184 THE BOOK OF NATURE STUDY 



who published in 1896 his Okologische Pflanzengeographie, in which 

 he suggested definite lines of study. In France, Professor Flahault 

 of Montpellier published a vegetation map of the whole country in 

 1897. He based his survey on the distribution of trees ; but 

 this would not form a satisfactory basis in our islands, because 

 there is so little primitive forest left, and this was the experience 

 of Mr. Robert Smith, whose vegetation map of the Edinburgh 

 district was the first of the kind published in Great Britain (1900). 

 Since then there have been botanical surveys of various districts : 

 parts of Yorkshire and of Somerset ; the valleys of the Tyne, the 

 Tees, and the Eden have been mapped. 



PRACTICAL WORK 



For Nature Study work it will be best to select some natural 

 area within easy reach of a school, and to observe what plants 

 grow together there. It might be advisable to begin with a 

 hedge especially as hedges are very characteristic of England. 

 In some parts of the country the dominant species will be the 

 Hawthorn ; it may be the Willow, or the Box, or the Yew, or 

 the Privet. The sub-dominant species in a hedge will include, in 

 all probability, some tree or shrub ; the Ash, the Elm, the Hazel 

 are often planted in hedges, and sometimes, as in the case of 

 the Hazel, entirely overtop the Hawthorn in parts so entirely 

 as to conceal it. Climbing plants are very usually sub-dominant 

 species in hedges ; these will afford considerable material for 

 Nature Study lessons. The herbs at the bottom of the hedge 

 should also be noted. These will probably vary on the two sides 

 of the hedge, especially if one side of the hedge is next a pasture 

 and the other next a road. It will be noticed and this can be 

 tested with the photometer (p. 157) that the intensity of light 

 varies considerably along a hedge-bank. At the top the light is 

 often feeble, owing to the shade cast by the hedge ; this is the 

 region of climbing plants, or of plants with long, erect stems. 

 Lower down the hedge-bank the light is stronger, and the 

 herbaceous growth there is greater. If there is a ditch at the 

 bottom, aquatic plants may be found. The light is also stronger 

 on the south side than on the north, and the plants differ corres- 



