STATE POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. I3I 



August. We were all surprised the next year to see a fine field 

 of timothy, where the thistles had held almost absolute control. 

 Had I known that the thistle is a biennial, and that fruiting is an 

 exhausting process, it would have saved me much hard unpro- 

 fitable work. 



I have spoken of these things as reasons for the study of 

 plant life; but there are reasons more weighty, even if we are 

 not able to estimate their value in dollars. The child who has 

 been rightly trained in plant study, will find his highest pleasure 

 in it, and will never be content to live long wdiere he cannot en- 

 joy the companionship of his bright, beautiful, ever changing, al- 

 ways constant friends. Let the children learn the pleasure of the 

 sweet companionship of plants. Introduce them so they may be- 

 come friends, nay confidants, and the smell of thewoods.the sing- 

 ing of the birds, the murmur of the brook, the thousand charms of 

 sight and sound will be ties to keep them near the enchanted 

 spot, where such wonders are wrought and where the miracle of 

 spring is enacted again and again. This knowledge is of too 

 much worth to be counted in dollars and cents, it is that which 

 makes the cultured mind truly live. 



How should botany be taught? The pupil should study 

 plants, not books, at first, then books for the sake of plants. No 

 study is more useless and a greater weariness to the flesh than 

 the book study of botany. A good v/ork can be done by having 

 the pupils get acquainted with the forest trees and shrubs. How 

 few there are who can distinguish our common trees! The 

 proper study of woods is a valuable preparation for many call- 

 ings in life. Here is a most favorable opportunity to teach 

 adaption to soil and rotation of crops. The sugar maple and 

 beech seek the dry well-drained upland, while the cedar and 

 brown ash keep their roots near the cool water. One favorite 

 spot for a lesson with my classes, is where a mighty wind had 

 swept a track through a heavy growth of maple and beech; but 

 over their prostrate trunks the fir and spruce are now growing 

 so thick as to make it almost impossible to penetrate. Here, 

 also, can be taught a lesson that man must bring about the 

 proper introduction of seed, or the worthless or useless may take 

 the place of the useful. This part of plant study can be made 

 interesting and profitable, by having the pupils make a collec- 



