STATE I'OxMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. IO9 



which nature clothes waterways and some of the ways in which 

 man treats waterways. And then many of our city yards are 

 unsightly and unhomelike. They are not playgrounds. I am 

 speaking of these because the work of gardening in the cities 

 is very closely allied to that of civic improvement, and civic 

 improvement is only a larger view of home improvement. The 

 home is a unit, that is all. In all this work the children ought 

 to have a very intimate and close part. How many yards in 

 your town are in this ungarnished condition? Here we have a 

 little bit of nature contrasted with it. 



[Then followed a number of pictures showing strikingly 

 beautiful effects mainly brought about by the efforts of children 

 and many eyesores the result of carelessness in country and city 

 homes.] 



In the city man appears only anxious to destroy the beautiful 

 things, but is often desirous of erecting positive eyesores. After 

 he erects them, then he garnishes them with signs of various 

 kinds. In some of the cities, the improvement societies, aided 

 by the children, are taking hold of this important work with 

 excellent results. In passing let me say that you can obtain two 

 or three illustrated pamphlets published by the National League 

 for Civic Improvement now established in Chicago, describing 

 the progress of civic advancement. 



NATURE STUDY AT CORNELL. 



Cornell University, through the bureau of nature study keeps 

 in touch year after year with from twenty-five to thirty-five 

 thousand children in the schools of the cities, of the villages, and 

 in the country. This is done by first having one person take 

 charge of that work ; in the second place by issuing a little 

 pamphlet once a month, of which I have given you some sample 

 pages on the slide. This little pamphlet is called "The Junior 

 Naturalist Monthly." The child is very responsive, but he or 

 she must be approached in the right way, thev must feel that 

 they are dealing with a tangible person, with something real. 

 So in order to stimulate and foster that idea, we have created 

 a real person in the College of Agriculture, and have given him 

 the name of "Uncle John." Uncle John is the pater familias 

 of this whole movement, the man who has charge of all the 

 work with the children. The junior Naturalist Monthly is 



