"A GARDEN IS A LOVESOME THING". · DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUREAU OF EDUCATION BULLETIN, 1925, No. 15 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE A SERIES OF PROJECTS IN NATURE STUDY FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS By FLORENCE C. FOX ASSISTANT SPECIALIST IN CITY SCHOOLS WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1925 ADDI'rIONAL COPIES OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE PROCURED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON, D. C. AT 25 CENTS PER COPY LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL DEPARTMENT OF THEINTERIOR, BUREAUOF EDUCATION, Washington, July 1 J 1925. SIR: In line with the movement for out-door recreation so recently inaugurated by President Coolidge's conference, there came to the Commissioner of Education a request from the General Federation of Women's Clubs, through its president, Mrs. John D. Sherman, that a curriculum on nature study for elementary schools be prepared and issued by the Bureau of Education. I have, therefore, asked Miss Florence C. Fox, assistant specialist in city schools, to write the course of study herein submitted and ask that it be printed as a bulletin of the Bureau of Education. It will be of value in promoting a type of study much needed in our schools, and it will offer to the primary and intermediate teacher a suggestive series of projects on nature study which can be easily adapted to the daily programs in schools in different localities in the United States. JNO. J. TIGERT, Commissioner. The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR. III CONTENTS Page Letter of transmittaL -- III Forevvord________________________________________________________ VII Introduction: What does nature study mean to the child? _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ __ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ 1 Cycles of garden life___________________________________________ 1 Cycles of plant life --- 1 The place of nature study in the daily program___________________ 2 The recitation in nature study__________________________________ 3 How to study nature__________________________________________ 3 Use of museums in nature study________________________________ 4 Use of stereoscope - 4 Part I.-Cycles of garden life: Series I. The garden --- 6 II. Birds and insects in the garden_________________________ 9 III. Toads_______________________________________________ 31 IV. Birds________________________________________________ 32 V. Bees________________________________________________ 37 VI. The orchard ---- 38 VII. Trees_______________________________________________ 39 Part II.-Cycles of plant life: Series I. Plowing - _- - - - - 43 II. Sowing -- 46 III. Planting c _____________ 50 IV. Grovving_____________________________________________ 52 V. Cultivating --------- 58 VI. Flowering ---------- 62 VII. Reaping_____________________________________________ 69 VIII. Harvesting ------- 72 lJe. Threshing___________________________________________ 77 Je. Storing ----- 81 JeI. Grinding_~__________________________________________ 85 Jell. Baking______________________________________________ 88 JeIII. Marketing --------- 91 JeIV. Transporting ------------- 93 v ILLUSTRATIONS Page " A Garden is a lovesome thing" Frontispiece The house wren and her nest , ______________________________________ 10 What the wren eats for breakfast____________________________________ 15 Life cycle of the fall army worm. Tachina fly, parasite of the fall army worm__________________________________________________________ 16 The blackbird and the white grub___________________________________ 17 Grasshopper eating a grain of wheat__ _ ______________________________ 18 Chickadee, an important enemy of the tussock moth___________________ 19 Hairy and downy woodpeckers, important enemies of the borer . , _________ 20 The white grub, enlarged about 8 diameters__________________________ 21 What the Hessian fly does to the wheat (Walton) _____________________ 22 The long-bodied ichneumon fly, parasite of the white grub_____ _________ 23 The black digger wasp, parasite of the white grub_____________________ 23 The boll weevil, greatly enlarged; ___________________________________ 24 Larvae of the boll weevil, at work in a cotton boIL____________________ 24 Dusting a cotton field to destroy the boll weevlls , ________ ______________ 25 The corn-ear bollworm attacking an ear of sweet corn .._ 27 Baltimore oriole and orchard oriole, enemies of the boll weevil . _ __ ______ 33 The oldest and largest elm tree in the United States. Kingsport, Tenn . , 41 Plowing-What a plow should do to a field___________________________ 45 Sowing-Seeds that fly. The cotton seed.. ___________________________ 48 Sowing-Seeds that fall. The wheat seed. ___________________________ 49 Growing-Germination of the cowpea on the sand table________________ 54 Growing-Land before irrigation. Arizona___________________________ 55 Growing-Land after irrigation. Yum Wood's Orchard, Ariz., 6 years old , 56 Flowering- The house and the family in a cotton blossom , _____________ 63 Harvesting-The pecan tree's seed cradle____________________________ 73 Harvesting- The pecan tree. Texas ________________________________ 74 Harvesting-The apple tree's seed cradle_____________________________ 75 An oil derrick_ ____________________________________________________ 78 Threshing- Blackboard drawing. Second grade , _____________________ 80 Storing-How the beavers store their f'ood . _ _ ________________________ 81 Storing-How the bees store their Iood , __ ______ _ 82 Storing- How men store their wheat __ ______________________________ 83 Grinding-Old water power mill in Virginia., _________________________ 86 Marketing-Taking cotton to the market____________________________ 95 Storing, grinding, and transporting-Cardboard sloyd in third grade; ___ 97 FIGURE 1. Bird friends and insect enemies in relation to the tree, _______ 11 2. Insect friends and insect enemies in relation to the trce , _ ____ 12 3. Bird friends and insect enemies in relation to the plant____ ___ 13 4. Insect friends and insect enemies in relation to the plant , ____ 14 5. Cultivating-Weather calendar in colored paper cutting______ 61 6. Flowering-Thermometer study in weather record__ _________ 66 VI FOREWORD This course is a detailed plan of work covering the child's ordinary range of experience and environment, including cycles of garden life and plant life. It is designed for all grades and is divided into two separate units of lower and upper grade work, the teachers in each grade to select the material best adapted to their courses of study and their daily programs. Correlation of nature study with the other subject matter in use in the schools is the principle worked out in this plan of work based on the child's environment. All the activities of the school are included in it, and suggestions for the use of nature study as an integral part of the other lessons are given in the daily program. Lessons in read- ing, language, and arithmetic are suggested; appropriate songs and . stories are indicated; and bases for the arts and crafts and language modes are given. A course in natural science and nature study, by Dr. Downing, associate professor of natural science in the University of Chicago, has been included in this bulletin and precedes the other lines of work presented here in the form of suggestions for various activities in the study of natural science. It is arranged for the three seasons, autumn, winter and spring, and covers the work of the kindergarten and the first six grades, with appropriate data for each grade. While correlation does not playa prominent part, a sequence of interests runs through the subject matter from subject to subject and from grade to grade. VII CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE Projects in Nature Study for Elementary Schools INTRODUCTION WHAT DOES NATURE STUDY MEAN TO THE CHILD It is the month of April. Just outside the schoolroom, where the children are busy with their books, the woods are showing a profusion of coloring. The miracle of spring takes place under the children's very eyes; they have spent many a holiday in the woods, and have rejoiced, howbeit subconsciously, in all the beauty and charm and fascination which nature holds for most of us. Shall it not find some place in their school program ~ CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE Suppose a school garden is in the making. Shall it not open the way for field lessons in which to collect specimens of soils and to con- duct a series of experiments ~ The principles of capillarity may be taught in this connection, and the children may determine the amount of moisture which different soils retain, as practical lessons in the growth of plant lifewhich may lead later to problems of irrigation and dry farming. These experiments also call for visits to different garden plots in the vicinity and for walks in the country, where sys- tems of drainage have redeemed the swampy land and prepared it for cultivation. Then there are kindred subjects related to the garden. How many and how vital they are! Bird boxes in the garden; what to do with the English sparrow; how is this little savage of bird life responsible for the depredations of the tussock moth ~the household cat and his relation to the fruit trees in the garden; the economic value of the American toad; and so on through many phases of natural phenomena. CYCLES OF PLANT LIFE Projects in plant life are based upon a series of study units which refer especially to our three great staples, wheat, corn and cotton, but which may be applied to a study of other plants as well. The lessons under Plowing, Sowing, Planting, and Cultivating are studies in the care which must be given the plant to insure its successful growth 1 2 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE from seed to maturity. The series on Growing, Flowering, and Harvesting treat of the development of the plant and the provision which it makes for the propagation of its species. Food problems are suggested in the study of the use of the plant, of wheat, especially, and the activities necessary in its preparation as an article offood. These are given in a sequence of lessons on Reaping, Threshing, Storing, Grinding, and Baking. Finally, the economic value and the distribution of staple products are presented under studies in Market- ing and Transporting. Lessons on the forces of nature, the sun and wind and rain; on the work of the bee as a carrier of pollen; on the lowly earthworm as a plowman; and many other contributors to the well-being of the plant are discussed in their appropriate setting throughout this series, as an illustration of the relationships which exist between one form of life and another and the dependence of one upon the other. Each fulfills its mission In its accustomed place. Each performs its accus- tomed task which has been assigned to it throughout the ages by the Creator. THE PLACE OF NATURE STUDY IN THE DAILY PROGRAM When the teacher uses nature study as an integral part of her daily program and not as an extra study to be added to an already over- crowded curriculum, it becomes a welcome innovation in her school work. The subject of cotton, for instance, may be introduced during the morning period in the form of informal conversation and discus- sion. It may be used during the day as a basis for reading lessons and for oral and written language, as well as a subject of study during the art period. To substitute nature study whenever possible for the more stereotyped lessons in the textbooks enriches the entire work of the school. This bulletin contains a series of projects in nature study, which are planned with special reference to the appropriate seasons of the year and to the needs and conditions of the grade teachers in the schools. These lessons are so arranged that they may be adapted to the teacher's use without necessitating an undue amount of research and study. Subjects are listed, references given, and outlines provided for each subject. In addition to this a suggestive lesson which has been. worked out in a schoolroom is presented with each subject to further aid the teacher in adapting the work to her use. Suggestions for handwork, for field trips, and for simple experiments in the schoolroom will clear away the difficulties of many teachers who are trying to work out a project in nature study. INTRODUCTION 3 THE RECITATION IN NATURE STUDY The entire work of the school may center around anyone of the units of study presented in this outline on nature study. Where to find material is clearly stated in bibliographies which follow each subject. Detailed lessons accompany many of the topics given in the outline, to serve as helps to the teacher in arranging for the study in her classes. Government documents are given as references when- ever possible, as they represent the latest expert opinion on the given subject and are easily within the reach of any teacher, costing' but a few cents per copy. Numerous problems present themselves to the pupils in their dis- cussions of these lessons. These problems should be carefully con- sidered by the teacher, and the best of them should be selected for detailed study in the classroom. Lists of questions are not given here for the reason that suitable questions can not easily be formulated before the lessons are given. Time and place, grades and conditions, influence largely the nature of questions to be asked of any class of children. Often they develop in a single recitation. Furthermore, prearranged questions are often inappropriate and their use by the teacher results in a stereotyped and formal type of recitation which should have no place in the lesson in nature study. HOW TO RTUDY NATURE 1 1. Observation, the first mode of study, is almost the universal method used by children in their field and classroom lessons on nature. Impressions from these observations should be recorded by the pupils in some form of expression, either painting, drawing, modeling, cutting, or by oral or written language, and should follow as soon as possible after the observations have been made. These records aid the child in checking up on his study in two particulars. They verify the accuracy of his impressions and reveal the limitations of his observations. . Preparation for observation.-A certain amount of preparation is necessary before the child can observe any phenomenon of nature profitably. How many field trips have become" time wasted" all teachers can testify, even in their own experience, because of insuffi- cient preparation. Anticipation is an exhilarating motive for securing the child's interest and enthusiasm. A subject skillfully led up to, followed by a field trip, has a far reaching influence on the child's attitude and the value to him of subsequent excursions. 2. Reading is a second mode of study. It should be used sparingly except as reference material or in the form of nature stories. All out- 1 For organization of projects, see Bulletin (1921) No. 36, U. S. Bur. of Educ. 4 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE doors awaits the child and offers a laboratory where he may study first hand what the books so inadequately "present. 3. Hearing Zang1wge.-Listening to others either describe or narrate is the third of these modes of study. Nothing can take the place of it, for it supplements both the observation and the reading. Much use of it is necessary to clear up the child's impressions and to lead him on into newer fields of investigation. USE OF MUSEUMS IN NATURE STUDY Fortunate is the teacher whose location is near or in a large city where she may have access to the collections of historical and scien- tific material which a good museum offers. Trips of inspection with the children from out of town schools should be frequent if a museum can be reached within the space of an hour or two. In lieu of field trips descriptive circulars may be secured from many museums free of charge or for a small amount upon request, and photographs of specimens may be purchased for the cost of printing. The Buffalo Museum, 1231 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, N. Y., has been arranged especially for use by the pupils in the schools of Buffalo and is an excellent example of the service which these museums are prepared to render. The Children's Museum League has been organized as a protege of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences. Story hours are arranged for each grade. Museum games, study courses, nature-study hikes, lecture courses with slides, and oppor- tunities for joining field clubs are all offered the members of the league. The membership also carries with it certain school credits with a diploma, medal, and a society membership when the work is completed .. USE OF STEREOSCOPE Many schools are supplied with simple stereoscope lenses and with collections of pictures which cover a wide range of subjects. The pictures are given a wonderfully lifelike appearance when viewed through these glasses. REFERENCES Nature Study A field and laboratory guide in biological nature study. By Elliot R. Downing. