24 NATURE STUDY AND AGRICULTURE 



The School Garden. — Wild nature is in many respects 

 the ideal laboratory for nature study; the one that appeals 

 most to those with the nature sentiment. It is a difficult 

 laboratory, however, and it is perhaps best approached 

 and interpreted by one that is simpler and more familiar. 

 Besides, those who have not developed the nature sentiment, 

 either through lack of its possession or lack of opportunity, 

 cannot be drawn at once to wild nature with any feeling 

 of interest. For these another introductory appeal is 

 necessary and it is very likely to be through the near by and 

 the useful. 



The phrase wild nature implies its correlative cultivated 

 nature, and here we touch human experience everywhere. 

 The plants and animals that man has brought under 

 cultivation are real exponents of nature, and as such furnish 

 proper material for nature study. The observation of 

 growing corn or sweet peas, for example, reveals the same 

 truths in reference to plant structure and activity that are 

 exhibited by their wild relatives. In fact they uncover an 

 even wider range of knowledge and suggestion, for plants 

 under cultivation teach impressively the most obvious 

 needs of plants, since these must be supplied by the ob- 

 server. Moreover, it has been found that a real knowledge 

 of plants comes only in connection with their cultivation. 

 For this reason the modern botanic garden is established 

 in connection with universities, and the school garden is its 

 representative in the schools. The care and observation 

 of a few plants under cultivation open one's eyes to many 

 essential things in the observation of wild plants. A well- 

 organized school garden is not only a great but a necessary 

 interpreter of nature as exhibited by wild plants. 



