(Consult theScience of Common Life, Chap. VII.)
(Consult theScience of Common Life, Chap. VII.)
Have the pupils weigh out equal quantities of sugar, salt, soda, alum, blue-vitriol. Shake up with equal quantities of water to compare solubilities. Repeat, using hot water. Is it possible to recover the substance dissolved? Set out solutions on the table to evaporate, or evaporate them rapidly over a stove or spirit-lamp. Try to dissolve sand, sulphur, charcoal, in water. Obtain crystals of iodine and show how much better, in some cases, alcohol is as a solvent than is water.
Applications:
1. Most of our "essences", "tinctures", and "spirits" are alcoholic solutions.
2. Digestion is the effort of the body to dissolve food.
3. The food in the soil enters the plant only after solution.
4. The solvent power of water makes it so valuable for washing.
5. Maple sap is water containing sugar in solution.
6. In the salt region along Lake Huron, holes are drilled to the salt beds, water is poured in, then pumped out and evaporated. Explain.
7. Meat broth is a solution of certain materials in the meat.
8. How could you manufacture salt from sea water?
Try to mix oil and water, benzine and water, oil and benzine. Only in the third case do we find a permanent mixture, or solution. Try to dissolve vinegar, glycerine, alcohol, mercury, with water.
Applications:
1. Paint is mixed with oil so that the rain will not wash it off so easily.
2. Water will not wash grease stains. Benzine is necessary.
3. Why is it necessary to "shake" the bottle before taking medicine?
Study air dissolved in water, by gently heating water in a test-tube and observing the bubbles of air that gather on the inner surface of the test-tube. Aquatic animals, such as fish, clams, crayfish, crabs, subsist on this dissolved air.
Pieces of this rock may be found in all localities. Teach pupils to recognize it by its gray colour, its effervescence with acid, and the fossils and strata that show in most cases. If exposed limestone rocks are near, visit them with the pupils and note the layers, fossils, and evidences of sea action. Compare lime with limestone as to touch, colour, and action on water and litmus. Try to make lime by putting a lump of limestone in the coals for some time; add water to this. Other forms of limestone are marble, chalk, egg-shells, clam-shells, scales in tea-kettles.
Geographically, the study of limestone is of great importance. Grind some limestone very fine, add a verylittle of this to water, and bubble carbon dioxide through for some time; note the disappearance of the limestone. This explains how limestone rocks are being slowly worn away and why the water of rivers, springs, and wells is so often "hard".
Catch some rain-water in the open and test it for hardness. It will be found "soft". Place a few limestone pebbles in a tumbler with this soft water and after a day or two test again. The water will be "hard".
Compare, as to hardness, the water from a concrete cistern with that from a wooden one.
Procure specimens of hard and soft coal, coke, charcoal, graphite, peat, and petroleum. Note the distinctive characteristics of each. Discuss the uses. Try to set each on fire. Note which burns with a flame when laid on the coals or placed over the spirit-lamp. Put a bit of soft coal into a small test-tube; heat and light the gas that is produced. This gas, when purified, is one kind of illuminating gas. Note thecokeleft in the test-tube.
Fill the bowl of a clay pipe with soft coal and seal it up with plaster of paris. After this has hardened, place the bowl in hot coals or in the flame of a spirit-lamp and light the coal-gas at the end of the stem. After all the gas has been driven off, look for the coke inside.
Heat a bit of wood in a small test-tube and light the gas that is evolved. Note the charcoal left.
Cover a piece of wood with sand or earth; heat, and note that charcoal is formed. This illustrates the old method of charcoal-burning. This subject is closely related to industrial geography.
A convenient way to prepare hydrogen is to use zinc and hydrochloric acid with a test-tube for a generator. (Consult any Chemistry text-book.) Make the gas and burn it at the end of a tube, holding a dry, cold tumbler inverted over the flame. Note that water is formed. Conclude what water consists of, namely, oxygen and hydrogen. Water may be decomposed into oxygen and hydrogen, hence a use of hydrogen may be shown by attaching a clay pipe to the generator and filling soap bubbles with the gas. When freed these rise quickly.
If bar magnets cannot be obtained, use a child's horse-shoe magnet.
Procure small pieces of cork, wood, iron, brass, glass, lead, etc., and let pupils discover which the magnet attracts.
Have pupils interpose paper, wood, slate, glass, iron, lead, etc., in sheets between the magnet and the iron and note the effect on the force exerted.
Note that when one end of a magnet touches or comes near the end of a nail, the nail becomes a magnet, but not a permanent one.
