THE SCOPE OF NATURE-STUDY 23 



is old enough to follow the growth of plants through a single season 

 and to take some little part in their cultivation, he cannot but be 

 impressed that this mighty support which nature gives to her own 

 is something miore than accident. In his realization of this fact 

 is a stimulus that will drive him to examine, according to his skill, 

 the leaf, the root, the stem, the seed, the soil, and all that has 

 contributed to the victory of the one and the discomfiture or defeat 

 of the other. 



The delicacy of the balance that exists among the parts of the 

 landscape is scarcely exceeded by the sensitiveness of the poise 

 maintained by the organs of the living body. The slightest change 

 anywhere is sufficient to destroy the balance abruptly and cause a 

 readjustment of all the adjacent parts. The drying out of a marsii 

 is marked year by year with a gradual reorganization of the flora 

 and fauna. The falling of a tree in the midst of a forest allows a 

 few shafts of light to fall unhindered upon the ground. Forthwith 

 the shade-loving plants are driven from the spot, and grass sets in 

 and works its way in all directions, literally, according to its light. 

 The gradually changing course of a stream is continually reorganiz- 

 ing the life in the valley. The advent of a stray plant or seed 

 may light the torch of conquest. Driven almost to desperation by 

 the chance introduction of the Russian thistle, the farmers of the 

 Northwest have besought government aid as they would against an 

 army with banners. 



Such a presentation of the landscape, by its simplicity and 

 breadth, will not only attract the attention and enlist the interest 

 of the children for the time being, but it will also place them at 

 once in line with the best materials and methods of science. 



2. In proceeding from the landscape to its details, the study 

 should be directed to its related parts, not merely to unrelated frag- 

 ments. From the whole to the parts in this instance does not mean 

 from the zvhole to the pieces. — Almost any stretch of landscape will 

 present some evidences of an underlying unity. Within the general 

 scope, certain aspects or phases in its appearance will indicate minor 

 related unities. Thus, in general, a landscape may include a valley 

 or a stretch of prairie, each having a certain completeness. Within 

 this there will be slopes, or marshes, or ridges, or lakes ; and each 

 of these aspects will be found to stand as secondary centers of 

 organization for the plants and animals ; and, still further, each 



