1891.] PUBLIC DOCUMENT — No. 4. 57 



up, and asked how many could tell me the names of the 

 trees that those leaves came from. Nobody answered. I 

 said, "Can any of you tell me?" Several of the boys 

 called out the name of a school-mate, and said " Give them to 

 him." I handed that boy a bunch of the leaves, and he 

 named every one of them correctly. I believe he was the 

 only boy in that school who could do it. At another time I 

 took four grains in my hand. They were the common 

 grains that we raise, — wheat, rye, oats and barley. I gave 

 them to a certain number of boys, but not one of them 

 could tell the different kinds. A few could tell one or two 

 of the kinds, but not one could tell all of them. You are 

 teaching the boys and girls in your high schools all over the 

 State so they can tell you the difference between the gerund 

 and gerundive in Latin every time, can give a free transla- 

 tion of a line of Virgil, and go through every change in the 

 grammar ; but take up a leaf and ask them whether that leaf 

 came from an apple tree or an oak tree, and they cannot 

 tell you. They do not know half as much about that as 

 they do about Greek. Are we teaching the children in our 

 schools as we ought to ? 



The following preamble and resolution was introduced : — 



Whereas, It has been clearly demonstrated, by post-mortem 

 dissection and field observation, that most of the hawks and owls 

 are highly beneficial to the farmer and fruit grower, we, members 

 of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture and farmers 

 assembled at Worcester, Dec. 2, 1890, — 



Resolve, That, in our opinion, the birds of prey, or the hawks 

 and owls, with rare exceptions, are of great benefit to the farmer 

 and fruit grower, and should be protected. We respectfully urge 

 our legislators to refrain from the passage of any law which will 

 have for its object the destruction of these birds. 



This resolution was unanimously accepted, and adopted. 



The Chairman. There are some questions in the question 

 box that will perhaps bring out discussion on some points of 

 interest which are not very dissimilar to the one on which 

 we have been engaged. 



Secretary Sessions. I find this question in the box : 

 " What is the prospect for success in the campaign against 



