grazing animals are especially fond 

 of it, and the pet rabbits appreciate it highly. 



LESSON LXXV. 



THE LEAVES. 



Purpose. — To call the attention of the child to the peculiarities of 

 the leaves and their growth. 



Note the manner in which the leaves spring from the root. Are they 

 grouped in one or more bunches ? Pull off one leaf ; note its long, slender 

 stem fluted on the under part and grooved on the upper side. Pull a 

 leaf stem apart and note the strong, fiber-like " fiddle strings," which lie 

 underneath the fluted part, and give the stem strength and toughness. 

 Note that the leaves are divided and that the leaflets are also divided. 

 Observe as you pull the leaves off from the root, that although they seem 

 opposite to each other, each one is a little above the other , they are 

 really alternate, but the stem is so short that they are all bunched together. 



Let the pupils make a hanging basket of the carrot by cutting oft" 

 the thick upper end of the root and hollowing it out in cup-shape, leaving 

 a shell about half an inch thick ; hang this in the window bottomside up 

 and keep it filled with water, or with a sponge kept wet, on which grass 

 seed is sown. Soon the carrot leaves will grow and turning upward cover 

 the basket. After a time the leaves will turn yellow and droop and the 

 pupils should understand the reason for this is that all of the food of the 

 carrot root has been used up and the leaves have no further means of 

 nourishment. 



