The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1902-02-11
Living Issues.
NATURE STUDY IN TIKI SCHOOLS

6lOAQRN. N " ID -
Annual Meeting of City School superln-
tendentS, Raleigh, N, G., January 1SO|'
William Hamilton Gibson, who
presents to the mind the highest
ideal of an artistic naturalist, whose
books and writings charm both
Young and old by critical observa
ton. artistic illustration and clear
exposition, dates his first interest IN
nature TO the time when as a child
his mother took him in the woods
from play, and he accidentally
stumbled upon a chrysalis. Picking
it up, he held it between his fingers
and the butterfly emerged. Gibson's
eyes were opened and his genius
awakened. His first lesson aroused
his interest, fixed his attention and
secured repeated observations. The
chief oncern of educators Is to
arouse interest and develop Observa-
ton. Both of these ends can be aC-
complished by bringing the pupils TO
think of and TO g the phenomena
of nature. A child is not always in
terested in language study, or his
tory, or mathematics, but when the
subject is either animal or plant life
his interest is assured. There is a
natural longing in the heart of ohil-
dren for the companiOnshiD of flow
ers and birds, for stories of animal
prowess and conquest, or animal
love and devotion. The living in
terests the living. To a great ex-
tent the same interest attaches also
to phenomena of earth and air, to
the study of geology and m~eterology.
Interest is easily awakened if the
subject be nature study. Nature
study is the natural path of intel
lectual growth, the path of least re-
sistanOe by the pupil, or rather the
path of no resistance.
NATURE STUDY DEFINED-DEvELOPING
THE HABIT OF SEEING.
By mature study" 1 understand
the term as defined by Hodge: "Na-
ture study is learning those things
in nature that are best worth know
ing, TO the end of doing those things
that make life most worth the liv
ing" Under judicious guidance a
child's power of observation grows
rapidly. His eyes are opened TO the
beauty about him, and he becomes
truly educated. We T apt TO over
rate the power of observation in It's
uncultivated condition. Yet if any
of you have tested the real powers
displayed you + ready to agree
with me that the faculty of obserYa
ton is sadly undeveloped. 1 WAS
once at q summer gathering of farm
ers where the amusement consisted
in supplying names for a dozen leaves
of the most common trees of the
neighborhood. Try it, and you will
find how ignorance prevails that
people have eyes, but do not see.
Indeed, Blake truthfully remarks
that ''the eye can no more Q than
any other mass of jelly" 1t is the
intelligent brain behind the eye that
does the seeing. How few city boys
or country boys either, know how
the weeds pass the winter; know
that the buds are almost as large n
the fall as in the spring. How many
with sympathetic eye have watched
the birds, observing what they eat,
and where they build? How many
have watched the hedgling's maiden
flight, and observed the mothers
method of teaching? How many
know what plants are most susoept-
ible TO frost ; which make most seed !;
which root deepest or how mos
quitoes, flies and grasshoppers pass
the winter how the different leaves
unfold or how the age of a branch
may be told by the external scars?
How many have seen the flowers Of
the grass, the pine, and the willow:
How many know whether plants
grow most by day or by night, or
know the habits of the oraw-fsh,
the beetle, or the fly? Can the eartl.
worm really regenerate from Sow
cred parts, or not? How many are
sure of the simple phenomena Of
everyday life? Holmes says "ThOse
who are really awake to the sights
and the sounds which the procession
of the months offer them, find in
these entertainment and instru2-
ton yet there are great m%ultitudes
who are present at as many as tbrae
score and ten performances without