Magnetize a needle by drawing one of the poles of the magnet from end to end of the needle, always in the same direction, about twenty times. Suspend the needle horizontally with a piece of silk thread and note its position when at rest.
Get a small compass and show how it is related to the foregoing experiments. Emphasize its use to mariners. If possible, get a piece of lodestone and show its magnetic properties.
Half fill a tumbler with water and add about a teaspoonful of sulphuric acid. Set in this a piece of copper and a piece of zinc, but do not let them touch. Make a coil by winding insulated wire around a block of wood about ten times. Remove the wood and place a compass in the centre of the coil. Join the ends of the wire to the two metals in the tumbler. The sudden movement of the needle will be taken as the indication of a current.
Let pupils try experiments with many pairs of solids, such as lead and silver, carbon and glass, wood and iron, tin and zinc, and liquids such as vinegar and brine.
Show pupils how to make a simple battery. See home-made apparatus, page 50, and consultLaboratory Exercisesby Newman. Two or three dry cells will be found sufficient for any experiments, but the home-made battery is to be preferred.
Show pupils how to make a magnet by winding a piece of insulated wire around a nail and joining the ends of the wire to the battery. Make a horse-shoe magnet by bending the nail and winding the wire about both ends in opposite directions.
As an application of the electro-magnet, show pupils how to make a telegraph sounder. (See Manual onManual Training.) If possible, examine the construction of an electric bell. The motor and electric light are other common applications of the current. Take up the uses of the motor in factories, and for running street-cars and automobiles. Show the necessity for a water-wheel or engine to produce the current, and for wires to connect. Explain that batteries are not used to produce large currents, but that machines called dynamos, similar to motors,when driven by steam or water-power, will yield electric currents as batteries do.
The power of steam may be shown by loosely corking a flask and boiling the water in it until the cork is driven out, or by stopping the spout of a boiling tea-kettle, or by letting a stream of steam impinge on a toy paper wheel. Encourage pupils to learn all they can about steam and gasolene engines and their uses.
This topic should be dealt with only in so far as it can be made a subject for actual observation by the pupils. Children should learn to be thoughtful and observant and to do all kinds of work, manual as well as mental, intelligently.
(ConsultThe Ontario High School Physics, Chap. IX.)
(ConsultThe Ontario High School Physics, Chap. IX.)
Lever.—When aleveris used to lift a log, one end is placed under the log, a block called afulcrumis placed under the lever as close as possible to the log, and then the workman pulls down on the outer end of the lever. For example, if the fulcrum is one foot from the log and ten feet from the man, the latter can raise ten pounds with a pull of one pound, but he has to move his end of the lever ten times as far as the log rises. Try it. See other examples in plough handles, see-saw, balance, scissors, wheel-barrow, pump-handle, handspike, crowbar, canthook, nut-crackers.
Rope and Pulley.—In theropeandpulleynote that when the pulley is a fixed one, the only advantage is achanged direction of the rope. When the pulley ismovable, the horse pulling will have only half the weight to draw if the pulley is single, one quarter if double, one sixth if triple, etc. Thus in the case of a common hay-fork the horse draws only half the weight of the hay, but he walks twice as far as the hay moves.
Cogs.—If one wheel has eightycogsand the other ten, the latter will turn eight times to the former's once.
Belt.—When abeltruns over two wheels, one having, say, one fifth of the diameter of the other, the smaller will revolve five times for one revolution of the other.
Crank.—With acranktwo feet long, one may turn a wheel twice as easily as with one one foot long, but the hand will move twice as far. If a wedge is two inches thick at the large end and ten inches long, a man may lift 1000 pounds by striking the wedge a 200-lb. blow.
Inclined plane.—If a plank twelve inches long has one end on the ground and the other on a cart four inches high, one man can roll up the plank the same weight that would require three men to lift, but he has to move the object three times as far.
1. Why is a long-handled spade easier to dig with than a short-handled one?
2. Which is easier, to dig when the spade is thrust full length or half length into the earth?
3. Can a small boy "teeter" on a board against a big boy? How?
4. In helping to move a wagon, why grasp the wheel near its rim?
5. In making a balance, why should the arms be equal? In a balance with unequal arms, compare the weights used with the article weighed.
