SUGGESTIONS FOR PRACTICAL WORK 175 



internal changes taking place in the plant must have some in- 

 fluence, though in the present state of our knowledge it is not 

 possible to estimate it exactly. How far, for instance, this 

 regular cycle of changes is dependent on the lessening of the 

 food supply is not known. Certainly, in the case of bulbs, corms, 

 rhizomes, which store up food for the winter, there can be no 

 deficiency of nutrition. To what extent these seasonal changes 

 are due to heredity it is impossible to say. Probably many 

 factors combine to produce them, and they may be divided 

 roughly into two classes, the one class being represented by 

 what we call heredity, whilst the other comprises all those 

 which act on the plant from without. In both cases, however, 

 it is a reaction on the part of the living organism, whether 

 the stimulus be given directly or indirectly from without or 

 within. 



SUGGESTIONS FOR PRACTICAL WORK 



The following suggestions are made for work out of doors 

 with classes engaged in Nature Study : 



I. TREES. 

 In winter 



Note the character of the bark ; the bud-scales ; the branching ; long and 



dwarf shoots ; the height of the bole. 

 In spring 



The bursting of the scales and opening of the buds ; the manner in which the 



leaves unfold ; the time of flowering, and the method of pollination. 

 In summer 



The degree of shade cast by the foliage ; the kind of fruit formed. 

 In autumn 



The fall of the leaves, the autumn tints; the fungi in the wood and on the bark. 



II. WOODS. 



Distinguish between a wood maintained for game as well as for timber, 

 noting the difference between the coppice and the over-wood. Note 

 which trees or shrubs are grown as coppice, which as timber. 



Make as exact lists as possible of the herbaceous undergrowth in different 

 woods, and compare with each other ; compare also different parts in 

 the same wood, and woods of the same tree at different altitudes or 

 in different situations and soils. 



