44 NATURE STUDY. 



uates out from the school knowing only from books and 

 hearsay that their city is engaged in certain lines of busi- 

 ness. If the statement that their own or some other city 

 has paper mills could be supplemented by a visit to such 

 a mill, or the lesson on cotton could be succeeded by per- 

 sonal observation of the processes that follow the arrival 

 of the bale at a cotton mill, knowledge would be gained 

 that would be education and not information merely. An 

 hour spent in personal observation is worth three with 

 books alone. 



An account of a visit by a geography class to two local 

 establishments may perhaps show the value of such work 

 better than argument alone. Cattle and cattle products 

 had just been the subjects studied from the textbook. 

 The next afternoon a tannery was visited. Only sheep- 

 skins were tanned there, but the principle was the same. 

 The bales of sun-dried pelts were seen and followed through 

 the soaking, the painting to loosen the wool and the pull- 

 ing of the wool. The wool was rinsed and dried, and 

 then washed and dried again. After this it was packed 

 in huge bags and shipped to woollen factories. The skins 

 were followed through the scraping, the various soakings, 

 the pickling and tanning in oak, hemlock or extract. 

 The dyed and polished leather was studied and admired 

 and the class came away knowing more about tanning than 

 they did before. 



A neighboring establishment was next visited that was 

 far from fragrant but fully as interesting. Here the waste 

 products of the meat markets are brought. The suet is 

 kept by itself, and on a long bench is trimmed by two men. 

 The trimmed product is put into a tank and washed in ice 

 water till all the blood and dirt are washed off. Then it 

 is ground in a meat-cutter and washed again, coming out 

 from this bath clean and white enough to satisfy the most 

 fastidious. It is then melted and the fat is drained off. 



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