210 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



thoughts. This tends to originality and lays the foundation for truth. 

 This study of birds, insects, plants, trees and natural phenomena 

 is the ordinary conception of nature study. But there is another 

 phase of it that we believe to be even of greater value. It is garden- 

 ing and the care of domestic animals. Here the relation the child 

 sustains to the plant or animal is one of responsibility and care- 

 taking. This responsibility gives rise to the necessity of labor, 

 which has its reward by the growth and development of the plant 

 or animal and, finally, by their contribution to our physical support 

 and pleasure. 



Feeding the chickens. 



We started the children in gardening by giving them a small plat 

 of our vegetable garden. Here they planted radishes, beans and 

 corn. In poultry culture they were given some setting hens and 

 eggs. The amount of interest and pleasure they manifested in this 

 work was very great, and the amount of time and actual labor they 

 spent was surprising. In their garden work they planted the seeds, 

 weeded and hoed the plants. With poultry they cared for the setting 

 hen, mixed the feed for the chicks, fed them, and saw that they were 

 safe in their coops at night. If there was a storm brewing, you could 

 depend upon it, the children had noticed it before you. More than 



