io8 The Nature-Study Idea 



sent a new type of school literature. In the 

 future, the text-book is to have relatively less 

 influence than in the past. We have been living 

 in a text-book and museum age. All this old 

 method is not to be complained of. The fact 

 that so many new subjects and propaganda are 

 coming in shows that we are in the midst of an 

 evolution : we are in the making of progress. 



Nature-study teaching may seem to be an 

 indirect way of reaching the farmer; but it is 

 not. It is direct because it strikes at the very 

 root of the difficulty. Nature-study teaches the 

 importance of actually seeing the thing and then 

 of trying to understand it. The person who 

 really knows a pussy-willow will know how to 

 become acquainted with a potato-bug. He will 

 introduce himself. One of the most significant 

 comments I have heard on nature-study work 

 came from a country teacher who said that 

 because she had taught it, her pupils were no 

 longer ashamed of being farmers' children. If 

 only that much can be accomplished for each 

 country child, the result will be enough for one 

 generation. What can be done for the country 