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1918. 16 p. A field and laboratory guide in physical nature study. By Elliott R. Downing. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1920. 109 p. illus. Francis W. Parker school leaflets. By Jennie Hall. Chicago, Francis W. Parker School. Second-grade series. Handbook of nature study for teachers and parents. By Anna B. Comstock. Ithaca, N. Y., Comstock Publishing Co., 1911. 938 p. illus. A graphic summary of American agriculture, based largely on the census of 1920. By O. E. Baker. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1922. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Bulletin no. 878.) INTRODUCTION 5 List of Farmers' bulletins by subjects. Issued by U. S. Department of Agriculture. Division of publications. May, 1922. 14 p. Natural science and nature study in the school. By Mary K. Sherman. Wash- ington, D. C., General Federation of Women's Clubs, 1920-22. 31 p. Nature study and life. By Clifton F. Hodge. Boston, Ginn & Co., 1903. 514 p. illus. Nature study for the common schools. By Arthur S. Jackman. New York, Henry Holt & Co., 1892. Sec. ed. rev. 448 p. A nature study guide. By William S. Furneaux. New York, Longmans, Green & Co., 1912. 293 p. illus. Nature study in elementary schools. A manual for teachers. By Lucy Langdon and William Wilson. New York, Macmillan Co., 1900. 272 p. illus. Nature study lessons. Book 2. By David W. Hamilton. Montreal, Renouf Publishing Co., 1918. 229 p. illus. Nature study project and seasonal pageant for rural schools. By Bert J. Ford. Lansing, Mich., Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1923. 36 p. The nature study review. By Anna B. Comstock. Ithaca, N. Y., Comstock PUblishing Co., 1918. vol. 14. 2,128 p. illus, A provisional course of study in elementary science for the elementary schools. Issued by Boston public schools. Boston, 1911. 44 p. (School document no. 5.) The study of nature. By Samuel Christian Schmucker. Illus. by Katharine E. Schmucker. Philadelphia, J. B. Lippincott Co., 1911. 315 p. (Lippin- I'ott's educational series.) Mines Mines. Issued by Superintendent of Documents. Washington, D. C., Govern- ment Printing Office, 1923. Price list 58-10th edition. 22 p. Museums Hobbies. Buffalo, N. Y., Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences, 1924. vol. 5. no. 5. 24 p. Weather Records 'Weather, astronomy and meteorology. Issued by Superintendent of Documents. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1923. Price list 48-13th edition. 9 p. Part I. CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE Series I. The Garden. 11. Birds and Insects in the Garden. 111. The Toad in the Garden IV. Bird Study. V. Bee Study. VI. The Orchard. VII. The Tree. Series I. THE GARDEN AUDIMIUM PBWlUM ' Art.-A Dutch Garden. Song.-The Little Plant-Podwon. Nature Study.-Soils, d, and plank. (Testing soils, sprouting seeds, caring for plants.) Song.-Planting the Bulbs--Progressive Mu& Series, Book I. Song.-In the Garden-Progressive Music Saries, Book 11. Play.-Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse-Fox First Reader. Sto5-y.-The Three Gardens-Adapted from the Bible. Song.-Mistress Mary-Progressive Music Series, Book I. Song and Games.-Here We Go Round the D/lulbe~yBush-Prograsite Music Series, Book I. Ring Around the Rosy-Progressive Music Series, Book I. Song.-Garden Song-Pr0gmmis-e M d t Sd* Manual. Song.-A SpriBg G u e e t A o g e s s i v e M ~ &ries, D Book II. [From OutlInas in Natural B d e m and Natme Study, By Elliot R. Downing.] Kindergarten FaZ1.-Learn to recugnise garden flowers and vegetables that are growing in school and home gardens: Asparagus, beans, beets, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, chard, corn, cucumber, eggplant, lettuce, onions, parsnip, peas, pumpkin, radish, squash, tomato, turnip; alyssum, aster, candytuft,, cosmos, dahlia, daisy, forget-me-not, geranium, gladiolus, holyhock, larkspur, marigold, mignonette, nasturtium, pansy, petunia, phlox, poppy, mlvia, sunflower, sweet william. Bdng in k a t w e garden material. Winter.-Grow paper-white h u e in wabr. Spring.-Plant lettuee, mubhea; morning glory, dwarf nasturtium, pot - W d , Autumn.-Clean up garden plot. Plant bed of narcksus. Set dofodilo in pots in trench to bring in later for winter bloom. T r m p l a n t dandd6ow t o window boxes to furnish blooms during winter. See Bu of Ed., Bull., 1821, no. 38, for dcsaiption of auditorium periods. 6 PART 1. CYCL,ES OF GARDEN LIFE 7 Winter.-Bring in pots of daffodils from the trenches and rear for winter blossoms. Bring dandelion plants in the window boxes into blossom. Plant and rear dwarf nasturtium in some of the window boxes. Spring.-Plant easily grown annuals in first-grade plot (no individual gardens). Beans and peas (fruit and seed used). Carrots and beets (root used). Swiss chard (leaf used); pumpkin. Ten weeks' stock, verbenas, sunflower, wild cucumber. Grade II Autumn.-Harvest-garden crops. Clean up and burn rubbish (bonfires). Collect seeds of many garden plants and put up in packets for use of first and second grades next spring. Set bed of daffodils. Collect seeds of butter-and- eggs and bouncing betty. Prepare pots of tulips and set in trenches out of doors to bring in for bloom in the schoolroom. Winter.-Bring in tulips and rear for winter bloom. Raise pot marigolds in the window boxes and also butter-and-eggs and bouncing betty from the seed collected in the autumn. Start tomato, cabbage, egg plant, asters, petunias, pansies, and verbenas in shallow boxes of earth in March so as to have them ready to set out early in May. Spring.-Learn to transplant. Set out cabbage, tomato, egg plant, asters, verbenas, petunias, and pansies. Stake, prune, and train tomatoes. Raise pole lima beans. Grade III Autumn.-Harvest crops. Clean up garden. Plant tulip bed. Plant hyacinth bulbs in pots and trench them to bring in later in the winter. Collect cherry pits, apple seeds, and peach stones, and save them for starting the seedlings in the winter term. Winter.-Bring in hyacinths for early spring bloom. Grow sweet alyssum in window boxes, also sweet potato vines. Start apple seed, cherry pits, and peach stones in pots or cans of soil and rear the seedlings so that they will be ready to set out as sizable young plants by the last of April or early May. Spring.-Perennials. Transplant young strawberry sets and care for the old plants. Look after currant bushes. Plant iris, holyhock, larkspur, and phlox seed. Set out fruit seedlings. Set bed of caladiums and cannas. Grade IV Autumn.-Cover strawberry bed; prune currants. Transplant iris, hollyhock, larkspur, and phlox to their permanent positions. Take up and care for caladiums and camas. Plant green fertilizer like red clover, soy beans, or vetch on one-half of plot to be used as an experimental plot next spring. Winter.-Garden work has thus far been community work; let it from now on be individual except in the school garden which will serve as a demonstration plot. The pupils' gardens will be home gardens. Each pupil will plant daffodils in pots and trench them and rear them at home. He will grow paper-white narcissus and pot marigold at home also for the flower show. Grow jonquils in the school window boxes. Spring.-Plan individual gardens on home plots and have pupils grow a succession 0/ crops to get maximum returns from a small plot of ground, thus: Radishes followed by kale. * 0* 0* 0* 0* 0* 0* 0* 0* 0* Peas, then parsnips. / / / / / / / / / / / / / / Hills of sweet corn with pumpkins between. 55997°--25t----2 8 CYCLES OF GAR.DEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE [From "Grow a Vegetable Garden." By J. H. Prost. Chicago, Ill., International Harvester Co., 1918] PLAN FOR AN ACRE GARDEN PART 1. CYCL~S OF GARDEN LIFE 9 Grade V Autumn.-Dig in manure and plant green fertilizer. Winter.-Grow fuchsias and carnations from cuttings for the window boxes. Grow tomatoes, cabbages, asters, and verbenas in shallow boxes to have plants ready for sale and to set out in the spring. See directions for the project. Spring.-Grow tomatoes, cabbages, asters, or verbenas for profit. In this project let each pupil grow one vegetable or flower and become expert in han- dling it. Have pupils secure information from Government bulletins, books in library, and other sources, and apply it. Young plants as well as the mature -products may be sold. Have each pupil keep accurate account of all expenses including his own time and of all income so as to show his profit at the end of the project. Grade VI Autumn.-Prepare cuttings of grape, raspberry, and currants for spring. These will be distributed in the spring to the pupils, and later, when well started under the care of the pupils, will be distributed to the home gardens. Winter.-Raise three or four of the plants tried in the community garden of the second grade but now let pupils grow them at home in boxes ready to set out in the spring. Make cuttings of geranium and begonia for the school win- dow boxes. Test seed corn. Spring.-Plan garden to grow chick food, oats, barley, corn, sunflower. Get maximum yield. For this project have pupils read State and Government bulle- tins so as to know how best to go about it. See how nearly they can come to a record production. SERIES II. BIRDS AND INSECTS IN THE GARDEN GARDEN FRIENDS AND ENEMIES LESSON STUDIES Every tree that lifts its head to the sky and every plant that leaves and flowers and bears its fruit is the living embodiment of that principle which we call the survival of the fittest. The tree and plant have provided, during their growth, a battle ground for the insect life and the bird life which surround them. The birds are friends, the insects either friends or enemies, each intent upon pre- serving its own life and providing for its own posterity. Some have attacked the plant and tree, some have protected it. This principle is universal and applies to every plant that reaches maturity, as well as to all other living organisms. It is this principle of conquering or being conquered that attracts and holds the child's attention in his lessons on nature study. What is the bird doing, why, and how? are absorbing questions to the child. And the answers to these questions cover all the subjects with which we are concerned in our lessons on bird life. It includes the relation of-structure to environment and propaga- tion of species as well as interrelationships between one form of life and another. For that reason the following lessons on the relation of the bird to the tree and plant and the relation of the insect to the tree and plant are presented as a basis of study for bird and insect life as well as plant and tree life. Relationship, as the fundamental principle in our study of nature, should be emphasized, and the isolation of one subject from another should be avoided. Perhaps it is not too arbitrary a rule to insist that isolated facts should never 10 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE be imposed upon the child in this study as a pure act of memory. He will learn to recognize birds, he will be able to name them accurately, and he will know their size and color and shape much more understandingly through a study of their function than in any other way. The child should be taught to ask, What is it doing? Why does it do it? How does it do it? For on these three questions hang all the law and the prophets. THE HOUSE WREN AND HER NEST RELATION OF THE BIRD AND INSECT TO THE TREE AND PLANT Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4. These diagrams in their present form should not be presented to the nature-study class. They are intended for the teacher's help in organizing the work in bird, insect, tree, and plant study, with special refer- ence to relationships and the effects of one form of life upon another. The subject should be developed primarily from field work, and the records of obser- vations should be placed upon the diagrams only after the pupils have reported on their findings in the field. PART 1. CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE 11 1'1 e 1. FRIENDS ENEMIES ORIOLE CHICKADEE CEDAR BIRD BLUE JAY '9OODPIDKER ROBL'i ORO, SONG SPA:>30:V 12 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLe\.NT LIFE Figure 2. FRIENDS ~nEE 'ENEMIES GALL FLIES CllALCIS FLBS (Oak trees) (Eggs) AP!lIS LION SYRPHUS FLIES (Maggot) APHIDIUS (Eggs ICIlNEUI.lON FLIES (Eggs) LADY BUGS ',VIlITE FACED HORNET rACHINA FLrE WASPS tree) TOADS PART 1. CYCLES, OF GARDEN LIFE 13 Fi e 3. BIRD ffiIENDS AlID INSECT ;,;r=I~ III RELk"CION TO ~lIE PLAl/T FRIENDS ENEMIES OABBAGE MCTH ORIOLE (Cabbage Plant) HESSIAN FLY (Wheat) BlUEBIRD POTATO BEETLE Larvae of Flaxseeds (Rltato Plant l BLUE JAY CEDAR BIRD WREIf CHICKADEE CR071 ROBIN ',VOODPFDKZR BOB WHITE AN~S A!Q APHIDS (corn) 14 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE Fi r-e 4. nrs~C'i' FRIElmS t~rrJ IliSBO'? l-~lrEMIL5 lli RELA.TION TO 1:-[;:; PLlNT FRIEl1ilS ENEMIES CHALCIS FLI~S fJPHINX lIO'I!H ('I!omatoplant) CABBACE IJ!)'I!H ?LAIl'l! (CabbaGeplant) APHIS LION Rl'rA.TO BEETLJiS (Potatoes) APi!ID!US (Eg!;s) BOLL ',VEEVIL ICHlEUMON (cotton) FLIES __ .••...•L __ ---:;j.Lr----"'~-..,. (Ebgs) HESSIAN FLY LADY BUGS Flheat) CHIIlOH BUG (corn, wheat) PLATYGASTillS (Eggs) TACHIIIA FLIES (Eggs, mag-sots) BEE FLICS \'IllITE FACED ~._--.,,- ROBBER FLI;;s GROUND BEETL;S TOAll PART 1. CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE 15 TREE STUDY The class as a whole or as individuals should choose a group of trees, including always one or two of fruit, and continue their study through a year or a period of years-at least through the three seasons, winter, spring, and autumn-until a year's cycle of the tree's growth has been covered. BIRD STUDY It is suggested that bird houses be placed near these trees, and that water be provided for baths and drinking purposes to induce the birds to remain in the vicinity as long as possible. This will give the children an opportunity not only to watch the nesting habits of the birds but their relation to the trees as well. The wrens, with a little encouragement, may be persuaded to nest in the boxes, and if the bluebirds can be protected from the English sparrow they will remain and virtually clear the trees of their most destructive enemy, the tussock moth, whose depredations are a serious menace to our permanent shade trees along our city streets and country highways. WHAT THE WREN EATS FOR BREAKFAST Cats.-Cat license laws are being passed in many States to protect birds from the domestic cat. The Audubon Society of Grand Rapids, Mich., issued 4,000 cat licenses in one year. Read E. A. Forbush's book on The Domestic Cat, in this connection. Bird exhibits.-Many cities are observing a bird conservation week. This includes a bird exhibit, which is held either at the school or in a downtown store. This features a display of mounted birds, grouped according to their use, pictures, books, magazines, charts, cat guards, and feeding and bathing devices. English sparrow.-The English sparrow has become such a menace to bird life in this country that a concerted action against it has been taken by all bird lovers. The sparrow drives away our native birds from every locality, leaving the trees and plants exposed to the depredations of the tussock moth and all the long 16 CYCLES OF ClA1WEl< UFE AlEN UFE AND PLAN'/' LIFE GRASSHOPPER EATING A GRAIN OF WHEAT PART r. CYCL,ES. OF' GARDEN LIFE 19 Oriole.-Color, black and orange; nest long and pendent like a bag, and lined with hair. It is often found in elm trees. Redheaded Woodpecker.-Color, head and bib of red, rest of metallic black with broad bands of white; nest built in hole of tree or stump, and made of fine chips. Robin (thrush family) .