6. In using shears, is it better to place the object you wish to cut near the handles or near the points?
7. Where is the best place to put the load on a wheel-barrow?
8. Notice how three horses are hitched to a plough or binder.
9. Where would you grasp the pump-handle when you wish to pump (1) easily, (2) quickly?
10. Stretch out your arm and see whether you can hold as heavy a weight on your hand as on your elbow.
11. Count the pulleys used in a hay-fork and determine the use of each.
12. If a ton of hay is unloaded at five equal forkfuls, what weight has the horse to draw at each load?
13. Count the cogs on the wheels of a fanning-mill, washing-machine, apple-parer, or egg-beater, and determine how the direction or rate of the motion is changed thereby.
14. Measure the diameter of the large fly-wheel of a thrashing-machine engine, and of that which turns the cylinder in the separator. Decide how many times the cylinder revolves for one turn of the fly-wheel.
15. Think of all the uses of a wedge. Draw one. Compare the axe, knife, and chisel with the wedge.
16. How are heavy logs loaded on a sleigh or truck? How are barrels of salt and sugar loaded and unloaded?
17. There are two hills of the same height. One has a gradual slope, the other a steep one. Which is easier to climb? In what case is it farthest to the top?
18. Why does a cow or horse take a zigzag path when climbing a steep hill?
The study of plants should lead to an intelligent appreciation of their beauties and a desire to have them growing about. Many of our native trees, shrubs, vines, and herbaceous plants are quite as beautiful as some that are procured at considerable expense from nurserymen. A great work remains to be done in cultivating and popularizing our best native species. Up to this point the pupils have been getting acquainted with them in their own natural habitat; the next step should be to use them in covering up harsh and offensive views about the school and home grounds, in softening and giving restful relief to barren yards and bare walls, to ugly fences and uninteresting walks and driveways.
Begin to plan some simple improvements for the spring. These may be repairing of fences and gates in order to protect the grounds from stray animals, the cleaning up of the yards, the gathering of stones which may be used in making a rockery, the planting of trees along the sides and front of the grounds—a double row of evergreens to overcome a cold northern exposure or to exclude from view disagreeable features, the laying out of a walk or drive with borders, flower beds, or shrubs in little clumps.
Plans of grounds well laid out should be examined and discussed in the school-room. Many illustrated magazines give useful suggestions. Plans can be worked out on the black-board with the pupils. It will take years to complete such a plan, but the pupils should have a part in making the plan as well as in carrying it out. The aim should be to encourage the use of simple and inexpensive things obtained in the vicinity, wherewith to produce harmony and pleasing natural effects.
Comfort and utility must be considered as well as beauty and natural design. In the school grounds the outdoor games must also be provided for and sufficient room allowed.
Such efforts on the part of the teacher and pupils, if wisely directed, are sure to meet with the approval of the parents and must call forth the hearty co-operation of the trustees.
It is not well to attempt too much in one year. It is better to do a small amount well than to leave much work in a half-done condition.
The soil must be drained and not too much shaded by trees. At first it should be summer fallowed or cultivated every few weeks throughout the summer, to kill the weeds and make it fine and level. A thick seeding of lawn grass-seed should be sown early the next spring and raked lightly in. All levelling and preparation must have been done the previous season.
Coarse grasses, such as timothy, should not be used on a lawn. Red top and Kentucky blue-grass in equal parts are best and, if white clover is desired, add about half as much white Dutch clover seed as red top. If the soilhas been prepared as above, there is no need to use a foster crop of oats or barley, as is done in seeding down meadows. Roll the lawn after seeding and also after heavy rains as soon as the surface dries. Shortly after the grass appears, begin to run the lawn-mower over it, so as to cut weeds or native grasses that may be gaining a foothold. Watering is dangerous, unless carefully and regularly done during the summer, the evening being the best time. Merely wetting the surface by sprinkling encourages shallow rooting and therefore rapid drying out. Regular mowing and rolling are more important.
Parsons:How to Plan the Home Grounds.Doubleday. $1.00
Waugh:The Landscape Beautiful.Judd. $2.00
Department of Education:Improvement of School Grounds.
Using a balance, compare weights of equal-sized boxes of different soils, dried and powdered fine. Note the comparative lightness of humus. Weigh a box of earth taken fresh from the field, from this compute (1) the weight of a cubic foot of such soil, (2) the weight of the soil to the depth of a foot in a ten-acre field.
Repeat the experiment, making it an exercise in percentage.
Fill two glass tubes (lamp chimneys will do), one with finely powdered clay, the other with sand. Set the tubes in a pan containing water. Note the rise of the water due to capillarity. Through which soil does it rise faster? Farther? Try with other soils. Try with fine soil and also with the same soil in a lumpy condition.From this give a reason (1) for tilling soil, (2) for rolling after seeding.
