74 STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



in all directions. Yet how often this healthy activity, which should 

 be the teacher's safest guide, is restrained and well-nigh paralyzed 

 to his incalculable loss. In this nature study, no branch presents 

 so wide a field as the study of plant life. But while admitting, its 

 unquestioned claims to a place in the school course, two questions 

 naturally suggest themselves : 



1. What are the results to be obtained in this as in ot! er 

 branches of science teaching? 



2. What particular subjects may be touched upon and how? 

 Let us consider briefly these questions in their reverse order, 



finding in the answer to the second some light thrown upon the first. 

 As just said no broader field presents itself in elementary science 

 than the study of plant life. The material is ever}' where accessible, 

 and interest and enthusiasm cannot Jail to be aroused under the 

 skilful teacher. Two or three underlying principles should always 

 be borne in mind in the teaching. P>ery lesson should have a defi- 

 nite purpose, otherwise the lessons soon become vague and discon- 

 nected. There should be real observation on the part of the pupil, 

 not through the eye of the teacher, though directed and guided Vy 

 her. And no other study gives wider scope for careful, skilful 

 questioning. 



The stud}' of the plant may begin at any point, but the subject 

 of germination naturally suggests itself among the first Pupils of 

 all ages, but especially children, delight to learn by doing, and 

 some simple experiments, such as are suggested in Prof. Goodall's 

 little pamphlet, "Concerning a Few Common Plants," are easily 

 performed and very helpful. Select a few seeds as the corn, bean 

 and pea, and spend a little time in their examination. Let the 

 pupil discover how a tiny plant with stem and leaves is folded away 

 in the seed coats, and compare the three, noting differences and 

 resemblances. In the meantime in a few deep plates or flower pots 

 filled with clean sand, let him plant a few seeds of each kind half 

 an inch deep, and others at intervals of two or three days so that 

 when all have started three stages of growth will be represented. 

 What changes have taken place in the transition from the hard, dry 

 seed to the plant, now in possession of all the parts of the full 

 grown tree? How has nourishment been supplied? Whence will 

 it come henceforth? What conditions have been necessary to 

 growth? How does the seedling ( f the corn differ from that of the 

 pea and the bean from both? Some seedlings may also be raised 