-Color, slate-brown, with black head and tail, brest reddish-brown, throat white streaked with black; nest built in garden tree or -shade tree, and made of grass, straw, leaves, and rootlets plastered with mud. Song Sparrow.-Color, bluish white with brown markings; nest built on the ground, and made of grasses, dead leaves, and bark. Wren.-Color, wine or flesh; nest built in hollow tree or box, and made of twigs and grass. CHICKADEE, AN IMPORTANT ENEMY OF THE TUSSOCK MOTH RELATION OF THE INSECT TO THE TREE AND PLANT FIGURES 3 AND 4.-The study of parasitic life is the most interesting, perhaps, in all the realm of nature. By this provision the insect enemies of plant life are held in check and defeated of their purpose, which is to bore or chew or suck the juices from the roots, the stems, and leaves of a plant, until its life is eaten away. The ichneumon fly, with its tiny drill, is one of these beneficial parasites. It bores a hole in the trunk of a tree and lays its egg in the burrow where the larva of the wood-borer is eating away the heart of the tree. When the small ichneumon maggot hatches out, it begins to feed on the wood-borer's larva and soon kills it. Later, after changing into the pupa stage, the fly emerges from the burrow an adult ichneumon, in place of the wood-boring beetle which is supposed to be living there. Undoubtedly this little fly has helped to save the life of the tree which the wood-boring beetles, unless checked, would surely destroy. 20 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE Many of the cocoons, which the children bring into the schoolroom, have already been stung by these flies, and often a myriad of tiny parasites appear on the chrysalis of the cecropia, instead of the beautiful moth for which the pupils have been watching. Some of these flies (the tachina, for instance) will lay their eggs on the body of a live grasshopper or a bug or a beetle, and sometimes upon a bumble bee. The victim seems powerless to rid itself of these eggs, as the tachina HAIRY AND DOWNY WOODPECKERS Important enemies of the borer glues them on firmly after she has deposited them. When the tachina maggots hatch they eat into the body of their prey until only its shell remains. Then they emerge as adult tachinas and flyaway seeking victims of their own as depositories for their eggs, according to the plan of their ancestors. All our valuable food plants are struggling against these insect enemies with the help of insect friends. The Hessian fly would injure our wheat, and raise the PART' 1. CYCL,ES OF' GARDEN LIFE 21 price of flour to such an extent that white bread would become a great luxury were it not for the little platygaster that lays its egg on the fly's egg under the leaves of wheat. Were it not for the little red lady bug that eats the boll worm eggs our corn crop would be so seriously injured that it would fall far short of its present production. The effect of this upon the farmer and upon the raising of cattle and hogs would deprive most of us of our breakfast bacon and corn muffins. THE WHITE GRUB, ENLARGED ABOUT 8 DIAMETERS REFERENCES Cotton Production Cotton ginning information for farmers. By Fred Taylor, D. C. Griffith, and C. W. Atkinson. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1916. 24 p. illus. (D. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 764.) The cotton situation. By A. M. Agelaasto, C. B. Doyle, and others. Washing- ton, D. C., Government Printing Office,1922. 406 p. illus. (D. S. Depart- ment of Agriculture. Bulletin no. 877.) Custom ginning as a factor in cottonseed deterioration. By D. A. Saunders and P. V. Cardon. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1915. 8 p. illus. (D. S. Department of Agriculture. Bulletin no. 288.) Growing Egyptian cotton in the Salt River Valley, Ariz. By E. W. Hudson. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office,1914. 8 p. (D. S. Depart- ment of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 577.) 22 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE u.J I I- o I- if) u.J o o >- -J u, z <{ if) if) u.J I u.J I l- I- -c I 3: PAR.T 1. CYCL.ES OF GARDEN LIFE 23 The handling and marketing of the Arizona-Egyptian cotton of the Salt River Valley. By J. G. Martin. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1915. 16 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Bulletin no. 311.) Producing family and farm supplies on the cotton farm. By C. L. Goodrich. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1919. 16 p. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 1015.) THE LONG-BODIED ICHNEUMON FLY, PARASITE OF THE WHITE GRUB THE BLACK DIGGER WASP, PARASITE OF THE WHITE GRUB 55997°--25t----3 24 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE THE BOLL WEEVIL, GREATLY ENLARGED LARVAE OF THE BOLL WEEVIL, AT WORK IN A COTTON BOLL PART 1. CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE; 25 THE BOLL WEEVIL The boll weevil more than any other pest has hurt the cotton crop in the South. It bores a hole in a boll of cotton and lays its eggs there. When the grub hatches, it begins to eat and soon kills the life of the seeds. After a time the boll dries up and falls offfrom the plant. Even if another boll grows and takes its place on the plant, the weevil will destroy it. There have been many ways of fighting the boll weevil pest. Picking the weevils off the plants and burning them has been tried. Sometimes the buds in which the weevils are hiding are picked and burned. Dusting the plants with a poison powder seems to do some good, but nothing, so far, has been found to drive away the insect. Deep plowing and much cultivation of the soil help to keep the weevil from hurting the plant. If the plant is strong and healthy it can spare some bolls for the weevil. Other bolls will form on the stem where the dead boll has been grow- ing, and sometimes the plant can overcome the attack of the weevil. DUSTING A COTTON FIELD TO DESTROY THE BOLL WEEVILS BOB WHITE AND THE BOLL WEEVIL Bob white, the quail, is one of the birds that will help drive out the boll weevil from the cotton fields. He is very fond of the little beetle that lays its eggs In the cotton boll and has been known to eat 47 boll weevils in one morning. If he could be left in the fields with his family for a season, he would eat all the weevils that he could find on the plants, but unfortunately, people like to eat the bob white. For that reason quails are killed off every year, so that few of them are left. They seldom leave the field where they are born and raised. They keep close together all winter and roost on the ground in flocks to keep warm. Laws should be passed in the cotton-raising States to protect these birds. INSECT STUDY The garden, supplemented by field trips, will afford ample opportunity for the study of insect life, and will greatly enhance the pupil's interest in the care and growth of his garden. Specimens of the insects seen should be brought into the 26 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE schoolroom, if possible, and cared for in the vivarium where the class may watch the changes which take place in the insect's life from egg to moth and from egg to beetle. These phenomena not only absorb the child's interest but awaken in him an appreciation of nature's miraculous provision for protecting and pre- serving the life of even the humblest and most insignificant of her creatures. In this connection the teacher will find abundant data in Hodge's" Nature Study and Life," which may be used to supplement the pupil's observations and to assist him in a clearer understanding of these relationships. Time for collecting insects.-The best time for collecting insects is during the summer months. "The best times of day are in the forenoon, after 8 o'clock, and in the twilight at evening. At night many moths may be caught by making a paste of sugar and water, and painting this upon the tree trunks after sunset. Electric street lights attract many insects which may be caught in the net. Dejinitions.-Bugs have the front pair of wings thick and heavy at base and thin and transparent at the tip. Beetles have hard wing covers which meet in a straight line down the back and have a pair of thin wings folded under them. Flies have only two wings, usually transparent. Bees, wasps, and ants have four transparent wings. Butterflies and moths may be distinguished by their antennae or horns. A butterfly's horn has a knob on the end. A moth's horn may be one of many different shapes but never bears a knob at the tip. Vivarium.-This apparatus is almost indispensable in the study of insects. Both plant and insect life may be reared in it. A large glass aquarium may be purchased at the fish store and used as a vivarium, or the pupils may follow the directions for making one found in Chapter XXIV, Hodge's" Nature Study and Life." CORN PRODUCTION AND THE BOLLWORM Reading lessons-Grades IV, V, VI Many insects are enemies of corn, but the bollworm is the most constantly injurious of them all. (See figures 2 and 3, the Relation of the Bird to the Plant and the Relation of the Insect to the Plant.) It has been estimated that the bollworm causes a loss of 7 per cent of the grains on the ears attacked. The larva of the bollworm spends the winter in the ground. It digs a burrow 3 or 4 inches deep and makes its winter bed at the lower end. Here it turns into the pupa state and sleeps through the winter months. In the spring it crawls out of its shell a bollworm moth. After forcing its way out of its underground burrow it flies about in search of the young.field corn which is usually about 1 or 2 feet high at this time. Here the mother moth lays its eggs. As soon as the eggs hatch into larva they begin to eat the tender green leaves of the plant. 'There are three generations of the bollworm in one year that feed upon the corn. The leaves of the young corn plant are eaten by the first generation, the larvae of the second generation detroy the silk and tassels, and the larvae of the third genera- tion attack the hardening ears. Numerous insects feed largely upon bollworm eggs and small larvae. (See fig, 3.) The larvae of ladybirds and small larvae, known as aphis lions, are the most beneficial in this respect. Wasps and ground beetles eat the large larvae, and quail and domestic fowls undoubtedly reduce the number of bollworms on plants which are grown near houses and barns. Not- withstanding the attacks of these enemies, our corn crop amounted to $1,300,000,- . 000 in 1921. PART' 1. CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE 27 THE CORN-EAR BOLLWORM ATTACKING AN EAR OF SWEET CORN 28 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE REFERENCES Corn Production Corn cultivation. By C. P. Hartley. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 191'8. 35 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin No. 414.) Corn culture in the Southeastern States. By C. H. Kyle. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1916. 20 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin No. 729.) Corn growing under droughty conditions. By C. P. Hartley and L. L. Zook. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office., 1917. 24 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin No. 773.) Dwarf broomcorn. By Benton E. Rothgeb. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1916. 16 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin No. 768.) Schoollessons on corn. By Dick J. Crosby and F. W. Howe. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1910. 29 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin No. 409.) Standard broomcorn. By Benton E. Rothgeb. Washington, D. C., Govern- ment Printing Office,1918. 20 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin No. 958.) FIGURES1, 2, 3, AND4.-Insects as tree and plant enemies.-Brief description and favorite plant or tree: Ant and aphid.-Mother aphid (corn louse) lays her eggs on roots of corn. Ants collect these eggs and take them to their nests to be hatched, then carry them back to the corn roots. Both adults and young aphid feed on roots of corn. Boll weevil.-Mother (beetle) lays eggs on cotton bolls; larva (grub) feeds on cotton bolls. Bollworm.-Mother (moth) lays eggs on young corn plants; larva (caterpillar) feeds on corn leaves, silk, tassels, and corn in the ear. Cabbage moth.-Mother (white moth) lays eggs on young cabbages; larva (caterpillar) feeds on leaves of cabbage. Chinch bug.-Mother (bug) lays eggs in wheat and other grain fields; adults and young (bugs) suck juices from root and stem of corn and wheat. Currant worm.-Mother (magpie moth) lays eggs on leaves of currant and gooseberry bushes; larva (looper caterpillar) first hibernates in cocoon during winter and commences feeding as soon as the leaves appear in spring. Cutworm.-Mother (moth) lays eggs in the ground; larva (cutworm) cuts the roots of plants just below the ground. Elm beetle.- Mother (small yellowish-brown beetle) lays eggs on elm tree leaves; larva (caterpillar) eats the leaves. Grasshopper.-Mother (grasshopper, locust family) lays eggs just beneath the ground. Adults and young (nymphs) feed on leaves of young plants and the leaves of young orchards. Hessianjly.-Mother (small two-winged fly) lays eggs on young wheat plants; larva (maggot) sucks juices from wheat stem. June bug.-Mother (beetle) lays eggs in the ground; larva (white grub) feeds on roots of corn and potatoes. Potato beetle.-Mother (beetle, yellow with black stripes) lays eggs on young plants; larva (grub) eats leaves and pupates in the ground. Red spider.-Mother (web-spinning mite) lays eggs on plants. Young (mites) and adults suck juices of plant. PART 1. CYCL,ES OF GARDEN LIFE 29 Scale.-Mother (somewhat like a plant louse) sucks the juice of fruit trees and exudes a scaly covering under which she lays her eggs; father (two-winged fly) fertilizes the eggs; young (scale insects) repeat the process. Slugs.-Mother (wasp-like fly) has a pair of small saws at the tip of body with which she cuts groves in plants and lays an egg in each; larva (slug) feeds upon leaves of rose bushes and pear trees, especially. Sphinx moth.-Mother (five-spotted sphinx moth) lays eggs on leaves of tomato plant. Larva (tomato worm) feeds on leaves of tomato plant. It is harmless and parasited by ichneumon fly. Desirable specimen for vivarium. Squash bug.-Mother (true bug) lays eggs on foliage; larva (bug) eats leaves of vines of cucumber family. Stalk borer.-Mother (night-flying moth) lays eggs in grass; larva bores into stems of grains and feeds on soft inner part. Wireworm.-Mother (snapping beetle) lays eggs in grass lands; larva (wire- worm) feeds on newly planted corn and young roots. Wood-boring beetle.-Mother (small beetle) bores holes in trunk of tree and lays her eggs there; larva (grub) feeds on the inner wood of the tree and finally emerges an adult beetle. FIGURES 2 AND 4.-Insects as tree and plant friends.-Brief description and method of attack: Aphidius.-Mother (tiny four-winged fly) lays an egg within an aphid; larva feeds on aphid and emerges an adult insect. Aphis-lion.-Mother (lace-wing); larva (aphis-lion) sucks the blood of aphids. Beefly.-Mother (hairy fly) lays eggs in egg-pods of grasshoppers; larva (grub) feeds on cutworms. Chalcis fly.-Mother (smallest parasitic fly) lays eggs on other insects' eggs and on other insects. Ground beetle.-Mother (beetle) lays eggs in ground and feeds on caterpillars and cutworms as does also her larva (grub). Ichneumon fly.-Mother (wasp-like fly) lays eggs on the larva of wood-boring beetles and on eggs and larvae of other insects; larva (grub) lives within the body of the victim until grown, emerges and changes to pupa, and to adult insect. Lady bug.-Mother (small red beetle) lays eggs on plants; larva (bug) feeds on aphids and scale insects. Platygaster.-Mother (minute fly) lays eggs within the eggs of Hessian fly; larva, pupa, ·and adult all form within the puparium of the Hessian fly and devour it. Robberfly.-Adult feeds on injurious insects, also noted enemy to the honey bee. Syrphus fly.-Mother (fly family) lays her eggs on leaves infested with aphids; larva (maggot) feeds upon plant lice. Tachina fly.-Mother (resembles house fly) lays eggs on caterpillars, grass- hoppers, bugs, beetles and sawflies, or even bumblebees; larva (maggot) feeds upon victim, emerges and changes to pupa, and then to adult fly. Toad.