Procure samples of soil from different depths, four inches, eight inches, twelve inches, sixteen inches, etc. Note how the soil changes in colour and texture. In which do plants succeed best? In most fields the richest part of the soil is contained in the upper nine inches; the portion below this is called subsoil. This extends to the underlying rock and is usually distinguished from the upper portion by its lighter colour, poorer texture, and smaller supply of available plant food. The difference is due largely to the absence of humus. The character of the subsoil has an important bearing on the condition of the upper soil. A layer of sand or gravel a few feet below the surface provides natural drainage, but if it be too deep, it may allow the water to run away rapidly, carrying the plant food down below the roots of the plants. A hard clay subsoil will render the top too wet in rainy weather and too dry in droughts, because of the small amount of water absorbed. Such a soil is benefited by under-draining. A deep and absorptive subsoil returns water to the surface, by capillary action, as it is needed. The subsoil finally contains a large amount of plant food, which becomes gradually changed into a form in which plants can make use of it. Pupils should find out the character of the subsoil in their various fields at home and its effect on the fertility of the field.
Along with water, the roots take up from the soil various substances that are essential to their healthy growth. Potash, phosphoric acid, nitrogen, calcium, sulphur,magnesium, and iron are needed by plants, but the first three are particularly important. If land is to yield good crops year after year, it must be fertilized, that is, there must be added chemicals containing the above-mentioned plant foods. Land becomes poor from two causes: the plant food in the soil becomes exhausted, and poisonous excretions from the roots of one year's crops act injuriously on those of the next season. Rotating crops will improve both conditions for a while, but eventually the soil will require treatment.
Humus contains plant food and is also an excellent absorbent of the poisonous excretions. It is added as barn-yard manure, leaves, or as a green crop ploughed in.
The chemicals commonly used comprise nitrate of soda, bone meal, sulphate of potash, chloride of potash, lime, ashes, cotton-seed meal, dried blood, super-phosphate, rock phosphate, and basic clay.
Experiments:
1. Sow wheat on the same plot year after year and note the result when no fertilizer is used. Sow wheat on another plot, but use good manure.
2. Try the various commercial fertilizers on the school plots, leaving some without treatment.
3. Examine the roots of clover, peas, or beans, and look for nodules. These show the presence of bacteria, which convert the atmospheric nitrogen into a form in which the plants can use it. Scientific farmers have learned the value of inoculating their soil with these germs. A crop of peas or clover may produce the same result.
4. Observe Nature's method of supplying soil with humus.
There was once a time when the surface of the earth was bare rock. Much of this rock still exists and in many places lies on the surface, but it is usually hidden by a layer of soil. Soil is said to be "rock ground to meal by Nature's millstones". The process is very slow, but it is constantly going on. The pupils should be directed to find evidences of this "grinding".
1.Running water.—Brooks, creeks, rain, and the tiny streamlets on the hills all tell us how soil is carried from place to place. Get some muddy water from the river after a heavy rain. Let it settle in a tall jar and observe the fine layer formed.
Wash some pebbles clean, place them in a glass jar with some clear water, and roll or shake the jar about for a few minutes. Note that the water becomes turbid with fine material worn from the stones. A process similar to this is constantly going on in rivers, lakes, and seas. Account for the presence of gravel beds now situated far away from any water.
2.Ice Glaciers.—How do these act on rocks? Show evidences in Ontario as far as these can be illustrated from the surroundings, such as polished rocks, boulders, beds of clay, sand, or gravel, small lakes, grooved stones, etc.
3.Frost and Heat.—See "Expansion of Solids", pages 189, 190. Look for splintered or cracked stones. Why do farmers plough in the fall?
4.Wind.—In sections near the lakes the action of the wind in moving the sand may be seen and appreciated. There are other places where this work is going on on a smaller scale.
5.Plants.—Our study of humus shows the value of vegetable matter in soil. Besides contributing to the soil, plants break up rocks with their roots and dissolve them with acid excretions. It is interesting to study how a bare rock becomes covered with soil. First come the lichens which need no soil; on the remains of these the mosses grow. The roots of mosses and lichens help to disintegrate the rock with their excretions, so that, with frost, heat, air, and rain to assist, there is a layer of soil gradually formed on which larger plants can live. A forest develops. The trees supply shade from the sun and shelter from the wind, thus retarding evaporation. The roots of the trees hold the soil from being washed away. The dead leaves and fallen stems provide humus, and, on account of the water-holding capacity of humus, the forest floor acts like a sponge, preventing floods in wet seasons and droughts in dry times.
