THE SCOPE OF NATURE-STUDY l\ 



honestly as nature can grow them. A pound should mean precisely 

 a pound, and the contents of the package should correspond exactly 

 with the claims of the label. The pupils should be taught that there 

 are practically no limits to which the distinctively fine products and 

 the distinctively honest preparations may not become known and 

 honored. Inward, toward themselves, over the same routes flow the 

 contributions demanded in their daily lives ; and they learn in a 

 different way to appreciate those qualities of character in others 

 which others are glad to recognize in them. Herein lies the root 

 of finance, and here is the basis of social and political structure. 

 The financial condition of the farmer depends upon the ratio of his 

 sales to what he buys. His wheat, corn, cattle, and minerals he 

 transmutes to gold ; if this be not used in part for those imported 

 products which he naturally requires ; if it be hoarded and put out 

 at usury, instead of being devoted to means of perpetual intellectual 

 attainment ; if through it he become not a source of greater general 

 influence, then the very last and highest lesson that nature has to 

 teach remains unlearned, and ultimate disaster, if not to him then to 

 his children, is the inevitable result. Here again, in this approach 

 to nature, we find the motive for the study. It is not remote ; it is 

 immediate. It is not vague ; it is definite. It is not something v;hich 

 can be deferred ; it is that from which the stmiulus to the study must 

 proceed. 



IV. THE GARDEN. 



A most common and useful adjunct of the home is the garden. 

 It offers an approach to nature that is fascinating both to old 

 and young. The fresh and odorous earth ; its swarm of worms, 

 grubs, and insects ; the birds rejoicing in the bountiful food supply ; 

 the spontaneity of the plants, incarnating as they grow the mysteri- 

 ous force of the sunshine ; the appetite whetted by the gradual 

 appearance of the vegetables that bring release from the monotonous 

 and heavy menu of winter ; the flowers that, in patches, rows, and 

 clumps, give changing color to the whole — all these combine to 

 draw man irresistibly from the usual daily routine and to place him 

 once more under the benign influence of primeval nature. The 

 children are charmed with the opportunity to do such work ; they 

 are not fretted by the feeling that it " does not seem to be like 

 school," which is always the source of more or less worry to the 

 older ones, to their teachers, and to the parents. 