-Mother (toad) lays eggs in pond water. Eats slugs, caterpillars, etc., in garden. Young (tadpoles) eat the slime in water and keep it clean. Wasp.-See White-faced hornet. White-faced hornet.-Mother (queen of swarm) lays eggs in cells of nest and feeds larvae (maggots) on finely chewed insects. 30 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE REFERENCES The Garden Grow a vegetable garden. By J. H. Prost. Chicago, International Harvester Co., 1918. 44 p. illus. Growing fruit for home use. By H. P. Gould and George M. Darrow. Washing- ton, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1922. 40 p. iflus. (U. S. Depart- ment of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 1001.) Permanent fruit and vegetable gardens. By W. R. Beattie ani c. P. Close. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1921. 23 p. mus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 1242.) The school garden. By L. C. Corbett. Washington, D. C., Government Print- ing Office, 1922. 40p. illus, (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 218.) Selections for reading, agriculture, gardening. Hartford, Conn., State Board of Education, 1919-20. 79 p. ,mus. Soils and fertilizers. Issued by Superintendent of Documents. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1924. Price list 46-17th edition. 14 p. United States. Department of Agriculture. Yearbook, 1921. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1922. 885 p. illus. Insects Beetles, butterflies, moths, and other insects. By A. W. Kappel and W. Egmont Kirby. London, Cassell & Co. 182 p. Illus, The boll-weevil problem with special reference to means of reducing damage. By W. D. Hunter. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1917. 40 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture.: Farmers' bulletin no. 848.) Control of the codling moth in the Pacific northwest. By E. J. Newcomer, M. A. Yothers, and W. D. Whitcomb. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1924. 27 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Bulletin no. 1326.) Controlling the gipsy moth and the brown-tail moth. By A. F. Burgess. Wash- ington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1923. 28. p. illus, (U. S, Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 1335.) Cornell rural school leaflet. Prepared and supervised by E. Laurence Palmer. Ithaca, N. Y., Department of rural education, New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University, 1920. vol. 14, no. 1, 118 p. illus, The cotton bollworm. A summary of its life history, habits, with some results of investigations in 1905 and 1906. By F. C. Bishopp and C. R. Jones. Wash- ington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1915. 32 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 290.) Directions for collecting and preserving insects. By Anna Botsford Comstock. Ithaca, N. Y., New York State College of Agriculture, Cornell University, 1914. 12 p. illus, (Extension bulletin no. 59.) The Hessian fly. By F. M. Webster. Washington, D. C., Government Print- ing Office, 1915. 20 p. illus, (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farm- ers' bulletin no. 640.) The Hessian fly and how to prevent losses from it. 'Washington, D. C., Govern- ment Printing Office, 1920. 16 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agricul- ture. Farmers' bulletin no. 1083.) Insects. Bees, honey, and insects injurious, to man, animals, plants, and crops. Issued by Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1923. Price list 41-13th edition. 24 p. PART' 1. CYCLJilS OF GARDEN LIFE 31 The more important apple insects. By A. L. Quaintance and E. H. Siegler. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1922. 95 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 1270.) Platy gaster vernalis myers; an important parasite of the Hessian fly. By Charles C. Hill. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1923. vol, 25, no. 1. 42 p. illus. The rough-headed corn stalk-beetle in the Southern States and its control. By W. J. Phillips and Henry Fox. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1918. 12 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture, Farmers' bulletin no. 875.) Some common weeds and insects of Nebraska corn fields and potato patches. Lincoln, Nebr., Department of public instruction and Department of farmers' institutes, University of Nebraska, 1910. 82 p. illus. (Agricul- tural education, Nebraska boys' and girls' clubs. Bulletin no. 18, series 2.) Series III. THE TOAD A UDITORIUM PROGRAM Art.-A Strange Visitor-Paul Peel. Poem.-The Honest Old Toad. Nature Study.-Structure (covering, prehension, defense), care, humane treat- ment, habits, use in a garden, his cousin the frog. History.-Celia Thaxter's Garden. Song.--Croak, said the Toad. Poem.-Over in the Meadow-Olive Wadsworth. Story.-The Frog and the Princess-Adapted from Grimm. Poem.-The Ungainly Toad. Art.-Who are You?-Frank Paton. Song.-Oh, a Little Frog-Eleanor Smith. Chart.-Specimens mounted in small vials of alcohol-eggs, tadpole, young toad, adult. LESSON STUDIES Preparation.-Secure· a mass of frogs' eggs from a pond or ditch and place them in a jar of water. Watch the development. Art Study.-See outline. Nature Study.-Reading lessons. Grades IV, V, VI. Examine the eggs you have brought to school from the pond and watch for early signs of life. When an egg is hatched examine the tadpole and watch it swim. This metamorphose is one of the most interesting in all the realm of nature. In the garden: Keep several pet toads in the garden. They will save the vegetables and flowers from many deadly insects. They will more than repay any care or protection given them. They will return year after year for they have a strong homing instinct. Watch them take their food and note the tongue and mouth while the toad is drawing an insect into his mouth. The toad's cousin-the frog. Stories, Songs, Poems.r-Bee outline. MODES OF EXPRESSION Modeling, Painting, Drawing.-From Nature Study outline. Oral Reading.-Grades I, II, III. The Toad-Blodgett Primer. The Puppies and the Frog; The Frog and the Toad-Merrill, I. Frogs at School-Mills, I. Our Friend the Toad-Learn to Study Readers, II. Some Things About Frogs-Cyr, III. The Tree Frog; A Friend in the Garden (Ewing)-Gordon, III. 32 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE Series IV. BIRDS AUDITORIUM PROGRAM (Bluebird, Woodpecker, Robin, and Wren) Art.-Robin Redbreast-Munire. Nature Study.-Habits, use, and care. Poem.-Once I Saw a Little Bird-s-Mother Goose. Song.-The Robin-Progressive Music Series, Book I. History.-The English sparrow, bluebird, and tussock moth. Song.-The Birds' Return-Progressive Music Series, Book II. Story.-The Cat and the Bluebirds-s-Fable. Song.-Cock Robin-Progressive Music Series, Book II. Poem.-Cock Robin and Jennie Wren-Mother Goose. Song.-The Bluebird-Songs of Happy Life. Geography.-Migration of birds-Agriculture Yearbook, 1918.4 LESSON STUDIES Preparation.-Take as many field trips as possible and look for birds and their places of nesting. Art.-See outline. Nature Study.-Reading lesson. Grades IV, V, VI. The flight of birds is one of the most wonderful provisions for protecting and preserving the life of an animal which nature has devised. Man has attempted for centuries to imitate or copy this phenomenon and only recently has been successful. The entire structure of the bird has been developed along the lines of ability to fly. Its head, tail, legs, feathers, and internal organs, even its bones, are all built to assist it in its flight. The bird's sense of direction has never been understood nor explained. Job marveled, so the Bible tells us, at "the way of a bird in the air." It is still a riddle and we are still guessing. The secret of a bird's ability to find its nest among hundreds of others, in a patch of wood, marsh, or shore, or even on a cliff-side, is quite beyond the power of a trained naturalist to comprehend. Many birds, so to speak, "live by their wits." MIGRATION Almost all our birds of the North and many of the South migrate. The two seasons of heat and cold in the North cause a general shifting of our birds twice a year. Quail and grouse migrate, the latter mysteriously. Robins, blackbirds, bluebirds, jays, and thrushes, practically all of our song birds, move north in the spring and south in the fall. Cold does not seem to occasion migration, for many birds could stay in the North if they cared to do so. If good shelter and food are to be procured, robins and bluejays, even bluebirds, pass the winter in the Middle States. The food question or the climate question alone does not de- termine migration. A fixed habit, formed many centuries ago, compells these birds to move in long flights at certain seasons of the year. The birds seem to cling to definite lines of travel as though certain highways through the air were their own. The golden plover's line of flight runs east of the Atlantic States, where land used to be but is now sunken under the water. The bobolink, which ranges west across the continent, goes south to the eastward of the Gulf. It did this, no doubt, long before the rice fields of Georgia and Alabama were planted. Many of these birds travel by night. It is interesting to hear the honk of the wild geese and to see their dark shadows passing high up in the air against the moon. • Washington, D. C., Superintendent of Documents. Order number Al.lO/a:785. PART 1. CYCL~S OF GARD~N LIFE 33 The length of time of migration varies. Ducks can fly a thousand miles a day, if necessary. They follow the line of the vanishing ice and go north as fast as the waters open. Some of the strongest fliers among the large birds travel great distances on foot, sometimes to accompany their young, sometimes because BALTIMORE ORIOLE AND ORCHARD ORIOLE Two important enemies of the boll weevil they are molting. A flock of geese will march in a column, with the ranks ten geese wide. Everyone is orderly, and no goose touches its neighbor. They hold their heads high to get all the air possible. Possibly this habit was formed in the olden times before their wings were developed. (Wild Geese, by C. J. Cornish.) 34 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE We do not know the location of the main aerial lines of travel, out we do know that, in some strange way, the woods have become full of robins; there are more bluejays flitting among the trees. In the fields the meadow larks are moving about restlessly, and one day, after the first cold snap, all the covers are bare and deserted. The birds have gone south in the nighttime; just when and by what route no one knows. OUR FRIENDS, THE BIRDS How they protect the trees and the plants in our gardens and the crops in our fields. See Insect Study. 1. Robins eat caterpillars, grasshoppers, spiders, gypsy moths, elm beetles, and cutworms. 2. Bluebirds eat tussock moths. 3. Wrens eat tent caterpillars and gypsy moths. 4. Woodpeckerseat codling moths and apple tree borers. 5. Swallowseat mosquitoes, flies, and codling moths. 6. Owls eat potato beetles, cutworms, and field mice. Care of birds.-To preserve the birds plant wild fruit for tnem to feed on, such as cherries, mulberries, and June berries. Supply them with clear drinking water. Protect them by building bird houses, by providing bird baths, by exterminating the English sparrow, and by restricting the depredations of the house cat. PROGRAM FOR BIRD STUDY (Robin, bluebird, wren, woodpecker, oriole, blue jay, chickadee, crow, and bob white) Art.-Robin Redbreast-Muncer. Poem.- Robin's Come--Caldwell. Nature study.-Structure in relation to environment-covermg, prehension of food, means of defense. Habits.-Nest building, raising young, song. Care.-Houses, water, food. Use.-Insect destroyer in fields and trees and gardens. Beautiful songsters. Art.- The Swallows- Lanx. Poem.-The English Sparrow-Mary Forsyth. History.-Migration of birds. The English sparrow and the tussock moth. Art.-The Bird Cage--Meyer von Bremen. Poem.-Winter Days-Henry Abbey. Stories.-How the Robin Got His Red Breast; The Redheaded Woodpecker- Fox's Indian Primer. The Cat and the Bluebird-Fable. Songs.-The Bird Cycle--Art Song Cycles. Cycles-The Stork, Bob White, Mr. Owl and Mrs. Mouse, the Cormorant, Captain Jay, The Scarecrow. Songs.-The Robin-Progressive Music Series, Book 1. The Bird's Return- Progressive Music Series, Book II. Cock Robin-Progressive Music Series, Book II . .CollectionChart.-Specimens of nests. Exhibit.-Bird houses, bird baths. Oral Reading.-Grades I, II, III. Yellow bird, blue bird-Blodgett Primer. Migration-Wooster Primer. The red bird-Wooster Primer. The blue bird- Wooster Primer. The bluejay- Wooster Primer. One, Two Three--Aldine, 1. The Party-Aldine, 1. Robin's Breakfast-Aldine, 1. The Robins-Aldine, 1. The Birds' Cradle-Aldine, 1. Away to Summer PART' 1. CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE 35 Land-Aldine, I. Little Birdie-Aldine, I. Tom and the Birds-Aldine, I. The Snow Birds-Finch, I. The Robin-Finch, I. The Legend of the Robins-Finch, I. Blue Bird-Finch, I. Blue Jay-Finch, I. Bird Day-Finch, I. Baltimore Oriole-Finch, I.-Hummingbird-Finch, I. The Owl-Life and Literature, I. A Flying Lesson-Life and Literature, I. Catch Me if You Can-Merrill, I. The Robin Who Sang for the King- Merrill, I. Little Birdie (Tennyson)-Mills, I. Grapes for Eggs (Letter from John Burroughs)-Mills, I. The Lark and the Child-Merrill, II. The Robin and the Raven-Merrill, II. The Partridge Family-Merrill, II. The Swallow(Christina Rossetti) -Merrill, II. Mr. Whittier's Mocking-Bird-Cyr, II. Red Ridinghood (Whittier)-Cyr, II. The Eagle and the Owl-Child World, II. Little Brown Thrush-Sloan, II. Bobolink-Sloan, II. In the Springtime- Sloan, II. Birds-The Lark's Nest, Gordon, II. Bluebird's Song-Gor- don, II. Birds-The Redheaded Woodpecker, Gordon, II. The Brave Blackbird-Gordon, II. The Doves-Gordon, II. How to Attract the Birds-Learn to Study, II. The Ugly Duckling-Carroll and Brooks, III. The Redheaded Woodpecker-Carroll and Brooks, III. Genghis Khan- Carroll and Brooks, III. The Wren and the Bear-Carroll and Brooks, III. Why the Chimneywas not Built-Carroll and Brooke, III. The Owl and the Pussy Cat-E. Lear, Carroll and Brooks, III. The King of the Birds-Carroll and Brooks, III. A Story of Bird Life-Child Life, III. Bob White (Geo. Cooper)-Child Life, III. The White Blackbird-Child World, III. The Brown Thrush (Lucy Larcom)-Child World, III. The Birds of Killingworth-Child World, III. The American Eagle-Educa- tional Reader, III. Tommy and the Crow-Educational Reader, III. The Swallow-Educational Reader, III. The Raven and the Robin- Educational Reader, III. The Farmer and the Larks-Educational Reader, III. The Generousand Rich (Sandahl)-Gordon, III. Calico Pie (Edward Lear)- Young and Field, III. The Bluebird (Emily Huntington Miller)- Young and Field, III. The Answer to a Child's Question (Samuel Cole- ridge)- Young a:nd Field, III. Robin Redbreast (William Allingham)- Young and Field, III. MODES OF EXPRESSION Songs, Stories, Poems. See outline. Oral Reading. See page 34. Silent Reading: Grades IV, V, VI. Old Abe and the War Eagle-New Education Reader, IV. Bob White- New Education Reader, IV. The Coming of Spring-New Education Reader, IV. The American Robin-New Education Reader, IV. Little Roscoe's Canaries-New Education Reader, IV. How Birds Protect Trees- New Education Reader, IV. The Sandpiper (Celia Thaxter)-Young and Field, IV. The Swallows (Sir Edwin Arnold)-Young and Field, IV. Robert of Lincoln (W. C. Bryant)- Young and Field, IV. Spring in Ken- tucky (James Lane Allen)-Cyr. V. The Albatross (Coleridge)-Cyr, V. The Belfry Pigeon (N. P. Willis)-Cyr, V. To a Waterfowl (W. C. Bry- ant)-Farm Life, V. EconomicValueof Birds-Farm Life, V. The Flicker (D. Dandridge)-Farm Life, V. My Lady's Plumes (Audubon Society)- Farm Life, V. Sparrowsthat Live in a Home-Gordon, V. The Ostrich- Gordon, V.. Bird Life on the Isle of Shoals (Celia Thaxter)-Gordon, V. The Partridge (Henry D. Thoreau)-Gordon, V. The Hunt (Told by a Red Partridge)-Gordon, V. Robin Redbreast's Message-Sprague, V. 36 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE The Nightingale and the Glow-worm-s-Sprague, V. Feathered Fairles-s- Sprague, V. The Comical Chebec (Olive Thorne Millerj-e-Sprague, V. Robert of Lincoln (William Cullen Bryantj-e-Riverslde, V. Bow the Robin came (Whittierj-c-Reading Literature, V-VI. Robert of Lincoln (Bryantj-e-- Reading Literature, V-VI, Bob White (George Cooperj-v-Reading Litera- ture, V-VI.. Carrier pigeons-e-Swiss Family Robinson, Chapter XXIII. The Pigeon Bouse-Swiss Family Robinson, Chapter XXIII. The Ostriches ~Swiss Family Robinson, Chapter XXVIII. The Ostrich Eggs-e-Swiss Family Robinson, Chapter XXIX. The Ostrich Chioks-t-Swiss Family Robinson, Chapter XXX. The Ostrich Tamer-s-Swiss Family Robinson, Chapter XXX. The Black Swans-e-Swiss Family Robinson, Chapter XXXIII. Birds of Paradise-Swiss Family Robinson, Chapter XXXIII. The Emperor's Bird's Nest-e-Longfellow, Riverside, VI. The Raven-s- Edger Allen Poe, Riverside, VII. REFERENCES Birds Bird houses and how to build them. By Ned Dearborn. