1904] Nature Study — No. 9. 181 



NATURE STUDY— No. IX. 



The Practical Aspect of Nature Study. 

 By \\\ T. Macoin. 



It would be easy for the enthusiastic lover of nature to 

 describe in glowintj terms the wonderful beauty of a tiny flower 

 or the marvellous markings of a crawling caterpillir, but bv most 

 persons the first would be considered an insignificant plant and 

 the latter an ugly worm ; and, although the enthusiast might 

 study nature with such persons for days, it is doubtful if they 

 would ever become true nature students, unless each, of his own 

 accord and by himself, went forth and communed with nature, 

 and, becoming inspired by personal contact with her, seized' every 

 opportunity to glean a few grains from her inexhaustible stores. 

 It is when the student has reached this stage that the teacher will 

 be eagerly sought out, for, once the desire for knowledge is born, 

 the thirst for it is intense. 



It has been strongly impressed upon the writer that the per- 

 manent success of the Nature Study movement will largely 

 depend upon the demonstration of its practical value. This is a 

 practical age, and things useful take a very prominent place in it. 

 I believe, therefore, that our nature studies should begin with 

 something that it is generally conceded we should know more 

 about, such as the economic plants which produce our daily food, 

 as wheat, barley, oats, Indian corn, roots of various kinds and 

 fruits ; the trees which are of greatest value for timber, furniture 

 and other purposes ; the animals, birds and insects which are 

 beneficial and injurious; the soil, the air, the clouds, and, in fact, 

 eyefything by which we live and move and have our being. 

 These can be studied in such a way as to show their natural 

 beauty, their structure, their life history, and their relation one to 

 another, and, at the same time, studied with a view to obtaining 

 some practical result and the developing of the power of observa- 

 tion. Excursions to the woods need not become rarer, but there 

 should be excursions to the farm, the orchard and garden as well. 

 If a real interest in, and a definite knowledge of, the growth and 

 development of a pumpkin, for instance, or of a plant of wheat, 

 is the result of nature studies with the student, it will then be 



