Show Nature Study Made d Pleasant Pl for forSch School l Girl GitIs BY MARGARET tET E SANGSTER R Nature study is supposed to be a quite q different thing from the tIme study of books b In a way it may be true that the he t two kinds of tidy study are not very much m uch alike but in another wily way they cannot annot c be separated Nature is around us u s wherever we turn above us s stretches the sky we breathe the ar air arwe we w e have whether we live in town or orn orn in i n the country countr the sights and sounds of o f nature near up all the time If we have hae h ave only a little back yard with a small mall s plot of grass and n a pot or twp two of o f flowers if our omir only acquaintance with w ith birds is derived from a canary or ora a parrot in a cage we still s may study nature n although not with the same degree derree d of interest that will wUl be ours when w hen we ve make excursions to green fields elds fi I take it for granted that the girls who w ho are studying nature are doing so soo soo to t o some purpose Every one orie of ot us ought t t to o known by sight and touch the trees in i n the locality nearest our homes We should hould s know them by b their peculiar ties ies t of bark barIc and branch and bud and leaf eaf l We should know the flowers that grow g row in our countryside recognizing re them hem t em by their peculiarities of root stem tem s and flower of color and perfume We should likewise the th birds 15 f s Nothing is more absorbing than the study tudy s of birds They are arc fascinating I 1 l little ittle creatures Their habits man manners manners manners ners and customs are re not so so very ver op oJ our own when we really pene vene i t the ther c secrets In a single rather I Ismall small mall s neighborhood in Now New Inv Jersey a bird lover last summer summer counted no less than han t varieties of birds Their he r migrations their nests their patience I in I finding food for their young the mothers ami an fathers care Cate in showing the young birds how to fly ny all these th se seare are interesting ing parts of ot nature study But It is not so much of this that I am art thinking as I write to you as of the thc way In which we may m y help one an another another another S other in these days Girls who live in t the country ought to t have a mission to tc I their city cousins and when spring and summer bring their pleasant days boxes of wild flowers and garden flow flowers flowers ers too should be sent we W weekly ekly ekl to the thc schoolrooms where the pupils have no m noe measy easy e sy way war wa of getting getling specimens for fo themselves Schools In n different parts of the country courtry should exchange flow flowers flowers flowers ers shells and other interesting prop props of the nature study class and am I it would not be at all a bad Idea If I f there were a regular system of corre come correspondence correspondence between Jean T an of the little village and Betty of o the big city ai al I about the work each was doing in hi her hel r study of or nature Another helpful thing tIling that I r recommend recommend recommend mend is the marking of passages ii In I the poetry and prOse pr se that you read rea I i with an especial look to their theli tearing 5 on nature You will find that the poets poet care a great deal about the winds and ant the sky and the earth and ant that Teal real poetry pO try is full of beautiful be al at to the th phenomena of the world f we live in Tennyson whom you will willi study tudy s in your our classes s in English liter literature ture a has so much intimate knowledge i of f nature that his poetry Is almost a u guide g book to the flowers of his native land and l Longfellow Whittier Whittler and Em Emerson Emerson Emrson erson e have a great deal to say about abo t I nature n When you read r ad the great masters of fiction you will wU find that they hey the t ts have whole pages devoted d voted to de descriptions e s of scenery and that some of them hem t paint nature in words as if with the ime t brush of an artist artistA A good g od plan is isto to have 1 ve a common commonplace commonplace commonplace place book ook and whenever hen ever you find somethIng s that you like write it down for Or future reference When I was wasa a girl we studied botany out under the trees There was a par ti charming bit of f woodland lland near our school and our nature study was vas always carried on out of doors Our teacher had a seat sea on a gray rock covered with a blanket shawl Maybe you never n ver heard of a blanket shawl but if you had gone with Mss Miss Jane Ta e and had been privileged to carry carr her Scotch plaid arm you would have haye known what 1 h i a delightful and alid convenient wrap it was The girls gro grouped up d themselves th e Around round II on the grass near a brookside ide and as the lesson went vent on the brook sang and I sparkled and the sound of its lullaby 1 y and the gleam of o its waters made mu i sic and sunshine in our souls We learned a great deal de J about botany in i those enchanted afternoons an and 5 we learned learn too a love of or nature that is r not gained gain cd by those who study stud r her lier S rS only In dried specimens between white washed wa hed walls valls You may be interested nt to known kno that t 1 t we always carried a luncheon eon on the expeditions and antl it was va not the least interesting part of the occasion Girls who wha fell below a certain ertain percentage p r in I their studies studie W were re not permitted cI to tc take up botany in their work The TIle op o of studying stud nature w was v s thus thu I made very a le and precious and anc I we held it as something worth ing for forThe fo The study of astr astronomy S nomy captivates those who wl o have a s tUrn of oi r e mind To learn the names of the t con and to recognize re ome Lome Ox of 0 f the planets when they appear ab a ve yC the horizon is not beyond be any ordinary mind but the study of astronomy is i on oh the whole too tao t o abstruse to ta be b at to very young girls Defini I and formulas you may learn bu b t I to grasp the principles of astronomy k you require maturity and Insight insi ht fo to for r i these the se you must walt waft But you need no not t wait to learn by heart ex cx I lyric that begins The spacious firmament ment on high And all the blue etheral sky And spangled heavens he ens frame Their rhel great original I proclaim I i knew knew a wee tot once a dimpled 1 creature with serious eyes who did dit d j not lot n want to take lessons in music Lifting L her little hand she pointed up vard and said I would would rather study astronomy a Although the child did dB not n ot know it astronomy and music and mathematics sare are all somehow akin to one ane o another and she who Is proficIent in I n at ai y y one of them may hope to become proficient p in them all allOne allOne One April day as I watched the birds our o ur little brothers of the air busy bu with their housekeeping I wrote a bit of o f verse that you Y U may like in any ny month of the year since though It has an n April measure you may read r ait it in May or June and like it just as as well The Building of the Nest The ll come conic again to the tIle apple tree Robin Kobin and all the rest When the orchard branches are fair to see In the snow of the time blossom And the prettiest pI thing in the world will willSe Oe J Se SeThe The building LuH irig of the nest Weaving it well so round and trim Hollowing it with care Nothing too far away for him himS S Nothing Noth ng for her too fair Hanging it safe sate on the topmost limb Th Their r castle in the th air Ah Alt have ha e weary days Whey When the eggs eg are under unU r your breast And shadow may darken the time dancing dancin g rays S When the wee ones leave the tho nest But find their wings In a t gla glad d amaze amasie And God will nill see to the rest So come to the trees with all aJI your trail When the apple blossoms grow gr w Through the April shimmer of sun and an d rain Go flying to and fro And sing to our hearts as we watch Your fairy buildings grow gro again agai n Copyrighted 1006 90 by 1 Joseph Tos B Bowles j jr r s 1 THE THEOLD OLD PLACES Milwaukee Sentinel Say how would you like to go with me Away from the greed and spoiling To a place I know where the fields stretch h green And theres naught of strife and toiling And how IlOW would you y u like to forgot forget forg t the th e noise And these haunted city faces And bury them deep in the dreams wed we d have In the tire good old oid boy time places Say how bow would OU like you to go with me m e To the willows friendly cover Down Doarn to the river where long ago The pickerel used to hover And how would you like to lo wander again agai n As we did dd with sunburned ed faces fac And Arid bare brown feet and ragged clothes clothe s In the good grood oid old places Say how would you like to go with me m e And forget your tribulations In the romp and rove and heedless lite li fe We knew In our school vacations And how would it be to find the pond pon d The one where the old millrace is I And dive in Its waters cool and deep One of those places |