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1923. 23 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 609.) Birds and wild animals. Issued by Superintendent of Documents. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1923. Price list 39~14th edition. 8p. Canaries, their care and management. By Alexander Wetmore. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1916. 20 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 770.) The English sparrow as a pest. By Ned Dearborn. Washington, D. C., Gov- ernment Printing Office, 1917. 23 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agri- culture. Farmers' bulletin no. 493.) Food of some well-known birds of forest, farm, and garden. By F. E. L. Beal and W. L. McAtee. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1918. 34 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 506.) How to attract birds in northeastern United States. By W. L. McAtee. Wash- ington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1917. 16 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 621.) How to attract birds in the East Central States. By W. L. McAtee. Wash- ington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1918. 15 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 912.) How to attract birds in the Middle Atlantic States. By W. L. McAtee. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1917. 16 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 844.) Some common birds useful to the farmer. By F. E. L. Beal. Washington, D. C.. Government Printing Office, 1918. 31 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 630.) Some common game, aquatic, and rapacious birds in relation to man. By W. L. McAtee and F. E. L. Beal. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1917. 29 p. illus, (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 497.) PART 1. CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE 37 Series V. THE BEES A UDITORIUM PROGRAM Art.-Swarming the Bees. Poem.-To a Honey Bee-Alice Cary. Song.-Honey Bee and Clover-Art Song Cycles. Nature Study.-Home, food, and use. Song.-The Bee and the Butterfly-Progressive Music Series, BookII. Fable.-The Bee and the Ant-Adapted from Aesop. History.-The wild bee, a bee tree. Fable.-The Farmer and the Apple Tree. Song.-Honey Bees-Progressive Music Series-Book II. NoTE.-See Cycles of Plant Life, Series VI and X, Flowering and Storing. LESSON STUDIES Preparation.-Visit an apiary and watch the bees working. Art Study.-See outline. Nature Study.-Reading Lessons. Grades IV, V, VI. Observation bee hives in the schoolroom are easily maintained and are a source of interest and valuable study to the pupils. Plan to have the hive made during the winter by the older pupils so that it will be ready for the bees in the spring. Write to the mailing room of the New York State College of Agriculture for Bulletins F-138 and E-16. These are entitled "Beginnings in Beekeeping" and "How to Increase the Honey Supply." The pupils will be more than willing to take care of the hive. The Cornell Rural School Leaflet, Vol. XIV, September, 1920, No.1, published by the Department of Rural Education, N. Y. State College of Agriculture at Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y., gives full directions for the making of a one-frame operation hive. How to build the hives, the shredded runway, stocking the hive and operation are some of the valuable suggestions con- tained in this pamphlet. If these directions are carefully followed any teacher ought to be able to install and operate a swarm of bees in her school- room. In addition to the material on bees in this leaflet are many others which will prove invaluable in the study of natural science. Secure also from the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., its bulletins on bee culture. Stories, Songs, Poems.-See outlines. Silent Reading.-Grades IV, V, VI. The Bee and the Flower (Tennyson)- Young and Field Reader, IV. Honey Bees-Farm Life Readers, V. MODES OF EXPRESSION Painting, Drawing.-From Nature Study Lessons. Oral Reading.-Grades I, II, III. The Bee and the Grasshopper; The Bee-Aldine, I. Bees-Finch Reader, I. The Bee's Story; The Song of the Bee (Marion Douglas)-Merrill, II. The Honey Bee-Gordon, II. The Bee and the Flower; The Busy Bee- Gordon, III. 38 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE Series VI. THE ORCHARD A UDITORIUM LESSONS Art.-The Apple Orchard. Song.-The Old Apple Tree-Progressive Music Series, Book III. Nature Study.-Grafting, spraying, planting. Art.- The Grafter-Millet. Song.-What the Little Bird Said, II. Song.-The Little Tree, II. Song.-The Treetop Duet, III. Song.-A Child's Fancy, Ill. Song.-The Apples-Progressive Music Series, Book II. Song and Game.-The Swing-Progressive Music Series, Book II. Song.-Some One's Tapping on the Maple Tree. Story.-The Redheaded Woodpecker-Indian Myth. Song.-Redbreast in the Cherry Tree-Progressive Music Series, Book II. Song.-The Swing, III. Geography.-Apple production; fruits and nuts; product map study. APPLE PRODUCTION AND THE CODLING MOTH LESSON STUDIES What insect injures apple production more than any other? See Diagram 1, The relation of the bird to the tree. What birds are its enemies? How do they destroy it? Washington.-This State produced 21,500,000 bushels of apples in 1919, or two-thirds more than New York State, which yields the next highest production of apples in the United States. A $3,000,000damage to the apple crop is done annually in New York by the codling moth. According to this proportion this insect costs the State of Washington in loss of apples the sum of $4,000,000. Here the "Delicious Apple" is grown extensively, of which the codling moth is particularly fond. Every method has been used to exterminate this pest. The moths lay their eggs on the apples, and when the worms hatch they eat their way into the core of the fruit, and there they feed until they are ready to change into larvae. When this time comes they eat their way out and spin down from the tree to the ground. From the ground the larvae crawl up the trunks of the trees and hide under the bark where they spin their cocoons and wait their time to be meta- morphosed into moths. It is during this last stage that the woodpeckers and chickadees find them and eat them in large numbers. Spraying the trees and fruit with a pois-onousmixture is the usual method used in Northwestern States for destroying these worms. Sometimes the bark of the trees is scraped with a sharp hoe to rid it of the larvae. Often the trees are banded with strips of burlap, 6 inches wide, to catch the worms as they crawl up the trunks. These bands are removed from time to time, with the worms in their folds, and are burned. It is interesting to imagine an apple orchard without this pest and the effect its extermination might have on the price of the apples which we buy at the fruit stand. If half the apple crop is killed by this pest, which often happens, and the farmer markets twice as many apples as before, we ought to buy two apples for 5 cents where we now pay a nickel for each. Do you think this is possible? PART II. CYCLES IN PLANT LIFE 39 Series VII. THE TREE AUDITORIUM PROGRAM Art.--Dance of the Nymphs-Corot. Poem.-The Brave Old Oak-H. F. Chorley. Nature Study.-Structure (bark, heart, roots, limbs, leaves, fruit. Cutting colored posters); Care (planting and spraying); Use (food, building, shade, effect on weathering, and effect on atmosphere). History.-Forestry; laws for protection. Forest fires. Sand dunes. Animals, game preserves. Fruit trees, grafting. Art.-The Willows Near Arras-Corat. Poem.-The Planting of the Apple Tree-William Cullen Bryant. Story.-The Walnut Tree that Wanted to Bear Tulips. Song.-The Tree-Gaynor. . Chart.-Mounted specimens, pressed leaves, nuts, and fruits. Number.-Measuring wood and lumber. Geography.-Where our National Parks are located in the United States. Map study. LESSON STUDIES Preparation.-Select a group of trees for special study-oak, elm, pine, maple, poplar. Art.-Dance of the Nymphs-Corot. The Willows near Arras-Corat. The Grafter- Millet. Nature Study.-Parts of trees, their use, and need of care from enemies-bark, heart, roots, limbs, leaves, buds, blossoms. See Insect Study. Use of the trees for food, building, and shade. Effect of trees on land weathering and on the atmosphere. Fruit trees and the science of grafting. Sand dunes and their effect on trees. Animals and game preserves. Parks and museums. Special topics: Maple sugar, cocoa, turpentine, and tar. Geography.-Where Forests and Woodlands are Located in the United States. In Product-map study. Write to the Department of Agriculture for Bulletin No. 878, from Yearbook, 1921, and supply each pupil with the map on page 21, Forest and Woodland. Why are forests found in the eastern half of the United States, etc.? References on wood: At least 90 per cent of the paper used in printing is made from wood. Ninety-eight per cent of our rural dwellings are built of wood. For urban dwellings,the percentage is from 59 to 98, varying from State to State. Wooden houses are the easiest, quickest, and, ordinarily, the cheapest to construct. This has put decent homes within the reach of millions of people, many of whom could not have afforded brick, stone, or concrete structures. Cheap housing and ample living space are very real blessings. Without abundant timber supplies they would never have been possible. National forests: Northeastern zone-Spruce and fir (with admixture of hardwoods). Eastern Atlantic zone-Oak, chestnut, Y. poplar, oak, and pine. Southeastern zone-Longleaf, loblolly, and slash pine. East Middle zone-Birch, beech, maple, hemlock, and forest white, red, and jack pine. History--Forestry and laws for protection. Forest fires and the forest rangers. Stories-Basis for reading and language: The Walnut that Wanted to Bear Tulips. Philemon and Baucis, Rhmcus-Flora Cooke, in Nature Myths. Old Pipes and the Dryad-Frank R. Stockton. 55997°-25t----4 40 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE Poems.-Basis for reading and language and spelling: The Brave Old Oak-H. F. Chorley. How the Leaves Came Down-Susan Coolidge. Forest Song- W. H. Venable. Woodman,Spare that Tree-G. P. Morris. Rhcecus -Longfellow. Song of Marion's Men-Bryant. Plant a Tree-Lucy Larcom. Autumn Leaves-George Cooper. Silent reading.-Grades IV, V, VI. The hollow tree-Swiss Family Robinson, Chapter 28. Guava-Swiss Family Robinson, Chapter 15. Where different trees come from-Swiss Family Robinson, Chapter 18. Fir, terebinth-Swiss Family Robinson, Chapter 21. The Anxious Leaf-New Education Reader, 4. The Maple and the Pine-New Education Reader, 4. Trees and Flowers; The Kind Old Oak and the Violet-New Education Reader, 4. How the Work is Divided-James Otis, in Ruth of Boston. Building a fort-James Otis, in Peter of New Amsterdam. Making maple sugar-James Otis, in Mary of Plymouth. Making sugar-James Otis, in Ruth of Boston. A sugaring dinner-James Otis, in Ruth of Boston. Turpentine and tar-James Otis, in Richard of Jamestown. The making of clapboards-James Otis, in Richard of Jamestown. Hie Away (Sir Walter Scott)- Young and Field, 4. How Birds Protect Trees (Florence Merriam)-New Education Reader, 4. The Planting of the Apple Tree (Bryant)-New Education Reader, 4, A Night Among the Pines (R. L. S.)-Gordon Reader, 5. Forest Song (W. H. Venable)-Farm Life Reader, 5. Conserve your Birthright (J. H. Wallace; G. P. Morris)-Farm Life, 5. Woodman, Spare that Tree (G. P. Morris)-Farm Life, 5. Facts about trees-Farm Life Reader, 5. Three Trees (C. H. Crandall)-Farm Life, 5. Bird's Song of Spring (E. Nesbit)- Farm Life, 5. Song of Marion's Men (Bryant)-Riverside, 7. Songs.-Basis for music, reading, and spelling. The Tree-Gaynor. A Spring Guest-Progressive Music Series, Book II. Number.-Measuring cordwood, lumber; estimating feet of lumber in trees. MODES OF EXPRESSION Modeling.-From Nature Study: Branch with buds. Bird friends. Drawing.-Blackboard-trees, animals, and game preserves. Crayon drawing of the effect of loss of trees upon weathering. Painting.-From Nature Study: Ink-leaves, buds, blossoms. Colors-Forest fires,landscape of willows. Cutting.-From Nature Study: Colored posters, in paper cutting, of landscapes with trees. Making.-Prepare specimens of woods for chart. Doing.-Field trips for observation of trees. Blue prints of leaves, blossoms. Arbor Day exercise,planting a tree. Singing.-Exercise in music. See Songs. Posing.-Pose "The Grafter," "The Tree Chopper." Acting.-Old Pipes and the Dryad. Telling.-From Stories, Songs, Poems: Philemon and Baucis; Old Pipes and the Dryad; The Walnut Tree that Wanted to Bear Tulips. Writing.-Forestry and protection laws. Oral reading.-Grades I, II, III. The Fir Tree and the Bramble-Beginner's Series, Primer. The Proud Leaves-Elson, 1. The Little Pine Tree-Elson, 1. The Discontented Pine Tree-Hill, 1. Little Fir Tree-Holton, 1. The Woodman and the Axe-Haliburton, 1. Why the Evergreens Keep their Leaves-Haliburton, 1. Philemon and Baucis-Lights to Literature, 1. Rhrecus-Lights to PART II. CYCLES IN PLANT LIFE, 41 Literature, 1. The Pine and the Flax-Jones, 1. Arbor Day-Blodgett, 1. The Trees and the Axe-Classic Fables, 1. The Leaves-Aldine, 1. The Birds and the Leaves-Aldine, 1. Pussy Willow-Aldine, 1. How we Got our First Pussy Willows-Aldine, 1. The Race of the Trees-Finch, 1. Grandpa's Elm Tree-Finch, 1. Pussy Willow-e-Fineh, 1. Horse Chest- nuts-Finch, 1. The Tree-Merrill, 1. The Fir Tree and the Bramble- Classic Fables, 1. The Leaves Have a Party-Sloan, 2. The Anxious Leaf-Child World, 2. Why the Pine Tree Sighs-Child World, 2. Why Evergreens Keep their Leaves-Holton, 2. Philemon and Baucis-Child Life, 3. The Poplar Tree-Child Life, 3. Who Loves the Trees Best? (Alice May Douglas)-Child Life, 3. Leaves in Autumn-Child Life, 3. The Spruce and the Maple-Carroll and Brooks, 3. The Tree (Bjornsenj-c- Young and Field, 3. Philemon and Baucis- Young and Field, 3. How the Leaves Came Down (Susan Coolidge)- Young and Field, 3. The Little Pine Tree-New Education, 3. THE OLDEST AND LARGEST ELM TREE IN THE UNITED STATES-KINGSPORT, TENN. REFERENCES Trees Arbor Day. Prepared by the Forest Service. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1922. 15 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Circular 265.) Forest trees of the District of Columbia. By Wilbur R. Mattoon and Susan S. Albertis. Washington, D. C., American Forestry Association, 1923. 64 p. illus. Important forest trees of the eastern United States. By William B. Greeley. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1922. 11 p. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Department circular 223.) 42 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE Planting and care of street trees. By F. L. Mulford. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1921. 35 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 1209.) Timber: mine or crop? By W. B. Greeley, Earle H. Clapp, Herbert A. Smith, and others. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1923. 180 p. diagrs, (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Bulletin no. 886.) Parks Crater Lake National Park, Oregon. By Hubert Work and Stephen T. Mather. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1924. 21 p. iIlus. Games and recreational methods for clubs, camps, and scouts. By Charles F. Smith. New York, Dodd, Mead & Co., 1924. 463 p. illus. Glacier National Park, Montana. By Hubert Work and Stephen T. Mather. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1924. 53 p. illus. Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. By Hubert Work and Stephen T. Mather. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1924. 