comstock] SEPTEMBER NATURE-STUDY 287 



foliage should be made the object of a drawing lesson. (2) The 

 flower, obs. 7, p. 657. (3) The field work, obs. 1,3,4. The teach- 

 er should give a little talk on obs. 2 ; she can get the subject matter 

 for this by reading pp. 652, 653^ and 654. The thoughts to carry 

 in studying the sweet clover are; its beneficence in preparing the 

 soil for other plants; its flowers are arranged along the stalk one 

 above the other, the lower ones blossoming first; the bees are very 

 fond of these flowers. 



The white clover — This should follow the lesson on the sweet 

 clover. The thought to bear in mind is that in the white clover 

 as in the red, the blossoms, instead of extending along the stalk, 

 are telescoped into a close cluster, the outer ones corresponding 

 to the lower ones in the sweet clover, and blossoming first; and 

 as soon as a flower is fertilized, it droops below the flower cluster 

 so the bees will waste no time upon it. The lesson on the white 

 clover divides into three: (1) The study of the leaves and roots, 

 obs. 1, 2, 3, p. 659. (2) The blossoms, obs. 4. (3) The study of an 

 individual clover blossom in the school yard or nearby, obs. 5, 6, 7. 



Following these studies of clovers, the pupils should be encour- 

 aged to bring in all the clovers of the region for comparative study. 

 In almost any fields, roadsides, and woodsides may be found grow- 

 ing wild, the medics, yellow or hop clover, Buffalo clover, and often 

 the pussy clover. Planted in the fields, may be found the red, the 

 Alsac, the crimson clovers, and the alfalfa. These lessons on the 

 clovers are very important as a preparatory work for elementary 

 agriculture. 



The verbena — A study of this pretty garden flower should be 

 for the purpose of impressing upon the pupils the advantages of 

 small flowers arranged in a cluster. Each of these flowers is too 

 small to attract much attention if it were set on a stem alone, but 

 several of them in a cluster make a great splash of color and so call 

 loudly to the insects to come and visit them. Following observa- 

 tions may be made : The size of a single flower ; the size of the flower 

 cluster ; the length of the stems of the flowers ; on the outside of the 

 cluster, compared with the length of the stems of the flowers at the 

 center ; and the adaptations of the stem to hold the flower in exactly 

 the right position to make it form a part of the cluster. After the 

 study of the verbena;, encourage the pupils to find and name other 

 plants that have this trick of massing their little flowers to make a 

 great show. 



