98 First Conference 



able extent upon the experience and information 

 which are to be derived from the study of Nature; 

 and unless the habit of observation is cultivated in 

 early life, it is not so easily gained when the farmer 

 and the horticulturist have to struggle against the 

 difficulties inseparable from their callings. With 

 regard to Nature -study and elementary schools, the 

 curriculum has been improved since 1900, and 

 especially of late. It is not, however, sufficient for 

 the Board of Education to enlarge the code; what 

 is needed is to encourage the managers of schools, 

 particularly of rural schools, to take a special interest 

 in the subject. Unless this is done, everything that 

 has been accomplished will be thrown away. I hope 

 that the Education Bill, now before Parliament, may 

 tend to encourage more rational methods of instruc- 

 tion in rural and urban schools alike. The extension 

 of Nature-study depends in a great measure upon the 

 teachers, but the departments have it in their power 

 to facilitate and promote it. During the last year 

 or two the Board of Agriculture and the Board of 

 Education have co-operated harmoniously in trying 

 to promote the teaching of Nature- study in rural 

 schools, and from my own experience I can testify 

 to the interest taken in it by the children. Another 

 reason why the study of Nature should be cultivated 

 is, that it gives the child an interest in country life, 

 instead of creating a distaste for the life around it. 

 Much of the education given in country schools in 

 the past created a horror of education among farmers 

 and agriculturists owing to the immense amount of 

 book-learning which was formerly required. But I am 

 confident that by making education more practical 