61 p. illus. Mount Ranier National Park, Washington. By Hubert Work and Stephen T. Mather. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1924. 41 p. illus. Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota. By Hubert Work and Stephen T. Mather. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1924. 20 p. diagrs. PART II. CYCLES IN PLANT LIFE Series I. Plowing. II. Sowing. III. Planting. IV. Growing. V. Cultivating. VI. Flowering. VII. Reaping. VIII. Harvesting. IX. Threshing. X. Storing. XI. Grinding. XII. Baking. XIII. Marketing. XIV. Transporting. CYCLES IN PLANT LIFE Topic Unit Outline I. Plowing _ Earthworm _ Study earthworm in school. II. Sowing _ Dissemination of seeds __ Seeds that fly, sail, fall, and stick. III. Planting _ Soils _ Evaporation and condensation of moisture. IV. Growing _ Germination of seeds _ Helpers-sun, wind, and rain. V. Cultivating _ Soils _ Retention of moisture. Dry farming. VI. Flowering _ Fertilization _ Cross pollination. How bees carry pollen. VII Reaping _ Tools _ Source of materials (iron mines). VII I. Harvesting Seed cradles _ Construction and use. IX. Threshing_ Grain _ Shell and germ of seed. Processes of threshing. X. Storing _ Storehouses _ How animals store tbeir food. XI. Grinding _ Grain mills _ Processes of grinding. Electric power. XII. Baking _ Yeast _ Effect of heat on yeast, water, and flour. XIII. Marketing • Money _ The story of a dime (silver mine). X IV. Transporting _ Boats, trains _ Wind and weather flags. Power, steam, and elec- tricity. Relation to orchard study-apple, cherry, peach, pear, etc. Relation to insect study, including toads. Relation to bird study. Relation to bees. Series I. PLOWING AUDITORIUM PROGRAM Art.-The Plow-Le Jeune. Plowing-Rosa Bonheur. Poem.-In the Garden-Emily Dickenson. Nature study.-The earthworm. Poem.-The Plowman-Oliver Wendell Holmes. Fable.-The Plowman and His Treasure. History.-Plowing in other lands-Cuba, Japan, France, America. Art.- Plowing-Rosa Bonheur. History.-Plows of long ago and now-Pilgrim, an automobile plow. Poem.-The Corn Song-J. G. Whittier. Story.-How Ulysses Plowed the Seashore-Greek myth. Song.-See the Busy Farmer-Gaynor. History.-Plowing in the South for cotton. Song.-Follow the Plow with Me-Progressive Music Series, Book II. Geography.-The number of farms in the United States, map study. 43 44 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE LESSON STUDIES Preparation.-Excursions and Field Lessons. 1. Visit a farm or garden and watch the plowing and spading. 2. Visit a hardware store and examine the plows and spades. Art Study.-Pictures from the Perry Picture Co. 1. The Plow- Le J eune. 2. Plowing-Rosa Bonheur. Nature Study Lessons.-The earthworm. Reading lesson. Grades IV, V, VI. 1. Observation in the garden: Make smooth a piece of ground, one foot square, and turn a drygoods box over it. Next day count the castings which the earthworms have thrown up during the night. Measure the castings, which are found on this piece of ground each day, for a week, and estimate the amount of earth the worms bring to the surface during that time. Watch the earthworm cling to its burrow with its tail. Observe how it propels itself. Look for its eggs in the month of June, near its burrow. 2. Observation in the schoolroom: Bring earthworms into the school- room. Put them into a pan of water and watch them crawl about; then put them into a box of soil having a glass side. Watch them burrow. Place leaves on the top of the soil and see if they will disappear. Watch the worms crawl upward against the glass. Watch them closely when you jar the box, when you put an onion near them, and when you suddenly put them into a strong light. Questions: Does the earthworm eat the soil as it burrows down through the ground? Does the earth pass through its body? Would this affect the constituency of the soil? Does the earthworm draw leaves down into the ground? How would this affect the soil? How do earthworm's burrows help the roots to grow? Does the earthworm bring up the subsoil and carry down the top soil? Is this what the plow does? Can an earthworm see? Can it smell? Why does it keep its tail in its burrow when it comes out? How do earthworms help the farmer? A LITTLE PLOWMAN What a wonderful plowman the earthworm is: He eats his way down through the soil, and as the earth passes through his body it is cast up on the top of the ground. We find these castings everywhere, for most of the surface soil of the earth passes through the bodies of these little plowmen. All the growing plants need his help. He keeps the ground soft and moist. He draws the leaves that are on the ground down into his burrow, and these give food to the plant. The roots creep down through the openings which he makes and find an easy path into the earth. All the crops of corn, wheat, and rye, all the peas and beans in the gardens and all the growing things we need for our food are helped by this busy little worker. In the night, while we are sleeping, he is carrying the topsoil down below the surface and bringing the subsoil up. HistOTy Lessons.-Plowing in other lands. 1. Plowing in Cuba: The Cubans use a rude wooden plow drawn by oxen. 2. Plowing in Japan: The Japanese plow looks like a cultivator; it is drawn by a water buffalo, and the farmer wears rubber boots because the rice fields are under water. 3. Plowing in France: Many oxen are used to draw a plow in France because the soil is rich and heavy. PART II. CYCLES IN PLANT' LIFE 45 4. Plowing in America: In America the Indians used to plow with a sharp stick pushed through the ground. The Pilgrims used two branches of trees fastened together, one upright for the handle, and one horizontal for the pole to which the oxen were tied. An iron plate was fastened over the point of the plow to keep it from wearing; later on a steel plate was used. Now we have sulky plows in America, in which the farmer may ride. On the large farms in the West traction engines are used to drive the plow through the ground, and five steel blades turn the soil at one time, cutting a wide path across the field. Questions: What should a plow do to the ground? Should the topsoil be turned completely over? What becomes of the sod that is buried? Plowing in the South for Cotton. (See notes.) Stories.-Basis for reading and language. The Plowman and his Treasure-Aesop. Ulysses Plows the Seashore- Greek Myths. PLOWING-WHAT A PLOW SHOULD DO TO A FIELD Poems.-Basis for reading and language and spelling. In the Garden-Emily Dickenson. The Plowman-Oliver Wendell Holmes. The Corn Song-John Greenleaf Whittier. Songs.- Basis for music and reading and spelling. See the Busy Farmer-Gaynor. Follow the Plow with Me-Progressive Music Series, Book II. Lavender's Blue-Congdon Music Reader, III. Silent Reading.-Grades IV, V, VI. Stories of Ulysses (Agnes Cooke)-Art-Literature Readers. Plowing in Colonial Times-James Otis Series of Readers, 5-6. Diggers in the Earth- E. M. Tappan, 5. Jason or the Golden Fleece-Reading-Literature Readers, Book 5-6. The King of the Plow (Paul H. Hayne)-Sprague Classics, 5. Rain in Summer (Longfellow)-Reading-Literature, 5-6, and Riverside, 6. Number.-Measuring perimeters. Long measures. 1. Perimeters of farm and fields; problems in fencing. 2. Exercises with the number 3; tables in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. 46 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PL,ANT LIFE MODES OF EXPRESSION Modeling.-From History Lessons. Model in clay or plasticene. Plows of long ago and now; Pilgrim's plow, steel plow, sulky plow. Drawing.-Blackboard and crayon-from History, Literature, and Art. Plowing in other lands-Cuba, Japan, America. Pictures of Ulysses plowing; Picture of The Plow-Le Jeune. Painting.-From Nature Study Lessons. With ink-the earthworm. Making.-From Nature Study and History Lessons. Apparatus and models. 1. Apparatus-fitting a glass side to earthworm's box. 2. Model-a Cuban plow, tying two sticks together. Doing.-On the sand table; in the garden. 1. Push a pointed stick through the sand; tie a string to it and pull it through. 2. Push a three-cornered piece of wood through the sand; see if it turns a furrow. Why? 3. Rake up the garden and make a bonfire of the refuse. 4. Spade the garden plot and rake all the stones into the bottom of the furrow. Singing.-Exercise in music with motion songs. See the Busy Farmer-Gaynor. Posing.-From Songs, Stories, Art, and Poems. Pose The Plow-Le Jeune; Ulysses plowing; Indian and farmer plowing. Acting.-Dramatization of the story, "Ulysses Plows the Seashore". 1. Parts-Ulysses, Penelope, two messengers, the cow, and the horse. Six children take the parts; two girls and four boys. 2. Use a pointer for the plow; roll up a coat for the baby. See Stories of Ulysses, by Agnes Cooke. Paper cutting.-From History. Colored poster of Indian plowing. Painting.-From History, with water colors. Landscape of plowed field-blue sky; brown earth, with furrows showing; green trees. Telling.-Reproduction from Stories, Songs, and Poems. Story of Ulysses; Story of the Plowman and his Treasure. Memorize the poem of The Corn Song. Writing.-From Nature Study and History Lessons. 1. What the earthworm does for the plants. 2. Plows of long ago and now. Oral Reading.-In History and Literature Lessons. Grades I, II, III. The Pot of Gold-Life and Literature Readers, Book I. Series II. SOWING AUDITORIUM PROGRAM Poem.-The Wind-R. L. Stevenson. Nature Study.-Dissemination of seeds. Songs.-The Seed Cycle: Seeds that Fly, Seeds that Sail, Seeds that Fall, Seeds that Stick-Art Song Cycles, Fox-Miessner. Art.-The Sower-Millet. History.-Sowing wheat in France; in America. Geography.-Where wheat is raised in the United States. Map study. Fable.-The Sower and His Horse-Russia .. PART II. CYCLES IN PLANT' LIFE 47 Poem.-The Builders-Henry Van Dyke. Story.-The Pea Blossom-Adapted from Andersen. Song.-The Wind-Art Song Cycles. Song.-The Little Seeds-Progressive Music Series. LESSON STUDIES Preparation.- Excursions and field Lessons. 1. Visit a farm and watch the farmer sowing wheat. 2. Examine a grain drill; find the seat, lever, wheels, hopper, tubes; discs, and press wheels. Art Study.-Pictures from the Perry Picture Co. The Sower-Millet. Nature Study Lessons.- Dissemination of seeds. 1. Field Lessons-Gather seeds and bring them to school. 2. Mount seeds and classify them, such as seeds that fly; seeds that fall; seeds that stick; and seeds that sail. 3. Sow seeds on the sand-table farm-wheat in the wheat field, oats in the oats field, grass seed in the pasture, etc. Sow garden seeds in the sand-table garden-onion seeds, lettuce, peas, beans, beets, corn, radishes, tomato, cabbage-until they germinate, and then transplant them to the outdoor garden. These young shoots may be used for a study of germination of seeds. Geography.-Where wheat, corn, and cotton are raised in United States. Product maps, Department of Agriculture. History Lessons.-Sowing wheat in France and America. 1. Sowingwheat in France. Use the picture of The Sowerfor these lessons. 2. The farmer in America sows wheat with a grain drill, he can sow 20 furrows at one time. Stories.-Basis for reading and language. The Pea Blossom-Andersen; The Sower and his Horse-Russian Fable. Jason Sows the Dragon's Teeth-Greek Myth. Poems.-Basis for reading, language, and spelling. The Wind-R. L. Stevenson; The Builders-Henry Van Dyke. Songs.-Basis for music, reading, and spelling. The Seed Cycle-Art Song Cycle. Oats and Beans-Progressive Music Series, Book I. The Farmer-Progressive Music Series, Book I. Little Gypsy Dandelion-Congdon Music Reader, 3. Apples Falling-Congdon Music Reader, 2. The Wind-Progressive Music Series. The Little Seeds- Progressive Music Series Manual. Silent Reading.-Grades IV, V, VI. A Crust of Bread-New Educational Reader, 4. The Song of the Sower (William Cullen Bryant)-Farm Life Reader, 5. To the Dandelion (Lowell)-Riverside, 7. Number.-Measuring surfaces. Square measures. 1. Area of farm, fields,and garden plot; problems in cost of sowing,etc. 2. Square measure; problems in measuring amount of seed to square surfaces. 3. Exercises with the number 4; tables in addition, subtraction, multiplica- tion, and division. 48 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE o UJ UJ (j) z a f- f- a u UJ I f- t- « I f- (j) o UJ UJ (j) I CJ z 5: a (j) PART II. CYCLES IN PLANT LIFE 49 MODES OF EXPRESSION Modeling.-From History and Nature Study Lessons. 1. Model the sower from Millet's picture. 2. Model seed cradles of the milk weed, thistle, maple tree, acorn, pea, bean, etc. Drawing.-Blackboard and crayon-from History and Nature Study Lessons. 1. Sowing wheat in France; sowing wheat in America. 2. Picture of The Sower, from Millet. SOWING-SEEDS THAT FALL. THE WHEAT SEED Painting.- With ink-seeds that fly (milk weed); seeds that fall (acorn); seeds that sail (maple); seeds that stick (burr). Making.-Apparatus for nature study lessons. Envelopes and boxes to hold seeds. Doing.-From Nature Study Lessons, Make blue prints of seeds that fly, fall, sail, and stick. Singing.-Exercise in music. The Seed Cycle-Art Song Cycle. Posing.-From Art Lessons. Pose pupil as the sower from Millet's picture. Acting.-From Literature Lessons. Jason Sows the Dragon's Teeth-Greek Myth. 50 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE Paper Cutting.-From Literature Lessons. Colored poster of the sower from Millet's picture. Painting.-With water colors, from Nature Study Lessons. Seeds that fly, fall, sail and stick. Telling.-Reproduction from Literature Lessons. The story of The Pea Blossom-Andersen. Writing.-From Literature and Nature Study Lessons. The story of The Pea Blossom-Andersen. Oral Reading.-Supplementary readers. Grades I, II, III. Robinson Crusoe. Mary of Plymouth-James Otis Series. The Flag- Hans Christian Andersen. Dandelion-Life and Literature, 1. Milkweed Seeds-Finch Reader, 1. The Treasure in the Vineyard-Classic Fables, 1. Acorns-Finch Reader, 1. Hickory Nuts-Finch Reader, 1. Horse- chestnut Burrs-Finch' Reader, 1. Milkweed Seeds-Finch Reader, 1. Dandelions-Finch Reader, 1. The Dandelion-Aldine, 1. The Dandelion (E. Erskinej-c-Merrtll, 2. The Dandelion-Child World, 2. How Seeds Travel-Sloan Readers, 2. A September Walk with Aunt Fannie-New Educational Readers, 3. An October Walk with Aunt Fannie-New Educational Readers, 3. Dandelion Down (Lucy Larcom)-Cyr, 3. Series III. PLANTING AUDITORIUM PROGRAM Art.-Planting Potatoes-Millet. Poem.-The Potato-Thomas Moore. Nature Study.-Soils, retention of moisture. History.-A farmer dibbing. Geography.-Where potatoes are raised in the United States. Map study. Poem.-The Corn Song-J. G. Whittier. Story.-Jason Plants the Dragon's Teeth-Greek Myth. Song.-The Wind-Stevenson. Poem.-Little Brown Seed-Margaret Sidney. History.-Planting cotton in the South. Geography.-Wet lands in the United States. Map study. LESSON STUDIES Preparatwn.-Excursions and Field Lessons. 1. Visit a farm and watch the farmer planting corn. Visit gardens and study the plan of planting seeds. 2. Examine a corn planter; find the seat, lever, wheels, hoppers, tubes, disks, and press wheels. Art Study.-Pictures from the Perry Picture Co. Study the picture, Planting Potatoes-Millet. Nature Study Lessons.-Soils, and the retention of moisture. 1. Experiment in the schoolroom. Test gravel, sand, and loam, in order to learn their power of retaining moisture. Class brings samples to school of each kind of soil to be tested. Dry thoroughly, and weigh 4 ounces of each. Knock the bottoms out of three olive bottles, fit them with notched corks, and turn each upside down over a large glass. Put the gravel in one bottle, the sand in another, and the loam in the third. Pour a gill of water into each bottle. Watch the water run through the different soils into the glasses below. Measure the water in each glass. PART II. CYCLES IN PLANT LIFE 51 Questions: Through which sample of soil did the water run most rapidly? Why? Which soil remained moist longest? In which soil would one plant his seeds? Why? 2. Send to the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. Co,for packages of seeds for free distribution, and distribute these to the children for their gardens at home. 3. Try and have the children make a school garden. Apply to the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. Co, for directions and help. It will cooperate with you in your project, and render valuable assistance. Geoqra phq>« Where cotton is raised in the United States. Product map study. History Lessons.