20 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [15:1— Jan., 1919 



It is inadvisable to devote much space to a discussion of the 

 proposition, why study trees in nature-study in the Elementary 

 Schools, rather than in Botany in the High Schools. In fact, all of 

 the reasons in this article for the study of trees hold true practically 

 as well for the High as for the Elementary Schools. However, 

 since available statistics show that only about one-fourth of the 

 pupils who enter the first grade of our Elementary Schools -pursue 

 any studies in the High Schools, it follows that if the great mass of 

 our American children shall receive the benefits from this type of 

 instruction, the study of trees must be presented in nature-study 

 in the Elementary Schools. 



The trees in mind in this discussion are those of the immediate 

 surroundings, the shade trees that line the streets and public high- 

 ways, the trees in the village and city parks and those on the 

 private and public grounds, rather than those in the extensive 

 forests, more or less remote, from the centers of instruction. Not- 

 withstanding this statement, one of the chief reasons for the stud}^ 

 of local trees is to interest our boys and girls, the future citizens, 

 in the forested areas of our country. In other words, the study 

 of local trees should lay the basis for an appreciation of the depend- 

 ence of human welfare, in no small measure, upon the proper 

 management and extension of forests. 



If students in their nature-study lessons, for instance, learn that, 

 the hickory tree along the public highway, not only produces nuts 

 for enjoyment about the family hearth on cold winter evenings, but 

 also possesses a wood with strength, toughness, resiliency, and 

 shocking qualities that is second to none for handles of axes, ham- 

 mers, mattocks, and other hand tools ; and for parts of vehicles of 

 conveyance, such as axles of wagons, spokes and rims of wheels; 

 that the wood of the aspen, down by the brook, whose leaves 

 tremble with slightest atmospheric disturbance, is utilized for fuel, 

 and the manufacture of charcoal, paper pulp, excelsior; that the 

 hard maple in the front yard in addition to its value for shade, is in 

 great demand for its lumber in the cabinet industry and for orna- 

 mental and serviceable floors in dwellings ; that the catalpa, in the 

 woodlet, with its conspicuous flowers, unique fruits, and winged 

 seeds is grown extensively for railroad ties; the students will 

 accumulate funds of experiences and associations, without which, 

 the idea of the importance of the lumber from the forests would be 

 more or less vague. 