6.Animals.—Pupils should make a list of all burrowing animals and look for examples. The work of the earthworms is especially interesting. By eating the soil, they improve its texture and expose it to the air. Their holes admit air and water to the soil. The worms also drag leaves, sticks, and grass into their holes and thus add to the humus.
Darwin estimated that the earthworms in England passed over ten tons of soil an acre through their bodies annually. This is left on the surface and makes a rich top-dressing.
1. It makes the soil finer, thus increasing the surface for holding film water and enabling it to conduct more water by capillarity.
2. It saves water from evaporation. (See Experiments 7 and 8, Form III.)
3. It aerates the soil, enabling roots to thrive better.
4. It drains (hence warms) the soil, assuring more rapid growth.
5. It kills weeds.
A large part of the work with soils may be done in connection with the garden studies, though most of the above mentioned experiments may be tried in the school-room. In ungraded schools any of the experiments may be made instructive to all the Forms.
Pupils should be asked to acquaint themselves with the common implements used on the farm. They should ascertain the special service rendered by each. SeeCircular 156, Dominion Department of Agriculture.
The work in gardening for Form IV should be connected with some definite line of experimental work. The garden should be so planned that a part of it can be used exclusively for experimental work. Co-operation with the Farmer's Experimental Union of the Ontario Agricultural College at Guelph is advisable at this point. The following list of experiments is suggested as suitable for boys especially, but no pupil should attempt more than one experiment each year.
Experimental plots may be of different sizes, according to the space available, from a yard square to a rod square or larger. A plot 10 ft. 5 in. by 20 ft. 10 in. is almost 1/200 of an acre, so that the actual yield on such aplot when multiplied by 200 is an approximation of the yield an acre.
1. Testing of varieties of grains, vegetables, or root seeds, including potatoes new to the district.
2. Testing different varieties of clovers and fodder grasses. These plots should be so situated that they can remain for three years.
3. Thick and thin sowing of grain: Use plots not less than four feet square. They may be tried most easily with wheat, oats, or barley, although any species of grain may be used. Use four plots of the same size, equal in fertility and other soil conditions. In No. 1 put grains of wheat or oats, as the case may be, two inches apart each way. In No. 2 put the grains two inches apart in the row and the rows four inches apart. In No. 3 put the grains four inches apart in the row and the rows four inches apart. In No. 4 put the grains four inches apart in the row and the rows eight inches apart.
If possible, weigh the straw and grain when cut and the grain alone when dry and shelled out of the heads.
4. Deep and shallow growing of grain: Use four plots similar to those in experiment No. 3. Put the same amount of seed in the different plots. In No. 1, one inch deep; in No. 2. two inches deep; in No. 3, four inches deep, and in No. 4, six inches deep. Note which is up first, and which gives the best yield and best quality.
5. Early and late sowing: Three plots are required. Plant the same amount of seed in each and cover to the same depth. Plant No. 1 as early as the soil can be made ready; No. 2, two weeks later; and No. 3, two weeks later than No. 2. Compare the quality and the yield.
6. Effect of sowing clover with grain the first year: Only two plots are required. Sow the same amount ofwheat or oats on each plot. On one plot put a moderate supply of red clover and none on the other. Weigh (or estimate), as in Experiment 3 above, the straw and the grain produced on each.
7. Effect of a clover crop on the grain crop succeeding it the following year: The same two plots must be used as in No. 6. When the grain was cut the previous autumn, the plots should have been left standing without cultivation until spring. When the clover has made some growth, spade it down and prepare the other plot in the same way. Rake them level and sow the same amount of grain in each again. Weigh the crops produced on each.
8. Test quality, yield, and time of maturity of several varieties of the same species. Samples of such varieties of wheat as Red Fife, White Fife, Preston, Turkey Red, Dawson's Golden Chaff, White Russian, etc., may be obtained from the Central Experimental Farm at Ottawa, if not available in the district.
9. Effect of different fertilizers (1) on the same crop, (2) on different crops: This can be done either out-of-doors in small plots or indoors, using pots or boxes.
(1) Effect on the same crop: For example, oats on plots four feet square. The following standard fertilizers may be used: stable manure, nitrate of soda, muriate of potash, and bone meal.
On plot No. 1, a dressing of stable manure,
On plot No. 2, four oz. nitrate of soda,
On plot No. 3, four oz. muriate of potash,
On plot No. 4, eight oz. bone meal,
On plot No. 5, two oz. nitrate of soda, two oz. muriate of potash, and four oz. bone meal.
