PALMER] CONSERVATION THROUGH NATURE-STUDY 71 



The College of Agriculture hopes to be able to learn something 

 of the success of the policy followed in these Leaflets by an exhibit 

 held at its annual Farmers' Week. Each niunber of the Leaflet 

 closes with a list of the work based upon that ntimber which may 

 be entered at the exhibit. Each school may make but one entry 

 in each of the classes outlined and as a result this should encourage 

 school fairs to decide which of the material should be sent to the 

 Farmers' Week Exhibit. Exhibits at the State Fair are also based 

 upon this list. A policy of this nature where the list of exhibits is 

 changed from year to year should do away with the objectionable 

 practice of entering certain exhibits year after year. Under this 

 newer system the fair should show what has been done in the last 

 year only. As a result the tendency to rest on one's oars should 

 be lessened and the spirit of work enlivened. 



The March Leaflet dealing with the resources associated with the 

 fresh waters of the state follows much the same policy as that out- 

 lined for the Januarys number. Professor James G. Needham 

 contributes an article descriptive of the lakes and other waterways 

 of the state and with the relation of the water system to the dis- 

 tribution of population, to the history of the state and to their 

 economic significance. He also discusses the necessity of a pure 

 water supply and offers a striking comparison between a child 

 drinking directly from a spring and the elaborate system necessary 

 to furnish New York City with pure water. 



The story for children is built about the life history of a brook 

 trout. This is written after the manner of an autobiography and 

 introduces the more conspicuous forms of aquatic life with which a 

 trout might be associated. 



Instead of the landscape which appears in the January number 

 a "waterscape" now appears. This is also a cut-out series and is 

 accompanied by a page of outline drawings of fish. The various 

 types of aquatic environment are numbered and the fish are num- 

 bered in accordance with the type with which they are most 

 commonly associated. By this method the children may learn in 

 what type of water formation each species should be found. An 

 additional value to the "waterscape" arises from the fact that 

 instead of making the vegetation merely artistic, definite species 

 are selected and so placed that they may be used to assist in 

 identifying common marsh and aquatic plants. The value to be 

 derived from this feature alone should justify this section of the 

 Leaflet. 