-Planting rice in Japan and corn and cotton in America. , 1. Planting corn in America, in the early days, eonsistedIn dibbing in the corn. A large pointed stick was utilized to make the hole. As the farmer used the dibble, the children followed on behind him, and dropped five kernels of corn into each hole. They sometimes sang the old ryhme: "One for the pigeon, one for the crow, One to die, and two to grow." 2. The Pilgrims planted corn with a dib, also; and Squanto, their Indian friend, showed them how to fertilize each hill by depositing a dead fish along with the corn. 3. The corn planter is used on the large farms in the West. It has a seat for the driver, for it is drawn by a horse like the sulky plow. After the hop- pers have been filled with corn, the planter does the rest of the work, except as the number of kernels to each hill is regulated by the driver. It plants two rows of corn at one time much more easily and quickly than it could be done by hand. 4. Planting cotton in the South. See notes. 5. The Japanese plant their rice in ground that is under water. After the rice begins to grow they transplant the small plants to other fields, which are also under water. Working under water makes the cultivation of rice a difficult feat in farming. Stories.-Jason Plants the Dragon's Teeth-Greek Myths. Poems.-Basis for reading, language, and spelling. The Potato-Thomas Moore. The Little Brown Seed-Margaret Sidney. The Corn Song-John Greenleaf Whittier. Songs.-Basis for music, reading, and spelling. The Wind-R. L. Stevenson. The Seed-Congdon Music Reader, 3. Silent Reading.-Grades IV, V, VI. The Planting of the Apple Tree (Bryant)-New Educational Readers, 4; Riverside, 6; Farm Life Readers, 5; Gordon Reader, 5; Cyr, 5. Cotton- Farm Life Readers, 5. Farming in Plymouth (Mary of Plymouth)-James Otis Series. Plant a Tree (Lucy Larcom)-Riverside, 6. MODES OF EXPRESSION Modeling.-From History, Nature Study, and Art Lessons. 1. Model the figures from Millet's picture, Planting Potatoes. 2. Model an ear of corn, a potato, a dib. Drawing.-Blackboard and crayon-from History, Art, and Nature Study Lessons. Study of the picture-Planting Potatoes; planting Corn in America; planting Cotton in the South. Painting.-With ink-from Nature Study Lessons. A stalk and an ear of corn. 52 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE M aking.- From History Lessons. Make a dib of wood. Doing.-From Nature Study Lessons. Dib in the corn on your sand-table farm. Singing.-Exercises in music. The Wind-Robert L. Stevenson. Posing.-From Art Lesson. Pose two figures planting potatoes, from Millet's picture. Pose farmer dibbing and children dropping corn. Acting.-From Literature Lessons. Act the story, Jason Sows the Dragon's Teeth. Paper Cutting.-From Nature Study Lessons. Cut a stalk of corn showing ears, leaves, and tassels. Painting.- With water colors from History Lessons. Paint a Pilgrim planting corn and Squanto helping. Paint a cornfield. Telling.-From History and Literature Lessons. Tell how Squanto helped the Pilgrims plant their corn. Tell the story of Jason. Writing.-From Literature and History. Write of the Pilgrims planting corn, and the story of Jason. Oral Reading.-Supplementary reading. Byron Barnes-Finch Reader, 1. The Pilgrims-Finch Reader, 1. Springtime is Here (Emily Huntington Miller)-Life and Literature, 1. The April Rain-Aldine, 1. The Springtime-Aldine, 1. Spring (Celia Thaxter)-Mills, 1. The Spring-Aldine, 1. The Fox and the Monkey- Merrill, 1. Appleseed John-Gordon Reader, 3. Mary's Garden-Cyr, 2. Series IV. GROWING AUDITORIUM PROGRAM Part 1. The Seeds Arl.-Aurora. Poem.-Spring-T. B. Aldrich. Nature Study.-Germination of seeds. Poem.-The Grass. Story.-The Sower-Bible. Song.-The Little Seeds-Progressive Music Series, Book I, Verse 2. Part 2. Helpers-the Rain Nature Study.-Evaporation and condensation of moisture. Poem.-The Seed-Alice Cary. Story.-Apollo's Cows-Greek Myth. Song.---,-Apollo'sCows-Art Song Cycles. History.-Irrigation in the West. Geography.-Irrigation in the United States Map study. Part 3. Helpers-the Sun Nature Study.-Heat, relation to evaporation. Story.-The Swan Maidens-Greek Myth. Poem.- Wake, Says the Sunshine- Poulsson. Song.-Good Morning, Merry Sunshine-Poulsson. PART II. CYCLES IN PLANT LIFE 53 Part 4. Helpers-the Wind Nature Study.- Distribution of moisture. Poem.~ What the Wind Brings-Stedman. Story.-The Bag of Winds-Greek Myth. Song.-The Merry-go-round-Progressive Music Series, Book II. History.-The Windmill on the Farm. Song.-The Scarecrow-Art Song Cycles. Story.-The Red-Headed Woodpecker-Indian Myth. Play.-The Lad Who Went to the North Wind-Fox's Second Reader. History.-How the Cotton seed Grows. LESSON STUDIES Preparation.-Excursions and Field Lessons. 1. Take walks with pupils, as long as possible. Observe all the signs of growth along the way. The grass, the trees, the gardens, and the fields will be growing rapidly during the months of May and June. 2. If possible, visit a farm and look at all the crops that are growing in the fields. Art Study.-Pictures from the Perry Picture Co. Aurora. Nature Study Lessons.-Germination of seeds. Effect of the rain, the sun, and the wind on the growth of plants. Experiments in the schoolroom: 1. After the seeds on the sand-table farm have begun to sprout, leave some of them without water for a few days and ask the children to watch the effect, comparing those that have been watered with those that have not. 2. Cover some of the sprouting seeds away from the light, and compare these with the ones uncovered, watching closely the development of each group. 3. Evaporation and condensation of moisture. Watch the steam from the boiling tea kettle. Catch some of the steam on a piece of glass. What happens to the steam? Bring a pitcher of water into a warm room. What forms on the pitcher? Why? Wring two handkerchiefs out of water, shake one in the air, and let the other lie quietly. Which dries first? Why? What effect has the wind on the evaporation and condensation of moisture? Observation in the schoolroom: Examine the seeds that have sprouted on the sand table. Find the stem, leaves, plumule, and roots. What function does each perform in the growth of the plant? History.-Man's substitutes for rain and sun; irrigation and greenhouses. 1. Irrigation in the West. The Indians constructed irrigation plants before the white men came to this country. They dammed up a mountain stream and held the water back with a gate which they. could raise and allow the water to run out over the fields. Large tracts of our western country which are without rainfall have been redeemed by irrigation. 2. Early in the spring, before it is warm enough to plant in the garden, seeds are sprouted in hothouses constructed of glass, until it is time to transplant them into the open air. Greenhouses are like hothouses, only they are used all the year. They are heated in the winter, and vegetables and flowers are grown in them. 3. How the cotton seed grows. 54 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE Stories.-Basis for reading and language. Rain and sun and wind. The Sower-Bible. Apollo'sCows-Greek Myths. The SwanMaidens- Greek Myths. The Bag of Winds-Greek Myths. The Wind and the Sun-Aesop. The Ear of Corn-Russian Fable. GROWING-GERMINATION OF THE COWPEA ON THE SAND TABLE PART II. CYCLES IN PLANT LIFE 55 Poems.-Basis for reading, language, and spelling. Spring-Thomas Bailey Aldrich. The Seed-Alice Cary. Wake, Says the Sunshine, What the Wind Brings-Edmund Clarence Stedman. Songs.-Basis for music, reading, and spelling. Apollo's Cows-Art Song Cycles. May Time-Congdon Music Reader, 3. Good Morning, Merry Sunshine-Emilie Poulsson. Mr. Wind and Madam Rain-Gaynor. In the Corn Field-Progressive Music Series, Book II. Silent Reading.-Grades IV, V, VI. The Fog and the Rain-NewEducational Reader, 4. The Windy Night (Thomas Buchanan Reed)-Gordon Reader, 5. What is so Rare as a Day in June (James Russell Lowell)-Riverside, 7. Number: 1. Measuring liquids-pint, quart, and gallon. Problems in cost of milk, vinegar, gasoline, etc. 2. Exercises with the numbers 2 and 4. Tables in addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and fractions. GROWING-LAND BEFORE IRRIGATION, ARIZONA MODES OF EXPRESSION Modeling.-From Nature Study Lessons, and Art. • Model a growing bean plant, showing stem, leaves, plumule, and roots. Model the statue of Hermes. Drawing.-Blackboard and crayon-from Nature Study Lessons, History and Literature. Draw the story of The Bag of Winds. The Floating Island. Ulysses with the bag of winds. Opening the bag; the storm. Painting.-With ink-from Nature Study Lessons. Paint the germinated seed-the bean, maple, corn, potato. 55997°--25t----5 56 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE Making.-From Nature Study Lessons. Make a weather vane of wood and observe t he direction of the wind Make a shadow stick and observe the time of day. Make..a paper wind mill and observe the velocity of the wind. Doing.-From Nature Study Lessons. Plant Chinese lily bulbs in water and watch the growth of the plant. Singing.-Exercise in music with motion songs. Mr. Wind and Madam Rain-Gaynor. The Merry-go-round-Progres- sive Music Series, Book II. Posing.-From Art and History. Pose Hermes, from the statue. GROWING-LAND AFTER IRRIGATION, YUM WOOD'S ORCHARD, ARIZONA, 6 YEARS OLD Acting.-From Literature. Act the story of Apollo's cows. Characters-Hermes, Apollo, the cows. Scene 1. Hermes in the cradle watches the cows. Scene 2. Hermes chases the cows. Scene 3. Hermes makes a lyre out of a sea shell and plays on it. Scene 4. Apollo searching for his cows, finds Hermes in the cave. Hermes plays on the lyre and Apollo forgives him. Scene 5. Hermes takes care of the cows. Act the story of The Bag of Winds. Characters-Ulysses, Aeolus, four winds, ten or twelve of Ulysses' men. Scene 1. Ulysses and his men land on the island; Aeolus gives Ulysses the bag of winds; they embark and are blown on their way by the east wind, Scene 2. Ulysses sleeps; the men whisper. Scene 3. The men open the bag the winds rush out, and the storm comes upon the boat. Paper Cutting.-From Art. Cut the statue of Hermes. PART II. CYCLES IN PLANT LIFE 57 Painting.-With water colors-from Literature Lessons. Paint a landscape in water colors showing Apollo's cows, and Hermes driving them across the sky. Telting.-From Literature, Nature Study, and History Lessons. Tell the story of The Swan Maidens. Tell the story of The Bag of Winds. Tell the story of Apollo's Cows. Tell the story of the Wind and Sun. Tell how a seed begins to grow. Tell how to plant a Chineselily bulb, and how it grows. Tell about the Easter rabbit. Writing.-From Literature, History and Nature Study Lessons. Write the fable of The Wind and the Sun. Write the scenes from the story of The Bag of Winds. Write the story of the Easter rabbit. Write about the experiments with moisture; what the sun, rain, and wind do for the growingplant. Oral Reading.-Supplementary-from Nature Study, History, and Literature Lessons. Grades I, II, III. Wind, rain, Sun. The Kite-Blodgett Primer. The Rain-Blodgett Primer. The Wind and the Sun-Howe Primer. The Swan Maidens (Flora Cook)-Nature Stories. Apollo's Cows (Flora Cook) -Nature Stories. The Bag of Winds (Agnes Cooke)-Stories of Ulysses. The Birthday Vine-Life and Literature Readers, Book I. Wind and Rain -Life and Literature, 1. Guessing Games-Life and Literature, 1. The Wind (R. L. Stevenson)-Mills Reader, 1. The Wind and the Sun- Mills, I. Tom and' the Wind-Aldine, 1. An Indian Cornfield-Francis W. Parker School Leaflets No. 44, 1 and 2. Springtime is here (Emily Huntington Miller)-Life and Literature Readers, 1. The April Rain- Aldine, 1. Little Raindrops-Mills Reader, 1. The Grain of Wheat- Natural Method Reader, 1. The North Wind and the Sun-Child Classics, 1. The Sun and the North Wind-Classic Fables, 1. The North Wind at Play-Elson Reader, 1. The Wind and the Sun-Hill Reader, 1. The Wind and the Sun-Haliburton Reader, 1. The Wind and the Sun-Lights to Literature, 1. The Wind and the Sun-Jones Reader, 1. The Wind and the Sun-Child's Word Garden. The Sun and the Wind-Beginner's Series, 1. The Lad who went to the North Wind-Fox Second Reader. Do What you Can-Child World Reader, Book 2. Windy Nights (R. L. Stevenson)-Child World Reader, 2. The Story of the Morning Glory Seed (M. Eytinge)-Merrill, 2. The Rain (Longfellow)-Merrill, 2. Who Has Seen the Wind? (Christina Rosetti)-Gordon, 2. Nimbus, the Rain Cloud-Cyr, 2. The Story of a Seed-Cyr, 2. The Sun and the Wind-Carroll and Brooks, 2. The Wind and the Sun-Appleton, 2. The Wind and the Sun-Life and Literature, 2. The Morning Glory Seed (Margaret Eytinge)-Merrill Reader, 2. The Wind (R. L. Stevenson)- Merrill,2. Five Peas in a Pod-Educational Readers, 3. How the Flowers Grow (Gabriel Seloun)-Child World Reader, 3. Little by Little-Beacon Readers, 3. Seed Friends-Carroll and Brooks,3. Which was Stronger?- Educational Readers, 3. Who Has Seen the Wind? (Christina Rosetti) Beacon, 3. The North Wind-Carroll and Brooks, 3. The Boy and the North Wind-Carroll and Brooks Reader, 3. March (W. C. Bryant)- Educational Readers, 3. May (Helen B. Curtis)-Educational Readers, 3. The Elf and the Dormouse (Oliver Herford)-Child World, 3. The Wind (R. L. Stevenson)-Carroll and Brooks, 3. Bay Seed Song-Young and Field, 3. The Sweet Pea Story-Cyr. 3. 58 CYCL,ES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE REFERENCES Irrigation The border method of irrigation. By Samuel Fortier. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1923. 42 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmer's bulletin no. 1243.) Effect of fall irrigation on crop yields at Belle Fourche, S. Dak. By Wm. A. Taylor. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1917. 15 p. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Bulletin no. 546.) Irrigation drainage and water power. Issued by Superintendent of Documents. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office,1923. Price list 42-14th edition. 22 p. Irrigation in the Yakima Valley, Wash. By S. O. Jayne, Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office,1907. 89 p. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Bulletin no. 188.) Irrigation of grain. By Walter W. McLaughlin. Washington, D. C., Govern- ment Printing Office,1917. 22 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 863.) Irrigation of orchards. By Samuel Fortier. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1917. 40 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 882.) Potato culture under irrigation. By William Stuart, C. F. Clark, and George W. Dewey. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office,1918. 24 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 953.) Practical 'information for beginners in irrigation. By Samuel Fortier. Wash- ington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1917. 38 p. illus. (U. S Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 864.) Progress report on experiments in supplemental irrigation with small water sup- plies at Cheyenne and New Castle, Wyo., 1905-1908. By O. W. Bryant. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office, 1910. 51 p. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Circular no. 92.) Sheep on irrigated farms in the Northwest. By Stephen O. Jayne. Washington, D. C., Government Printing Office,1919. 32 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 1051.) Spray irrigation. By Milo B. Williams. Washington, D. 9., Government Print- ing Office,1917. 40 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Bulletin no. 495.) Surface irrigation for eastern farms. By F. W. Stanley. Washington, D. C. Government Printing Office, 1924. 30 p. illus. (U. S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers' bulletin no. 899.) Series V. CULTIVATING AUDITORIUM PROGRAM Art.-The Man with the Hoe-Millet. Poem.-Work-Alice Cary. Fable.-The Ear of Corn-Russian. Nature Study.-Capillarity; dry farming. History.-Cultivating with Old Dobbin; cultivating in Syria; in America (corn). Art.-The Return of Proserpina-Lord Leighton. Poem.-Proserpina-E. B. Browning. Story.-Ceres-Greek Myth. Song.-With Scythe and Sickle---Progressive Music Series. History.-How cotton is cultivated in the South. PART II. CYCLES IN PLANT LIFE 59 LESSON STUDIES Preparation.-Excursions and Field Lessons. 