On plot No. 6, use no fertilizer. Record results.
(2) Effect on different crops: Try a series of experiments similar to the above, using (a) peas instead of oats, (b) using corn, (c) using cabbage, (d) using potatoes.
This may be introduced in Form III and continued in the next Form. Already the attention of the pupils has been directed to the essential organs of the flower, namely, stamens and pistil. They have noticed the two kinds of flowers on pumpkins, corn, and many trees. They have seen that only the pistillate flowers produce fruit and seeds, and that when the staminate flowers have shed their pollen, they die. They have seen the yellow dust that the stamens contain and have seen bees laden with it as they emerge from the heart of the flower. Have them watch the bee as it enters the flower and notice how it invariably rubs some part of its pollen-covered body against the pistil. When on the moist, sticky top of the pistil, these little pollen-grains soon begin to grow, sending a delicate tube down to the bottom of the pistil to the ovary. Inside the ovary are little bodies called the ovules that are moistened by a fluid that comes from this delicate pollen tube, and at once they begin to enlarge and eventually become the seeds. The coverings surrounding them complete the true fruit.
The use of the root in supporting the plant in its normal position is apparent to every pupil. To demonstrate the firm hold it has upon the soil, have the pupils try to pull up some large plants by the roots. They will then notice the branching roots of some plants and the long conical roots of others. Compare the colour and other surface features of the root and stem. To prove its feeding power, try two plants of equal size, taking the rootoff one and leaving it uninjured in the other. Set them side by side in moist earth and notice which withers. Take all the leaves off a plant and keep them off for a few weeks. The plant dies if its leaves are not allowed to grow. Keep it in the dark for a long time, and it finally dies even when water and soil are supplied. The leaves, therefore, are essential and require sunlight in doing their work. Their complete work will be considered later.
When seeds germinate, the lower end of the caulicle, which becomes the root, bears large numbers of root-hairs. Inside the root-hairs is protoplasm and cell sap. These root-hairs grow among the soil particles which lie covered over with a thin film of moisture. It is this moisture that is taken up by these root-hairs, and in it is a small amount of mineral matter in solution which helps to sustain the plant. The transmission of soil water through the delicate cell walls of these root-hairs is known asosmosis.
Make a special study of corn, wheat, and buckwheat. Take three plates and put moist sand in each to a depth of about half an inch. Spread over this a piece of damp cloth. Put in No. 1, one hundred grains of corn; in No. 2, the same number of grains of wheat; and in No. 3, the same number of grains of buckwheat, peas, or beans. Cover each plate with another piece of damp cloth and invert another plate over each to prevent drying out. Keep in a warm room and do not allow the cloths to become dry. If one of the cloths be left hanging six or eight inchesover the side of the plate and dipping into a dish of water, the whole cloth will be kept moist by capillarity. Note the following points:
1. Changes in the size of the seeds during the first twenty-four hours.
2. In which variety germination seems most rapid.
3. The percentage vitality, that is, the number of seeds which germinate out of one hundred.
4. The nature of the coverings and their use. (Protection to the parts inside)
5. The parts of the seed inside. (Buckwheat, pea, or bean divides into two parts, which become greenish and are called seed leaves. Wheat and corn do not divide thus.)
6. The first signs of growth. A little shoot or tiny plant begins to develop at one end of the seed. Note which end bears this tiny plant.
7. Note the development of this embryo plant and the formation of stem and root.
8. Of what use is the bulky part of the seed? To answer this, let the pupils separate the white part of a kernel of corn, which is attached to the embryo plant, from the pulpy mass surrounding it. Set five such plants in moist sand and also five germinating seeds not so dissected. Pupils will discover that the mass surrounding the embryo is for the nourishing of the embryo plant. It is a little store of food prepared by the mother plant for the little ones that grow from the seeds. Note that it disappears as the plant grows.
To further show the great value of this stored plant food, put a large-sized pea in a pot of moist moss or sawdust for a few days. When it has germinated and its root is a couple of inches long, place the pea in a thistletube or small funnel, with the root projecting down the tube into a glass of water in which the funnel tube rests. Place all in a sunny window and note how much growth the plant is able to make without any food except that which the seed contained.
9. Note the development of the root and root-hairs. It is by means of these root-hairs that the plant absorbs moisture. The branching form of the root gives greater support to the plant and increased area for absorption of water by means of root-hairs.
