Show Nature Study d Pleasant for School Girls BY Y MARGARET MARcARET E SANGSTER Nature study is supposed to be a quite different thing from the study of or books Dooks In a way it may be he true that the two kinds of study t dy are not very much alike but in another way v y they cannot be separated Nature Is around us wherever we turn above us stretches the sky we breathe the air we have whether we wO live in in town or in the country the sights and sounds of nature near up all the time If we have only a a little back yard with a small plot of grass anda and a pot or two tw of flowers if our only acquaintance with birds is derived from a canary or ora ora a parrot in a cage we still s Il may study nature although not with the same degree of interest that will sill be ours when we make excursions to green fields field fieldI I take it jt for granted that the girls giri who are studying nature are doing so to some purpose purpose Every Everyone one of ot us ought t to known by sight and touch the trees in the locality nearest our homes We Wc should know them by their th ir pec liari ties of bark and branch and bud an 3 leaf We should know the flowers that grow grov in our countryside recognizing rec them by their peculiarities H of root stem and flower of color and perfume We should likewise know the birds 15 f Is Nothing is more absorbing than the study of or birds They are arC arc fascinating little creatures Their habits lIMits man manners manners manners ners and customs are not so so very op oj our own when we really pene penetrate pene the ther r secrets In a single rather small neighborhood in Now Jersey a bird lover last summer s counted no less than varieties of birds Their migrations their nests their patience in finding food for their young the mothers anti and fathers care a e in showing the young birds how to tOffy fly all these are interesting parts of nature study But it is not so much of this that I am thinking as I write writ to you ou as of the way in which we wem may y help one an another an another another other in these days Girls who live Ih e In the country ought to t have a no mission to their city cousins and when spring and summer bring th their r pleasant days boxes of wild ild flowers and garden flow flowers flowers ers too should be se sent we W ekly ekl to the thc schoolrooms where the pupils have no noe easy e sy way of getting specimens ns for fot themselves s Schools in different parts part of the country should exchange flow flowers flo floers ers era shells and other interesting prop of the nature study class and ant I it would not be at all a bad idea If ii there were a regular system of corre correspondence correspondence correspondence between Jean Tean of the little village and Betty of the big city al aU I about the work each was doing in her hei I study of nature Another helpful thing that I recommend re recommend mend Is the marking of pass passages ii in I the poetry and prose pr se that you Teat read I with an especial look to their bearing bearin on nature You ou will wilt find that tire poet care a great deal about a out the winds and am the waves the thc sky and the earth e rth ant and a d that real poetry po try is full of beautiful al to the phenomena of the world I we live in Tennyson whom you will study tudy s in your Jour classes cl in English liter literature literature ture a ao has so much intimate knowledge of o f nature that th t his poetry is almost a guide g book to the flowers of Iris his native and land l Longfellow Whittier and Em Emerson Emerson erson o have bae a great deal to say about abo t nature n When you read r ad the great masters of fiction you Jou will find that they hey t hove have h ve whole pages devoted d voted to de descriptions descriptIons s of scenery and that some sonic of hem them t paint nature nat re in words as if with the he t brush of an artist artistA A good plan is js to have a common commonplace commonplace place p lace book and whenever you find something s that you like write rite It it down do n for f Or r future reference S When hen I was wa a girl we studied botany out under tinder the trees There was a par ti t charming bit of f woodland near our school and our nature study stu Y was vas as always carried on out of doors 9 ur teacher had a seat seat on a gray rock covered cover d with a blanket shawl Maybe you never n ver heard of a a blanket shawl hut but if you had haq with Mss Miss Jane Tar and had been privileged to carry carr her Scotch plaid over your arm you would have haye known l what a delightful and a d convenient wrap it U was The girls grouped themselves around round on the grass ne near r a brookside and as s the lesson went on n the brook sang and sparkled and the sound of its lullaby and the gleam of 0 Jis its waters made mu sic and nd sunshine in our o r souls We learned a great groat deal de f l about botany in those enchanted afternoons and an we learned learn d too tOOl a love of or nature that is not gained by those thosa who w o study her only o ly In dried specimens ime between n white washed wa hed walls valls You may map be interested int rost d to known hn that t we always ah a s carried a luncheon on on 0 the expeditions and it If was w wa not the least l ast Interesting part of orthe the occasion Girls GIrIs who wha fell fe l below a certain percentage perc in their studies studie were not permitted d to take up botany in their work rit Tire The Th op of ot studying nature natt r was ws v thus made very ery a leand and precious and we W held it as something wOrth ing for forThe i er The study stu y of astronomy astr nomy captivates at s those th who have a scientific turn of mind To learn the names of the t le con and to recognize ome kome of the planets when they appear ab ye the horizon is not beyond be ond any ordinary mind ind but the study of astronomy is on the tire whole too abstruse to be at to very young girls Defini and formulas you may learn but bat b t to grasp the principles of astronomy you require maturity matur ty and insight insi for these you must walt wait But you need no not irot wait to Je learn n by heart cx ex lyric that begins Tire The The spacious us firmament on high And all the tire blue atheral sky And spangled heavens a shining frame Their rhel great t original or i 81 proclaim I 1 knew a wee tot once a dimpled creature with serious eyes who vho did die didy y I not n ot want to take lessons in music Lifting L her little hand she pointed up ward w ard and said HI I would rather study tudy astronomy a Although the child hild did iid didot I Inot not n ot know it astronomy and music and ant mathematics m are all aU somehow akin to I one o ne another and she who is t i in I n any anyone one of them may hope to become proficient p in them all allOne allOne allOne I One April day as I watched the birds our o ur little brothers of the air busy with w ith their housekeeping I wrote a bit bi t of o f verse that you y u may like in any month of the year since though it has ha s an a n April measure you JOU may read it in May Mayor or June Tune and like it just as as well The Building of the Nest The T n come again to the tire apple tree Robin and all the rest When the orchard branches are fair to see In the snow of the tire blossom And the prettiest thing tiring in the world will wil l b je jeThe The building LuH irig of the nest Weaving it well so round and trim Hollowing it with care Nothing too tOG far away for him Nothing for her h r too fair Hanging it safe on the topmost limb r castle castIc in the air Air Ah have weary days When the eggs are under your breast And shadow may darken the dancIng dancin g rays When the wee ones leave the nest But find their wings in a 1 glad sit gla d amaze And A d God will see to the res resSo r resSo So come to the trees with all ail your trail When the apple blossoms graw gr V Through the April shimmer of sun un and an d rain Go flying to and fro And sing slug to our o r hearts as Your vre we e watch again aai n fairy buildings grow Copyrighted 1006 JO by 1 Joseph B 8 Bowles Bowler |