IV 

 IN THE MEADOW. JULY AND AUGUST 



MATERIAL : Different kinds of grasses from high and low meadows, 

 from swamps, field, and garden. In presence of the class, wash the 

 soil from a piece of sod. The names of species are not important in 

 this lesson. 



25. When I asked you a few days ago how many dif- 

 ferent kinds of grasses you had found in the neighboring 

 meadows, some of you were surprised to hear me speak 

 about many kinds of grasses ; but I see that you found more 

 kinds than I had expected. 



The most striking characteristic of the grasses is their grow- 

 ing close together in large numbers and forming meadows and 

 lawns. 



Most grasses have a hollow stalk, which is very high com- 

 pared with its thickness. This stalk is called a culm. The 

 long culm, with the ear or head, would scarcely be able to 

 withstand the force of the wind, if it were not strengthened 

 by some special devices. Let us take a sharp knife and 

 make a number of cross-sections of the stem from the root 

 upwards. We find that the lowest part of the stem is the 

 hardest and the most compact. If this were not so, the 

 culms would easily break or bend near the ground, because 

 the force of the wind is, so to speak, concentrated there. 

 Take a stick which is of uniform thickness and strength 

 from end to end, fasten one end of it ; then take hold of the 

 other end and bend the stick until it breaks. It will break 



Observations. Plants of the cultivated sunflower; sow some sunflower 

 seed aad compare the seedlings with older plants. 



44 