To show the direction taken by the root and also by the shoot, take a glass jar with straight sides like a battery jar (a large fruit jar will do); line it inside with a layer of blotting-paper and then fill it with moist sawdust. Drop seeds of sunflower or squash down between the paper and the glass. The moisture from the blotting-paper will cause them to sprout, the shoot or stem always taking an upward direction and the root turning downward quite regardless of the position in which the seeds were placed.
10. Apply this study to seed planting: Plant seeds of wheat in four pots of soil, No. 1, half an inch deep; No. 2, two inches; No. 3, four inches; No. 4, six inches. Repeat this experiment, using buckwheat. What seeds are up first? What seeds last? Which are best after a week? After three or four weeks? From this experiment could you recommend a certain depth for the planting of wheat and buckwheat?
11. Does the kind of soil make any difference? To answer this have different pupils choose different soils, such as (1) coarse sand, (2) fine sand, (3) wet clay, (4) humus or leaf mould, (5) mixed soil or loam; and let each put in grains of wheat, two inches deep.
Allow five other pupils to plant seeds of buckwheat, under similar conditions. Treat all pots alike as to time of watering and quantity of water used on each and give them all equal light and heat. Note which come up first. Which are highest in one week, in two weeks, in four weeks?
12. This study may be continued in the garden by planting one plot each of corn, wheat, and buckwheat. Plots ten feet by twenty feet are large enough. Observe the rate of development in the plots. Which seems to mature most quickly? Which blossoms first? In what respect are the leaves of these plants alike or unlike? How do the stems differ?
Examine the blossoming and seed formation. When the grains are ripe, collect a hundred of the best looking and most compact heads of each grain and also a hundred of the smallest heads of each. Dry, shell, and store the two samples of each grain in separate bottles. These samples are for planting the following spring.
13. To show the need of moisture in germination: Fill two flower-pots or cans with dry sand; put seeds of sunflower in each, covering them an inch deep. Put water in one pot and none in the other. Examine both pots after two or three days.
14. To show that heat is needed for germination of seeds: Plant sunflower seeds in two pots as above; place one in a warm room and the other in a cold room or refrigerator; water both and observe result in three days.
15. To show that air is necessary for germination: Fill a pint sealer with hydrogen (the gas collected over water in the usual way, as shown in any Chemistry text-book). Put a few sunflower seeds in a small sponge or wrap them loosely in a piece of soft cloth. Keeping the mouth of thejar which has been inverted over water and filled with hydrogen, under the surface of the water, introduce the sponge containing the seeds, by putting it under the water and pushing it up into the jar. Seal the jar without letting the gas get out. Put some seeds in another jar in a wet sponge and leave the jar uncovered. Compare results after several days.
Here is a second experiment to prove this. Boil some water in a beaker in order to drive out all the air, put a few grains of rice in the water, and then add enough oil to make a thin covering on the water. This covering will prevent air from mixing with the water again. Put some rice in a second beaker without boiling or adding the oil. Leave the beakers side by side in a warm room for a week. The seeds will not germinate in the boiled water. It is not always easy to get rice that will germinate, but when it has been procured, the experiment is easy and very interesting. Any other seeds, such as those of pond lily and eel-grass, that germinate readily under water, will do as well as rice.
Pupils in this Form should learn to identify a large number of weeds and weed seeds. The collecting and mounting of weeds and weed seeds the previous summer and autumn will have helped to prepare them for this work. In the spring, when flower and vegetable seeds are coming up in the garden, it is often difficult for pupils to distinguish the weeds from the useful plants. To help in this work of distinguishing the good from the bad, the teacher should arrange for a plot having, say, ten rows, one row for each variety of weed selected. Each row should be designated by a number instead of a name. The identification of these growing weeds by name may begiven as a problem to the pupils. This plot should remain until the pupils have observed the manner of growth of each variety, the blossoming and seed formation, and then the root growth, as they are being uprooted previous to the ripening of the seed. Each pupil should prepare a brief description of each of the ten varieties studied, and make drawings of the plant and its parts, especially the leaf, flower, seed, and root. They should learn the best methods of eradication and add these in their notes.Farm Weedswill be of great value in such weed studies.
Suitable garden vines for study are climbing nasturtium, scarlet runner bean, and Japanese hop. Their growth and method of climbing should be compared with that of the sweet-pea and morning-glory already studied. Observe particularly the kind of leaves and their arrangement, also the flowers and fruit. Observe also the gourd family—melon, cucumber, and squash—their tendency to climb, and the nature of their flowers and fruit.
