Thomas W. Hoare

“ But the one grown in soil has formed a new corm, which will produce new flowers next year. This new corm has grown upon the top of the old one. The crocus grown in water has also produced a new corm, but it is too small to produce a flower next year.
“Then, again, take the snowdrop. The one grown in the soil has produced two or three new bulbs, while that grown in water has not. These new bulbs were the side buds we noticed between the scales when we opened out our snowdrop bulb. In both snowdrops the old bulb has been completely used up to form green leaves and flower. ”

“ Frank asked.
“They cannot live without air. They carry a supply of air under their wing-cases. They just come up to renew it from time to time. This is done by thrusting the end of their bodies out of the water as you see.”
“One would think they ought to thrust their heads out to get air,” said Tom.
“That seems more natural to us, because we breathe with our mouths,” said Uncle George. “These animals take in air with their tails. A great many pond insects breathe in this curious way.” ”

“ They are without tendrils of any kind. This shows us, I think, that the sweet-pea was at one time a small plant, like its relative the clover. It grew in open places and did not have to struggle for light and air. But, by and by, when strong growing plants took up the soil, it became forced to produce climbing organs or become choked out. And, having turned its leaves into climbing or gripping organs, it made up for the loss of leaves by producing large stipules and green out-growths to stem and leaf. ”

“ Nature Study involves so many ingenious little deductions, that the reasoning powers are almost constantly employed, and intelligence grows proportionately. The child’s powers of observation are stimulated, and his memory is cultivated in the way most pleasing to his inquiring nature. By dissecting seeds, bulbs, buds, and flowers, his hand is trained, and methods expeditious and exact are inculcated. ”

“ The materials required for most of the lessons—whether they be obtained from the naturalist-dealer or from the nearest hedge, ditch, or pond—are within everybody’s reach.
There is nothing that appeals to the heart of the ordinary child like living things, be they animal or vegetable, and there is no branch of education at the present day that bears, in the young mind, such excellent fruit as the study of the simple, living things around us. ”

“ In the great quantities of water which pass up the wood and into the air from the leaves there is always a very little mineral matter dissolved. This small quantity of mineral matter comes from the soil. This, along with water and the large quantity of matter taken from the air, are changed, inside the leaf, into a fluid which we call sap.
“Our four experiments show us that water travels up through the wood-layer from soil to leaf; and also that 22 sap travels down through one of the outside layers of the stem.”
Questions on Lesson III. 1. How does water travel in a plant? ”

“ Let us now look at the ordinary pea plant. Its leaf has four pairs of leaflets and three pairs of tendrils 33 besides the terminal tendril—seven tendrils altogether. The stipules here are also very large—much larger than those of the sweet-pea. But the stem is round and smooth. There are no green outgrowths. Here is a wild pea, which I found to-day, which has no leaves at all. All its leaflets have been turned into tendrils or gripping organs. But look at the enormous stipules it has! They are much bigger than ordinary pea leaves.
A Wild Pea with no Leaves. Young Sweet-Peas have no Tendrils. ”

“ Yet, if we grow a sloe plant in the garden, we find that its sharp spines gradually disappear. They become branches bearing leaves and flowers.
“But plants have other ways of protecting themselves against animals. Look through the hedge into the meadow and you will notice that while the grass has been eaten bare, there are other plants which have been left to grow up untouched. Buttercups grow up all over the field, and tall ragwort plants. How is it that the cows do not eat these plants? They are not armed with spines or prickles. ”

“ The creature spins this cocoon to protect its chrysalis, of course. The silk is produced in two long, coiled tubes, which occupy nearly the whole length of the creature’s body.
“Silk, before it issues from the caterpillar’s body, is a fluid. Whenever it comes out into the air, it becomes horny. Two strands are produced at once—one from each of the long coiled tubes. Before they leave the caterpillar’s body they are pressed together to form one flat, ribbon-like thread. Silk is one of the strongest fibres in the world. It is nearly as strong as steel, and much stronger than many of our metals. ”

“ The seed-vessel of the tulip, also, stands right up in the centre of the flower, while that of the snowdrop (and crocus) is placed underneath the flower altogether.”
“How is it, Uncle George, that the flowers of both tulip and crocus open out wide when the sun shines and close when the sun goes down?” asked Frank.
“Plants can feel to a certain extent,” said Uncle George. “That is to say, they are affected by heat and cold, by light and shade. A great many flowers close up at night—the daisy, for instance; and have you never 28 noticed how clover leaves fold up long before night comes?” ”

“ If we grow one of them in a pot, and supply it with plenty of water, we will find that it will never produce sharp prickles.”
“That is very wonderful,” said Frank.
“It is,” said Uncle George, “and it teaches us something of the whin’s history. Like the nettle, the whin is 56 a juicy plant, and, if it were not for its prickles, would be eaten by cows, sheep, and horses. In fact, some farmers give whins to their horses. Of course the whins are passed through a mill first. The mill crushes the whins and destroys the prickles. ”

“ There would be no room for three hundred seeds to grow there. Besides that, the parent plant has already exhausted the soil. It is necessary that they should seek pastures new, and therefore the seeds of most plants are furnished with some means of travelling.”
“Are all seeds carried by the wind?” Tom asked.
“Oh dear no,” Uncle George replied, “plants have many ways of scattering their seeds. Some plants, by suddenly bursting their seed-vessels, shoot their seeds far out; some seeds are furnished with little hooks which grip on to the fur of passing animals; some are carried by birds ”

“ Rooks and Nest.
“I have just two more questions to ask, Uncle George,” said Frank. “What do the chaffinches feed their young ones on? and what becomes of the young birds after they are fledged?”
“They feed their young chiefly on small worms, flies, 51 grubs, beetles, and other insects. When the young chaffinches are fledged, their parents lead them from the nest. They teach them to fly, and show them where to find their food. They never lose sight of them until they are quite grown up and able to take care of themselves.” ”

