comstock] NOVEMBER NATURE-STUDY 359 



interest. Chestnuts, hickory nuts, walnuts, butternuts, beechnuts, 

 and hazel nuts all give a great interest to our walks in November. 

 The observations to be made about nuts are: To know their 

 names, and to recognize the trees on which they grow; how they 

 are protected while growing; how they become loosened in order 

 to fall ; the point in the shell of the nut which was connected with 

 the branch or burr ; whether the shell of the nut is thick and hard 

 or thin. Compare the shells of the chestnut, hickory nut, and 

 butternut, compare the "meats" of the three kinds. In each case 

 find the "sprout", the part that will germinate and its relation to 

 the other parts of the meat, which form the lunch put up by the 

 mother tree for the baby, when it starts to grow, as Uncle John 

 Spencer used to say. Above all, impress upon the pupils that the 

 nuts are to the tree what children are to their parents. 



For the lesson on the chestnut, use obs. 3, 4, 5, p. 760.* For the 

 hickory nut, obs. 13, p. 756. For the horse-chestnut, part of obs. 5, 

 p. 764. Read to the class the story of the Beechnut in the October 

 Nature-Study Review. 



The Milkweed Pod and Seed. — It is in November that the milk- 

 weed releases her seeds from her treasure chest of jade, in which 

 they grew. For this lesson use milkweed pods that are mature 

 but unopened. The pupils should make the following observa- 

 tions: — The pod opens along a selvage seam; it is rough on the 

 outside, satin smooth on the inside, the coarse fibres between; 

 within the pod is a long object covered with what seems spiral 

 rows of seeds. Lift out one seed and watch the pappus expand 

 into a little balloon. Drop a seed with balloon expanded on the 

 water. Note it floats until the pappus gets wet. Cut off the 

 balloon part and drop a seed on the water. It still floats for it has 

 a cork life-preserver around its margin. With the scissors cut off 

 this margin, and the seed sinks. 



A story should be told about the adventures of a milkweed seed 

 from the time it leaves its pod until it finds a place in the ground to 

 grow. This should include the reason why the milkweed attaches 

 balloons to its seeds. The story should lead to the study of the 

 milkweed plant next summer. — p. 542. 



Other Seed Balloons. — After studying the milkweed balloon, it is 

 well to observe other seeds that are thus carried through the air. 



*When the title of the book is not given, the reference is to be found in 

 The Handbook of Nature-Study. 



