STAT15 POMOLOGICAI, SOCIe;TY. 93 



WINIER MEETING. 



Nkw Gloucester, January i8 and 19, 1900. 



A special meeting and exhibition was held as above, when 

 the following papers and discussions were presented : 



NATURE STUDY IN THE HOME. 

 Mrs. V. P. DeCoster, Buckfield. 



To make a success of any business a person must like it, must 

 have some inspiration and attraction for that business. Agricul- 

 ture, more than any other calling, offers a broad field of study, 

 and experiment. It would naturally seem that our country 

 schools, where the scholars are surrounded on every hand with 

 the best of material for study, should be the pioneers in Nature 

 studies. Unfortunately, however, such is not the case. In our 

 city schools you will find the children drawing from leaves, 

 flowers and stuffed birds. They have cabinets filled with spec- 

 imens for the study of Geology, Mineralogy, Entomology, 

 Botany, etc., while in our country schools, where these speci- 

 mens can most easily be obtained, they are seldom found, and 

 but few teachers are capable of teaching them. 



Until we have these studies taught in the rural schools, every 

 father and mother should constitute themselves as teachers, 

 even though they be learners themselves. The love of nature 

 is not wholly a natural one, but is largely educational. When 

 walking along a public street you may meet many strangers 

 who will have no particular interest for you ; but let a mutual 

 friend introduce you to some of them, and then tell you about 

 their homes, work, habits, characteristics and families, and the 

 next time you meet any of them you will feel an immediate 

 attraction. You will stop with a smile and a greeting and expe- 

 rience a feeling of pleasure. As your acquaintance progresses 

 you will seek their homes, study them and their relatives, and 

 if they are worthy, learn to love them. It is just the same with 

 birds, plants and minerals. One may live among them all 