“ While this is going on, more and more cells are being built inside, until at last five or six large combs of cells fill the inside of the nest. The queen wasp lays an egg in each cell as it is formed; and the worker wasps gather food and nurse the young grubs until they become perfect wasps.
“By and by some young queens, or female wasps, are 66 hatched out. These lay eggs, and soon the population the paper nest numbers many thousands.”
“And that is why the gardener kills every wasp he sees in spring time,” said Frank.
“Every wasp we see in spring,” said Uncle George, “is a queen wasp. ”

“ We have disturbed the hen bird. She has been sitting on her eggs all the time.”
He moved the branches of the bush gently aside, and the boys saw a large nest made of dried grass. It was not very high up, and the boys, by standing on an old tree stump, could look down into it.
“Oh, what pretty eggs,” said Tom. “There are four of them, Uncle George. They are light blue in colour, and sprinkled with black spots.
Egg of Song-Thrush. Egg of Chaffinch.
“The nest is quite smooth and hard inside. What is that queer brown stuff all over the inside of the nest?” ”

“ How is it that we do not see this water when the plant is grown in the open air? 3. What is “sap”? Where is it first formed? How does it travel in the twig or stem? 4. If we keep ferns growing under a glass bell—or in a glass case—we never have to water them. Can you explain this?
23 IV.—SNOWDROP, CROCUS, AND TULIP.
The boys watched the growth of the crocuses in water and in soil from day to day, and made sketches of them once a week. Fed by the food contained in the corm, the top buds of the crocus grew longer. Then the scales moved apart and the yellow flower was seen. ”

“ Insects visit flowers for honey, and, in doing so, carry the yellow dust, or pollen, from flower to flower. This pollen, as I told you before, has to do with the making of seeds: and stronger seeds are produced if the pollen comes from another flower. ”

“ What does this show us?”
“That, like the seeds which we grew in water, bulbs and corms contain a store of food,” said Frank.
A. Narcissus Bulb split open. s., stem; b., side buds; s.l., scale-leaves; f.l., leaves. B. Snowdrop Bulb. C. Flower of same Dissected out.
“That is correct, Frank. Let us put a corm and a bulb in water. Let us also plant one of each in a pot of soil. We will watch them growing and compare them from week to week.
“Now I am going to show you a simple experiment. You know that the food we eat is drawn largely from plants. ”

“ Uncle George then cut the twig straight across, and the boys saw that each layer formed a ring. In the middle there was a round mass of pith. Around this was a thick ring of wood with the thin slippery layer outside. Outside this was a fairly thick ring, the outer half of which was green in colour. And outside the whole lot was the ring of the thin bark or cork which the boys had first examined.
“We have seen,” said Uncle George, “how a one-year-old stem is built. Let us now make a clean cut through the two-year-old part of the twig, and another through the three-year-old part. ”

“ The inside of the box must be charred with a red-hot iron to prevent fungal growths. When the yolk-sac is completely absorbed, the young trout should be fed on yolk of hard-boiled egg, and, later on, on a mixture of this and chopped raw beef. In each case the food should be squeezed through perforated zinc.
“SILKWORMS.”—Eggs of the silk-bearing moth (Bombex Mori) can be had from Messrs Watkins & Doncaster, 36 Strand, London, and other dealers, at 4d. and 6d. per 100. The larva should be fed on mulberry or lettuce leaves, and the leaves should never be given wet. ”

“ PLANT ARMOUR.—Branches of whin, bramble, hawthorn, and barberry, and leaves of holly, thistle, and nettle will be found to illustrate 89 this lesson. Young whin plants are to be found plentifully in spring, growing under the old bushes. One of these should be grown in a pot in school and kept well watered. It will produce no prickles.
TROUT EGGS are obtainable from any of the fisheries—e.g., Howietoun Fisheries, Stirling, or Solway Fisheries, Dumfries, at about 1s. per 100, from October till April. They are easily hatched and reared wherever running water can be obtained. ”

“ Water Boatman. 2. Water Whelk. 3. Water Hog Louse.
“That is how the creature feeds,” said Uncle George. “When an unlucky fly comes near, he seizes it with his two fore pairs of short legs, drives his cruel beak deep into its body, and dives with it to the bottom of the pool. When he has drowned his victim, he devours it at leisure.
“But let us look at the creature I first spoke of—the larva of the diving beetle.”
There were several in the tank. Uncle George lifted one out with a small gauze net. He placed it in a saucer of water and asked the boys to sketch it. ”

“ You ought to dig up one of these dandelion plants, take it home and grow it in a pot. It is a most interesting plant to observe, especially the growth and ripening of its seeds. I see here dandelion flowers in almost every stage of their growth. ”

“ Their business is to show the way to the plain little florets in the middle.
“There is another thing about the daisy that I should like you to notice,” Uncle George continued. “If you go out on a dull day, or in the evening, you will find all the daisy flowers closed up. They only open out in bright sunshine, when all the insects are flying about.”
Exercises on Lesson VII. 1. Daises are called “composite” flowers. Can you tell why? Cut a large “ox-eye daisy” or corn marigold through the centre and examine the florets carefully. 2. Using a lens, draw separately, an inside and an outside floret. ”

“ Green leaves, as you know, give off the moisture which the roots take up from the soil. They also take in plant-food from the air. Scale-leaves protect buds, flowers, and tender stems from cold and from insects. These thin brown leaves of the crocus corm are scale-leaves formed underground. Please remove the brown scale-leaves from one of the corms, Frank.”
1. Snowdrop. 2. Tulip. 3. Narcissus. 4. Crocus. ”