needham] course in NATURAL HISTORY OF FARM 



171 



of 19 13 the preparation of a course on the Natural History of the 

 Farm, and gave the course in the Fall to a class of over four hun- 

 dred freshmen then entering the New York State College of Agri- 

 culture. It consisted of one lecture and one field trip per week. 

 It proved very satisfactory. It kept the students out on the farm 

 for half a day at least of every week, working with their hands on 

 the things that grow there. It induced many of them to go back 

 again and again to witness the changes of the season. The drama 

 of life out-of-doors became more attractive than the vaudeville 

 down town. For many of them it awoke new and wholesome 

 permanent interests. Moreover, it proved an excellent supple- 

 ment to other college courses, without duplicating the subject- 

 matter of any of them. It was all frankly natural history, much 

 of it of such elementary sort as might have been done in the 

 lower schools. We did it in college because it had not been done 

 and was needed. 



The field work of the first week consisted for each student of a 

 trip around the Cornell University farm, a blank map in hand, 

 locating thereon all the principal crops, wild and tame, found 

 growing there. In succeeding weeks different groups of natural 

 products, each representing in the main important agricultural 

 interests, were taken up: the list for the first term of 19 12-13 

 beiiig as follows : 



2[. The farm as a whole. 



2. Wild fruits of the farm. 



3. Wild nuts of the farm. 



4. The farm stream. 



5. Fishes of the farm stream. 



6. Pasture plants. 



7. Wild roots of the farm. 



8. The November seed crop. 



9. Deciduous trees in winter. 



10. The farm woodlot. 



1 1 . Fuel woods of the farm. 



1 2 . Winter verdure of the farm. 



13. Wild fowls of the farm in winter. 



14. The mammals of the farm. 



15. Farm landscapes. 



It will be seen from this list that the course has to do with the 

 sources of agriculture. The wild fruits, roots, fowls, etc., chosen 