1. Visit a farm and watch the farmer cultivate his corn. How does a cultivator differ from a plow? What does the cultivator do to the ground? Watch the farmer hoe his corn. What does he do to the ground. 2. When do you use a hoe in the garden? What plants need hoeing? Why? Art Study.-Pictures from Perry Picture Co. 1. The Man with the Hoe-Millet. Why did Millet paint this picture? Is it a beautiful picture? Why? Does it teach a lesson? Do you enjoy this picture? Why? 2. Proserpina-Leighton. Who was Proserpina? Who was her mother? What did her mother do? How was Proserpina lost? What nature story does this old Greek myth tell us? Nature Study Lessons.-Capillarity. 1. Experiments in the schoolroom: Dip a corner of a handkerchief in water and watch the water spread through the cloth. Drop a little ink on a lump of sugar and watch the ink spread through the sugar. Pour water into the dry sand on the sand table and watch the sand "take up" the water. Explain to the children that the little particles of cloth, which touch each other closely, are able to carry moisture from one particle to another, and in this way the moisture spreads through the whole piece of cloth. This is also true of the lump of sugar. The ink is carried from one particle or grain of sugar to another until the whole lump is saturated with the ink. The sand on the sand table acts in the same way. One grain of sand takes up the moisture and passes it to the grains that touch it, and these, in turn, to other grains until all the sand on the table is moist and ready to model. This power which particles have of passing moisture from one to the other is called capillarity, because the little p articles of cloth the grains of sand, and of sugar are called capillaries. Application: If the particles of sand or sugar or soil are loosely put to- gether and do not touch each other closely,they will not pass on the moisture from one particle to another. For example,if the top of the ground is allowed to harden and a crust to form on the surface, the moisture in the ground rises easily to the top and is carried away on the air, leaving the earth dry and parched. On the other hand, if the top of the ground is cultivated the particles of earth on the surface are separated and the moisture can not reach the surface. This is the principle of dry farming. A constant stirring of the surface of the earth forms a dust blanket and keeps the moisture down in the ground, where it feeds the roots of the plants and prevents them from withering and drying up. 2. Experiments in the garden: Try an experiment in the garden with dry farming, if possible. Select some plot that is covered from the rain, plant seeds in it, and keep stirring the soil around the roots without watering them. This experiment might be tried on the sand table. Questions: How does cultivation help a plant to grow? Why does stirring the soil prevent evaporation? What is a dust blanket? Why does a dust blanket prevent evaporation? CORN PRODUCTION Corn is the great American cereal. Its tonnage equals 70 per cent of all cereals grown in the United States. Its value equals 50 per cent of all cereals grown in this country. It leads all other crops, both in the Wheat Belt and in 60 CYCLJilS OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE the Cotton Belt. Corn yields twice as much to the acre as wheat, oats, barley, or rye. The climate of the Corn Belt is peculiarly suited to it. There is no other area in the world of the same size which produces so much food to the square foot as the Corn Belt. Over two-thirds of the corn acreage of the world is in the United States, and 90 per cent of the acreage of corn for grain in the United States is in the Corn Belt. Here most of the corn is fed to hogs, cattle, and horses on the same farm that it is grown. For this reason over two-fifths of the hogs and pigs in the United States are in the Corn Belt. Iowa, the leading corn State, has the greatest number of swine, is second in cattle raising, and leads in the number of horses raised in the United States. History lessons.-Cultivating in the West. 1. Small fields are cultivated with the hoe. The farmer hoes the earth up around the roots of the plants. He breaks up the lumps of earth and makes the soil fine and dry. 2. Sometimes a farmer cultivates with a hand cultivator. The old family horse drags the cultivator through the rows of corn. This stirs up the soil and pulverizes it very much as the hoe does. 3. On the large farms in the West a traction engine drags the cultivator across the fields, just as it drags the traction plow. Many rows of corn are cultivated at one time with the traction cultivator. 4. Dry farming in the West: In dry countries, where little rain falls during the year, the plants die for lack of moisture. A continued stirring of the soil, with hoe or cultivator, forms a dust blanket over the field, and prevents the moisture in the ground from rising to the surface and evap- orating. Large tracts of barren land in the West have been reclaimed and made valuable by the process of dry farming. Stories.-Basis for reading and language: The story of Ceres-Greek Myths. Poems.-Basis for reading and spelling: Work. Proserpina-E. B. Browning. Songs.-Basis for music, games, and rythm: With Scythe and Sickle-Progressive Music Series. Silent Reading.-Grades IV, V, VI. Persephone (Flora Cook)-Nature Myths, IV. (Demeter, Persephone, Hades, and Phoebus are Greek words. Their equivalents in Latin are, respectively, Ceres, Proserpina, Pluto, and Apollo.) In Time's Swing (Lucy Larcom)-New Educational Reader, 4. The Sun-New Educational Reader, 4. The Man in the Moon-New Educational Reader, 4. The New Moon (Mrs. Follen)-New Educational Reader, 4. Seven Times One (Jean Ingelow)-New Educational Reader, 4. Daisies (Frank Demster Sherman)-New Educational Reader, 4. The Shadow (John Tabb)- Young and Field, 4. Cotton-Farm Life Readers, 5. Summer (James R. Lowell)- Farm Life Readers, 5. Number.-Measuring time with the calendar. 1. Pupils make calendars by cutting up old calendars, and learning to replace the figures in the proper places. 2. Learn to read and write numbers from these calendars. 3. Make weather records on their calendars, noting the sunny days, the cloudy.days, the rainy days, and the snowy days. These are represented by circles of colored paper-yellow for sun; dark blue for rain; light blue for cloud; white for snow; upper half of circle, a. m.; lower half, p. m. PART 11.- CYCLES IN PLANT LIFE 61 MODES OF EXPRESSION Modeling.-From History and Art. 1. Model a hoe, rake, and cultivator. 2. Model the man with the hoe from Millet's picture. Drawing.-From History, Literature, and Nature Study Lessons.' 1. Blackboard-draw a picture of cultivating in America. Draw a picture of the Man with the Hoe. Painting.-With ink-from Nature Study Lessons. 1. Paint a hoe, a rake, and a cultivator. 2. Paint the pose of a man hoe- ing, raking, and cultivating. Cutting ColoredPosters.-From History Lessons. Little boy cultivating with Old Dobbin. Grandfather drives the cultivator and little boy rides on the back of Old Dobbin. See Cutting Colored Poster. Yellow NOVEMBER @ SUN. MON. TUES. WED. THUR. FRI. SUNNY WhiM @]) RAINY SNOWY SUNNY DAYS. CLOUDY DAYS. PAINY DAYS. SNOWY DAYS. CULTIVATING-WEATHER CALENDAR IN COLORED PAPER CUTTING Making.-With manilla paper, from History Lessons. Make a cultivator with manilla paper and pins, wood, and nails. Doing.-Cultivate the sand on the sand table with wooden cultivator. Singing.- Exercise in music with motion songs. With Scythe and Sickle-Progressive Music Series. Posing.-From Art, History, and Literature Lessons. Millet's Man with the Hoe. Ceres, from the story. Pose a man hoeing, raking, and cultivating. Acting.-From Art and Literature. Act the story of Ceres. Characters-Mother Ceres, Proserpina, Apollo, Pluto, Mercury. Scene 1. Ceres comes to cultivate the fields; she leaves Proserpina, Scene 2. Pluto carries Proserpina to his palace. Scene 3. Ceres returns and weeping searches for her daughter. Scene 4. The crops dry up and the people beg 62 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE Ceres to cultivate the fields, which she promises to do if they will find Proserpina, Scene 5. Apollo sings a song to tell Ceres where Proserpina is. Scene 6. Mercury goes to Pluto and brings Proserpina back to her mother. Telling.-From History, Literature, and Nature Study. Tell the story of the Ear of Corn from the Russian fable. Tell the story of Ceresfrom the Greek myth. Tell how water seeps through a handkerchief, how it seeps through the soil, and how stirring the top soil will keep the moisture in the earth. Tell about the dust blanket. Tell about the recla- mation of the Bad Lands in the West. Tell how people in other lands do their cultivating. Writing.-From History, Literature, and Nature Study. Write the story of the Ear of Corn. Write the story of Ceres. Write about the experiment with the handkerchief and the water, the lump of sugar and the ink, the sand and the water. Write about dry farming in the West. Write about the way cultivating is done in America. Oral Reading.-Grades I, II, III. Supplementary, from Nature Study, History, and Literature. Sunshine---Mills Reader, 1. Little Raindrops-Merrill, 1. Hidden Treasure-s-Child World Readers, Book 3. That's How-Educational Readers, Book 3. March-Educational Readers, Book 3. The Sun's Travels (R. L. Stevenson)-Gordon Reader, 3. How the Flowers Went and Came Again (Ceres)- Young and Field, 3. Marjorie's Almanac (Thomas Bailey Aldrich)- Young and Field, 3. Series VI. FLOWERING A UDITORIUM PROGRAM Art.-Spring- Millet. Poem.-The Apple Orchard in the Spring. Song.-The Violet-Art Song Cycles. Nature Study.-Cross pollination. Poem.-A Rose-s-Emily Dickenson. Nature Study.-How the bees carry pollen. Song.-Roses and Butterflies-Art Song Cycles. Story.-Philemon and Baucis-Greek Myths. Song.-The Trillium-Art Song Cycles. Nature Study.-The white blackberry. Poem.- What the Wind Brings-Stedman. Song.-Clytie-Art Song Cycles. Story.-Clytie---Greek Myths. History.-The cotton blossom. Poem.-When the Cotton Blossoms in the South-Florence C. Fox. History.-The corn, wheat, and potato blossom. Geography.-Where cotton is raised in the United States-Product map study. LESSON STUDIES Preparation.-Excursions and Field Lessons. 1. Visit the woods. Arrange a picnic, if possible. After the lunch has been eaten the empty baskets may be filled with flowers. Gather specimens of as many varieties as possible, and later they may be mounted for a collection. Find where the lily and the members of its family love to grow. Gather the trillium, jack-in-the-pulpit, dog-tooth violet, and any other of these varieties you can find. 2. Visit an apiary. Watch the bees coming and going from the hive. If possible find a clover blossom with a bee sucking honey. PART II. CYCLES IN PLANT LIFE 63 Art Study. 1. A colored copy, if possible, of Millet's Spring. This shows a beautiful picture of an apple tree in blossom. 2. Japanese prints of flowers. 3. Pictures of flowers from the Perry Picture Co., or other publishing houses. 4. Study arrangements of flowers in vases. Tell the children of the Japanese and their study of flower arrangement. Study the Japanese prints of flowers and ask the children why they are artistic. Questions: Why did Millet paint a rainbow in his picture of Spring? Does the picture look beautiful to you? Does all the landscape make you think of Spring? Why? What does the castle mean in the background of the picture? Does the castle suggest Spring to you? Why?' FLOWERING-THE HOUSE AND THE FAMILY IN A COTTON BLOSSOM Nature study.-1. Fertilization of seeds within the flower. 2. Cross pollination by winds and insects. 1. Fertilization of seeds within the flower. Experiments in the schoolroom: Give each child a pansy and help him to find the parts of the flower and their use in fertilizing the seeds. Use the analogy of the house and the family for the lessons with the little children. The pansy is like a house with a family living in it. The calyx is like the walls of the house, and holds the parts of the flower together. The petals are like the curtains 'Ofthe house, hiding the family from view. Take away the curtains or petals and we can see the family. The stamens are like the father of the family; he gives the food or pollen to the mother and she presents it to the babies or seeds. The pistil is like the mother; she takes the pollen from the stamens and gives it to the seeds. The seeds sleep in a little green cradle under the mother. See if you can find the cradle. Open it 64 CYCLES OF GARDEN LIFE AND PLANT LIFE with a pin and find the seeds. When the seeds are ripe the cradle will open, and out will come each little seed to be planted in the ground. Then they will grow in the spring and become little pansy plants. Examine the trillium, apple blossoms,and other flowersand find their parts. Find the cradle in each and the seeds. 2. Cross pollination. Experiments in the schoolroom. Catch bees in a net and bring them to school. Watch a bee under a glass tumbler. Find the pollen on his legs. How the bees carry pollen. Some flowers do not have pollen, and the bees bring it to them when they come for honey. They carry the pollen on their legs and leave it in the flowers when they flyaway with the honey. "Flowers rank among the most beautiful productions of nature; and they become -through natural selection beautiful, or rather conspicuous, in con- trast with green leaves, that they may be easily observed and visited by insects, so that their fertilization may be favored. I have come to this conclusion from finding it an invariable rule that when a flower is fertilized by the wind it never has a gayly-colored corolla. "I have found that the visits of bees are necessary for the fertilization of some kinds of clover. * * * Bumble bees alone visit the red clover, as other bees can not reach the nectar.-Darwin: Origin of Species, etc. In order to discover how the wind carries pollen, visit, if possible; a corn- field when the corn is in tassel, or bring a stalk of corn into the schoolroom and examine the pollen on the tassels and on the silk in the ears of corn. "With plants having separate sexes, some aid is necessary for their fer- tilization. With several kinds this is effected by pollen grains, which are light and incoherent, being blown by the wind through mere chance onto the stigma, and this is the simplest plan that can well be conceived."- Darwin: Origin of Species, etc. Questions: Why is the blossom of a plant like a family? What is the calyx for? What are the petals for? What do the stamens do for the seeds? What member of our family are they like? What does the pistil do for the seeds? What member of the family is it like? What is pollen? What is the cradle? Where is it? What does the pollen do for the seeds? How long do the seeds stay in the cradle? Has every flower a family living in it? What does the bee get from the flower? What does the bee give to the flower? How does it carry pollen? How does it carry honey? Does the wind some- times carry pollen? How do tho corn seeds get pollen? How do the blossoms on some trees get the necessary pollen? "Some holly trees bear only male flowers which have four stamens pro- ducing a rather small quantity of pollen, and a rudimentary pistil; other holly trees bear only female flowers; these have full-sized pistil, and four stamens with shriveled anthers, in which not a grain of pollen can be detected * * * Every female which I examined had been effectually fertilized by the bees, which had flown from tree to tree in search of nectar. "-Darwin: Origin of Species, etc. 3. Luther Burbank's garden. Burbank has an experimental farm in the West where he cultivates many different species of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Many of the changes which he has wrought in the size and shape and flavor of our garden products have been accomplished through cross pollination and careful selection. He carries bits of pollen from one flower to another and cross fertilizes one type of berry with another, one type of fruit with another, and sometimes one flower with another. In this way Burbank has developed the white black- PART II. CYCLES IN PLANT LIFE 65 berry, the large daisy, the thin-skinned nut, and a plum which is a cross between a plum and an apricot. Question: How does Mr. Burbank work in his garden to change the flowers and fruits and vegetables? How has he changed the blackberry? How has he changed'