REPORT OF THE SOCIETY 67 



encouragement of the activities of the child in the investigations of the problems 

 presented to it; and education does not consist in the imparting of information 

 by the teacher and its reception by the pupil. According to the modern idea it is 

 all important that the child should have clear percepts of the things that constitute 

 its environment, for these percepts form the basis for thought and further educa- 

 tional development. 



On this occasion it is impossible to deal with all the common things that 

 should be of interest to us all. I shall therefore, confine my remarks to a few — 

 some common insects and fungous diseases, some weeds, some trees, the soils 

 and the orchard. 



Common Insects 



All kinds of insects — good, bad and indifferent, biting insects and sucking 

 insects, stable pests, house pests, crop pests, orchard pests — land insects, and 

 aquatic insects — S3il grubs and tree borers — leaf -eating caterpillars and root 

 boring maggots — scavenger insects and predaceous insects — are to be found on 

 the farm. The habits and life-histories of insects are very varied, and as the 

 species are very numerous there is no dearth of opportunity for the inquisitive to 

 make inquiries. When it is realized that insects cause a loss of ten per cent, of 

 our farm produce, their study for the purpose of controlling them becomes a 

 practical and economic measure of considerable importance. The more abun- 

 dant insects are potato beetles, plant lice, house and horn flies, grasshoppers, 

 scale insects, cutworms, leaf hoppers, cabbage worms and cabbage maggots. 



The study of the changes insects undergo from egg to winged adult can be 

 readily carried out both at home and school by using boxes in which infested 

 plants are kept growing. The teacher should prepare a sample box or cage in 

 school and have a small named collection of the most common forms of insect 

 which the pupil may consult and examine at any time. Every school should 

 possess a cheap spraying device, so that the pupils may learn to operate it 

 Every pupil should know that there are biting or chewing insects and sucking 

 insects. The former have jaws wherewith they chew the food before it is taken 

 into the stomach, while the latter have a beak which they insert into the tissues 

 and suck up the juices taken into the stomach. It is very evident, therefore 

 that biting insects can be poisoned by placing a poison oq the food they chew ; on 

 the other hand, sucking insects cannot be poisoned in this way and recourse must 

 be had to placing liquids on them that kill them. Among common injurious 

 insects that chew their food are grasshoppers, potato beetles, green cabbage 

 worms, and other caterpillars such as cutworms and army worms. The poisons 

 usually employed are paris green, arsenate of lead, hellebore, and these may be 

 applied either in the dust or the liquid form. Grasshoppers, cutworms and army 



