142 THE NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [i, 4, july 1905 



school which require that the whole school be a single class. That 

 which is most lacking is often the scientific method of thought, 

 and this really should be the first function of nature-study teach- 

 ing. The pupil should be taught to follow from effect to cause 

 and from -cause to effect; to classify objects ; to correlate activities 

 and ideas ; to observe in detail, and also to view the general rela- 

 tion of things. As the personality of the teacher is the most 

 important element in the schoolroom, so the development of indi- 

 viduality in the pupil is the most important element of school- 

 work. The objects, the activities, and the personal contact with 

 the teacher which comes from nature-study, often prevent the 

 narrowing effect in methods of thought of mere book teaching 

 and avoids suppressing individual initiative. Nature-study may 

 not result in such apparent accumulation of facts as mere book 

 work does ; its greatest function is to prepare the pupil to acquire 

 facts in after life as they are needed. 



Agriculture in city schools should hardly be regarded as an 

 industrial subject. It is there rather a culture subject. City 

 pupils should know something general and in detail of the 

 agriculture of their country, that they may better know of their 

 country. There is no part of history so important as present his- 

 tory ; and no man can claim to be educated who has not a broad 

 knowledge of what the people of his own country are doing. 

 The body of thought of farm and country life being put into peda- 

 gogical form makes an excellent culture study for city high schools. 

 Since economic conditions carry people from the country to the 

 cities, with but a slight movement in the opposite direction, there 

 is not much of an object in teaching agriculture in city high 

 schools with the hope of thus inducing people to become farmers ; 

 but this line of instruction can greatly aid in inducing a larger 

 percentage of city folk to move on to suburban acre properties. 



The country boy or girl who has had, prior to the seventh 

 grade, considerable nature-study taught in the proper way is 

 better prepared to take up instruction in agriculture and home 

 economics. The body of thought being accumulated by agricul- 

 tural experiment stations and other institutions of research is 

 being put into splendid form for industrial teaching. Texts, labo- 

 ratory methods, plans of actual practice work, are being rapidly 

 devised for use in schools and all classes. Achievements already 

 made along these lines lead to the hope that ere long we shall 



