13 NATURE STUDY REVIEW [8:1— Jan., 1912 



clear concepts have been made lasting." A principal from one 

 of the large schools of the city speaking for his teachers says : 

 "We feel that the excursions have made us much better ac- 

 quainted with one another and with the physical geography and 

 botany of the region around St. Louis." Another principal from 

 one of the large West End schools writes: "As nearly as I can 

 determine I think the field trips of the Nature-Study Society 

 have caused a better realization of the wealth of material at 

 hand both for nature-study and geography work. There is a 

 tendency to rely more upon materials obtained "'first hand" for 

 illustration and study than to rely upon museum material or 

 upon books." 



Seed Testing 



W. L. Oswald. 



Instructor in Agricultural Botany, Agricultural Collage, Uni- 

 versity of Michigan. 



An increasing stress is being placed on Nature study in 

 both our rural and graded schools. This work has proved very 

 interesting as well as helpful. It awakens interest and stimu- 

 lates a love for Nature, and above all it furnishes a most valu- 

 able training in the powers of observation. Nature study, if 

 properly presented, leads the students to see that all knowl- 

 edge does not lie in books, but that much can be obtained by 

 merely observing the things that lie close about them. Just as 

 Nature is many sided, so a study of Nature bears innumerable 

 aspects. 



All phases of Nature study may contribute to the powers 

 of observation, but not all awaken the same amount of interest. 

 A Nature study subject need not necessarily be impractical. 

 Many possible lessons in the study of Nature are overlooked 

 because of their nearness to common every day life. The tend- 

 ency in Nature study is too often to wander from the paths of 

 the ordinary and to seek only the unusual and remote. The 

 fields and woods are unquestionably interesting and proper sources 

 of Nature study, but the towns and cities and home are not de- 

 void of abundant material. They furnish, moreover, material 

 which the student calls practical, that is, which bears promise 

 of immediate usefulness. Such objects of Nature study tend to 



