The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-06-06
WOMAN'S NATURE
 STUDY GLASSES Her Summer Work At The
 Seashore TEACHING THE CHILDREN To Know Birds, Insects and Flowers Paid the Expenses of Her Out ing,Besides Giving Her
 $278 for Herself
TEACHING THE CHILDREN

From the New York Sun.
 As a means of tiding over dhe summer months and earning money to continue her studies one young woman in New York has hit upon the plan of instructing classes in nature studies at. a summer resort. Her classes are made up of boys and girls from to IS. Besides paying her expenses for the. season last autumn she returned to town with $z7S.
 Last summer I had six classes and took each class out twice week." the young woman told the reporter "Of course that necessitated my having two classes a day. It didn't leave me much time to myself, but as I am particularly fond of botany and all that grows in the sea and woods I enjoyed the work.
 My method of forming my classes Is about the only way that I think could be employed with success at such a re- sort I find a family who wish their children to go out with me and let them make up the required number, or rather the amount necessary to make 1t worth my while to take their children. Some parents are so careful as to the com, panions of their children that they prefer me to take them alone or with only one or two other children of their personal friends.
 My method of teaching is very simple I begin by taking the children to the woods. There I teach them to know the birds. insects and flowers. It is not often that we have an opportunity to study any of the wild animals
 E- 'I have the only books used in the classes. These books are used only for their illustrations. After describing bird or a flower I show the picture so that 1t may be easily recognized.
 1t is wonderful how quick children, especially young children, are to learn the different birds and flowers. Most of my pupils under 10 learned to know the different birds by sight to recognize their calls and often could tell the variety from the next without seeing the bird. They learned the different flowers and trees almost quickly. The older boys and girls are as a rule less attentive and | take less interest in such studies. "The third lesson in the woods I begin l to have my classes make collections of | plants and flowers. The finding and dig | ging up of the plants is only the begin
 
 l teach them to mount the plants, preserv- | ing both form and color.
 1 "The old-fashioned plant collectors | thought that the first thing to do was to mash all the juices out of the plant and flower they wished to preserve. For this | purpose they used to carry a small press | along with them that they could begin | the pressing business as soon as the plant l was uprooted.
 Now we leave the juice todry out nat | urally and the result Is a natural ap- | bearing plant with much of the color In both leaves and blossoms preserved. The first step on getting the specimens home is to wash all the earth and grit from the roots and plant Then the surplus moist ure must be removed by gently pressing and wiping with an absorbent cloth After this comes a bath in a solution of alum and cold water Then the abosrb- ent cloth is again used to take off the extra moisture.
 lNs "As a mount I have found French gray linen paper much better than the old styled glazed white paper. If the whole plant Is to be mounted, after lay ing it in place on thes paper, a narrow strip of courtplaster should be put over the stem just above the roots in such manner as to secure 1t firmly on the gray paper mount. The leaves and blos- sons are then pasted on the paper with photographers paste.
 "The object in mounting plants should always be to have them so far as pos sible in exactly the position they would be if growing This requires both knowl- edge and skill in arranging the leaves and flowers on the mount. It was one of the interesting features of my work to listen to the disputes among the children as to where the leaves and blossoms of 4I.@t.. .l.x .-I,x
 After each leaf and blossom is pasted and pressed firmly down with the fingers a damp cloth should be used to remove any surplus paste. The finished mounts should be placed on a table with folded sheets of newspaper between them and the whole surmounted by a board weighed down to the extent of ten pounds. The and the mounts ironed over with smoothing iron, being careful to cover them with two thicknesses of paper.
 "Collecting and mounting specimens us- ually consumes from five to eight les sons or rambles. The next step in my course is to take the children to the sea- shore and talk to them about the shells and their inhabitants. Very often these seaside rambles are cut short by the re- quest that we go again to the woods.
 T have found that children as a rule nnu DlrOS, lHbectS dnu nOWerH or more interest than sea life They are ready enough to pick up shells and ask about them, but when it comes to collecting and mounting them they lose interest and say they much prefer the plants. Because of this preference I have very often gone back to the woods after three or four lessons on the sea dwellers
 'As to the financial side of the work. charge for the course, not for single lessons or by the week. If child falls out or misses ramble I always offer to allow him to make it up by coming with some other class. This offer. however. Is hardly ever accepted. as children pre- fer to keep with their own associates. My terms are payment in advance. To girl starting out in my work I would al- ways advise her to follow this rule. It saves loss and embarrassment.
 ''Once in while I give up my evenings to help my older pupils mount their col lections. On these occasions the class us- ually meets at one of the homes and we work for an hour or so, then the hostess gives us all some light refreshments Aside from these few occasions all my evenings are my own. Then too. have