NATURE-STUDY PROPERTY 



149 



apple worm, apple maggot, apple and plum curculios, 

 apple-, peach-, and cherry-tree borers, grape sphinx moth, 

 grape berry moth, and so on through a long list. If the 

 children have trees and vines, there will be no lack of 

 interest and materials for insect studies. From this they 

 will also gain a practical insight into the work of birds 

 and other insectivorous animals, and appreciate the need 

 of protecting them and attracting them to their homes; 

 and they will be glad to study the work of bees in carry- 

 ing pollen from flower to flower. Finally, they will at 

 least be awakened to see the value of knowlede^e about 

 the blights and mildews and other fungi that now make 

 fruit culture so difficult. 



Wherever I go I find common knowledge of the best 

 varieties of fruits falling out of the public mind. It is 

 certainly little enough to ask of nature study that it keep 

 alive this ancient and beneficent tree of knowledge, root, 

 trunk, and branch. 



To begin with, set a series of composition lessons upon 

 each of the more important of the fruits commonly raised 

 in the vicinity, asking the pupils to name all the varieties 

 they know. Let them describe each as to vigor of growth, 

 color, size, shape, flavor, fragrance, quality, origin, uses. 

 This will open the eyes of both teachers and pupils to how 

 little is commonly known of such matters. 



In proper season the liveliest lessons may be arranged 

 by asking the class to bring in specimens of all the 

 varieties of a certain fruit they have. Let the children 

 smell, taste, and handle them, and discuss which is the 

 best kind for different purposes. Make a practical fruit 

 show of it, a game of *' bests," to learn not only the best 