In schools where the studies with garden plants, such as have been indicated, can be carried on, there will not be as much time for the study of wild flowers as in those schools where no garden plants are available. A definite list of wild flowers for study should be arranged by the teacher early in spring.
The following are common in most parts of Ontario: squirrel-corn, Dutchman's breeches, blue cohosh, dog's-tooth violet, water-parsnip, catnip, and mallow. In each study observe the following points:
1. Description of leaves and flowers for identification.
2. Storing of food in underground parts.
3. Time of flowering. (Pupils of this Form should keep a flower calendar.)
4. Description of fruit and seeds and how these are scattered.
5. Their location, and the character of the soil where found.
Encourage the pupils to transplant a specimen of each from the woods to the school or home garden. Moist humus soil and partial shade are the best conditions for the growth of these wild wood flowers. Review the type lessons given already for Primary classes and apply the information thus gained to the observational study of the varieties of flowers named above.
This work should be the outcome of the plans made in the winter. If each pupil does a little toward the carrying out of the scheme of planting, the grounds will soon be wonderfully improved. The teacher should guard against over-planting and arrange for the care of the shrubs and flowers during the summer holidays.
New varieties of herbaceous perennials, grown from seed planted the previous summer or procured from homes in the vicinity, should be introduced. As most herbaceous perennials become too thick after a few years, it is necessary to keep digging some out year by year, dividing and resetting them, and fertilizing the ground.
Native trees and shrubs should be placed so as to obscure undesirable views, such as closets and outbuildings,rough fences, or bare walls. This principle in planting should be observed in the case of trees. Evergreen trees are particularly desirable as screens and shelters from cold winds. No planting should be done, on the other hand, that would shut out a good view of the school or obscure a beautiful landscape. Too frequently unused corners of the school ground are covered with weeds. Prevent this by putting trees there and also shrubs. Keep all centres open, and let the trees, shrubs, and flowering perennials be massed about the corners and along the sides. The informal method of planting is to be preferred to formal planting of designs. The Public School Inspector will provide a copy of a departmental circular on theImprovement of School Grounds, which should be carefully studied by every teacher.
Consider suitable varieties to plant for shade and for ornamental effects. White elm, hard and soft maple, white birch, pines, and spruces are among the best. Elms and maples are excellent trees for roadside or street planting, and should be about forty feet apart. Spruces and pines may be planted five or six feet apart along the north and west, to act as a wind break. Otherwise, evergreens are best when planted in triangular clumps. White birch is particularly ornamental against a dark background of evergreens. Specimen trees of horse-chestnut, beech, ash, and hickory are also desirable.
The best time for transplanting trees is in the autumn after the leaves have fallen, or in the spring before the buds have opened.
In planting a tree, the following points should be observed:
1. Preserve as much of the root system as possible, and trim off all broken or bruised portions.
2. Do not expose the roots to sun or wind while out of the ground. This is especially important in transplanting evergreens.
3. Reduce the top of the tree sufficiently to balance with the reduced root system.
4. Set the tree a few inches deeper than it was before transplanting.
5. Pack the best top soil closely about the roots, so as to exclude all air spaces, since these tend to dry the delicate roots.
6. If the ground is very dry, water should be used in planting; otherwise it is of no advantage. Water the trees thoroughly once a week in dry weather during the first season.
7. After planting, put a mulch or covering of fine straw, grass, or chips for two or three feet around the tree; or establish a soil mulch and keep down the grass by frequent cultivation. Grass roots dry out the soil.
8. In the case of deciduous trees, have the lowest limbs at least seven feet from the ground. Evergreens, however, should never be trimmed, but should have their branches right from the ground up—this uninterrupted pyramid form is one of their chief beauties.
Certain districts in Ontario and especially those bordering on Lake Erie have suffered from the ravages of this scale on apple, peach, pear, and other orchard trees. A hand lens should be used in studying these insects, observations being carried on from May to September.
Carefully examine the fruits and twigs of orchard trees for evidences of the presence of the scale, and learn to identify it and to recognize the damages resulting from its attacks.
Observe the almost circular flat scale of a grayish colour and having a minute point projecting upward at its centre. The young insects which emerge from underneath these scales in the spring crawl around for a time, then become stationary, and each one secretes a scale under which it matures. The mature males have two wings but the mature females are wingless. Note the withering of fruit and twigs due to the insects' attacks and the minute openings in the skin of the twig, made by the insertion of the sucking mouth parts.
Describe to the pupils how the insect was transported from Japan to America and how it is now spread on nursery stock. Give a brief account of its destructiveness in the orchards of Essex and Kent.