Ill 



\ 



living- in the water or in the air, they are less easily distinguished 

 from their surroundings when seen against the sky by their 

 enemies from below, or when seen against the earth background 

 by enemies from above. All our lives we have associated the 

 stimulating effects of light and the production of pigment, as in 

 tan and freckles ; but most teachers fail to apply this tO' the pig- 

 mentation of animals other than man, and avoid any reference 



to such animals as blackbirds and cardinals which do not fit 

 their generalization. 



Two boats once met off our New England coast, and, as the 



story 



goes, the smaller hailed the larger 



with a piping '^ Ship 



Ahoy ! " To this came a booming " Ship Ahoy ! " from the 

 larger boat. Then the little boat called in its little voice, ''What's 

 your name?", receiving in deep-sounding tones the answer '' Man- 

 dalay." The dialogue continued, *' Where from?" ''Bombay." 



a 



How long have 



you 



been out ? " brought the 



rolling answer 



a 



Two hundred and forty days." Then the big ship assumed 

 the initiative, with *' What's your [name?", receiving a thin 

 *'Mary Ann." ''Where are you from?" "Gloucester." , And to 

 " How long have you been out ? " came a high-pitched *' Been 

 out all night." The application is plain. Too many little Mary 

 Anns attempted w^ork they could not do — either because they 

 were pushed into it or because they were Mary Anns and 

 couldn't appreciate how big a task they had tackled. And the 

 voice of the herald crying the coming of a new educational era 

 has waned to a pathetic Mary Ann squeak. 



Even gardening, supported by its immediate practical results, 

 has not been wholly successful. There was an encouraging re- 



4 



vival throughout our country during the war, but it was not 

 permanent, as shown by the decrease in the demands we receive 

 for garden and nature study instructors, and by the smaller grad- 

 uating class in your own institution this year. 



Are we right in continuing to- combine school garden work 

 with the present type of school year? Can we really do this 

 work successfully unless we have a twelve-month school year of 

 four three-month terms, giving the garden work in the summer 

 fourth. Certain it is, we go contrary to accepted pedagogical 



