VOTE FOR A NATIONAL TREE 123 



School museums should lead to a more intelligent use of public 

 ones. Watch the average sightseer passing through a city or 

 national museum. He is overpowered by the wealth of material; 

 sees but little and understands less. He passes through its doors 

 with a vague conglomerate of historic costumes, Egyptian mum- 

 mies, tropical birds, etc., mentally bored and physically tired. As 

 in travel, he gets out of a visit to a museimi what he has to interpret 

 it with. Therefore in youth he should learn that a museum is to be 

 used as a reference to enlarge his knowledge on definite things; 

 not to show him the world in a nutshell. 



Be Patriotic, Vote for a National Tree 



The American Forestry Association whose headquarters are at 

 Washington, has recently launched a campaign to secure wide- 

 spread expression of what shall be our national tree. Editors 

 throughout the United States are being asked to print the ballot 

 and to urge the schools of their respective cities and towns to send 

 their votes to the Association. By such method, however, a voter 

 may send in his ballot marked "elm," ''oak," ''walnut," etc., and 

 know very little about the tree. Education of the voters is neces- 

 sary so the Association applied to the Superintendent of Schools 

 of the National Capital for the co-operation of the teachers. This 

 was granted and the work of educating the children and the public 

 was assigned to the Nature-Study Department. This department 

 has eight teachers who visit the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades 

 every other week for a forty minute lesson. 



For two years tree study has been the nature unit for the eighth 

 grades. It was, therefore, deem.ed best to make an intensive study, 

 in that grade, of a small number of trees that are commonly planted 

 along streets or are found in the suburban sections, and through 

 these children, educate the grades below.The white oak, pin oak, 

 American elm., hickory, sycamore, apple, tulip, dogwood, sugar- 

 maple and white pine, were the trees selected. 



A visiting nature-study teacher with but forty minutes once in 

 two weeks would find it difficult to take classes out-of-doors for the 

 study of the complete list. The larger part of the teaching, there- 

 fore, had to be done in the classroom but if one of the candidates 

 was available nearby, then out-door study was the method used. 

 To teach trees indoors in a very limited time so that children can 



