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case were well stated by the sagacious William Penn many years 
ago, as follows : 
"We are in pain to make them scholars, and not men ; to talk 
rather than to know, which is true canting. The first thing ob- 
vious to children is what is sensible, and that we make no part 
of their rudiments. We press their memory too soon, and puz- 
zle, strain, and load them with words and rule to know grammar 
and rhetoric, and a strange tongue or two, that it is ten to one 
may never be useful to them ; leaving their natural genius to 
mechanical, physical, or natural knowledge uncultivated and 
neglected ; which would be of exceeding use and pleasure to 
them through the whole course of their lives." 
Nature-study is officially recognized and provided for in the 
elementary schools of Hawaii. The topics for each grade are 
specified. The Territorial Normal and Training School, through 
its Department of Natural Science, then in charge of Mr. 
Vaughan MacCaughey and Miss Louise Gulick, has issued a 
"Preliminary Synopsis of Nature-Study Work for the Elemen- 
tary Schools of Hawaii." This contains classified subject-mat- 
ter, in outline form, for the various required subjects. The 
plant subjects thus outlined are: avocado, banana, cocoanut, 
coffee, cotton, flax, guava, mango, manila hemp, palms, papaia, 
rice, sisal, sugar cane, sweet potato, tamarind, taro, watermelon. 
A revised outline for the taro is given here in full, to ihustrate 
the general arrangement and content of these subjects. 
TAEO. 
Field Crop — Food for Man. 
Lesson One — Description. General Description of the Plant. — 
One to five feet in height. Long-stemmed, large, heart-shaped 
leaves. Infurled leaves growing from summit of corm. Flowers 
appear only rarely ; yellow, and similar to calla blossom. Fertile 
seeds rarely developed, and therefore plant is not propagated by 
seedage. 
Description of Part of Economic Importance. — Corm is the 
starchy portion which has the most value as food. Size of large 
sweet potato. Blue-gray color, sometimes tinted with pink. 
Upon it may be seen scars of former leaves. Roots grow from 
it at axils of former leaves. Buds also present, and may grow 
into new plants. Growth of corm. 
^ Varieties. Numerous. In ancient times, at least forty-five 
kinds known in these islands. Still other kinds known in other 
lands. Diflfer in size, form, color, quality, flavor, time required 
for maturity, amount of water needed for growth, etc. Two 
large divisions — wet-land-taro and dry-land-taro ; the former 
chiefly raised. 
