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WHAT TO DO, AND HOW TO DO IT. [Read at the late meeting of Classical and High School teachers, by Miss MARY F. PEIRCE of Cambridge.] THE study of Botany can, of course, be pursued throughout the entire year; and one familiar with the science will find no season without its charm. But, for one just commencing the study, there is no time so full of interest as the spring. The woods are then filled with a thousand delicate blossoms, peeping from amid moss and leaves that have served to shelter them from the cold blasts of winter. The earth seems to waken from its long slumber, and to put on a new and fresh beauty, as if to invite us to a closer communing. The mystery of the creation is again repeated: the earth brings "forth grass and the herb yielding seed." It is at this period that we witness those days of rare beauty, when, over the naked branches of the trees, is cast the first faint hue of the coming foliage. Tennyson paints this in a word picture A few days suffice to awaken from the bud both leaf and flower. So rapid is the growth of vegetation at this time that, unless we watch carefully, many trees will pass their blossoming time unnoticed. No one familiar with the swamp maple and the willow is sur. prised upon hearing that they bear flowers; for the red blossoms of the one and the deep yellow color of the other are so conspicuous that they force themselves upon the notice even of the unobservant. But there are those who would not recognize the flower or fruit of the elm, although they may have passed their lives under the shadow of its branches. With a class of young pupils, studying botany for a single scason, it will be sufficient to point out the presence of floral organs in the forest trees, without attempting a minute study of them, for they are in themselves somewhat difficult to examine: and they make their appearance at a time when the pupil has made but little progress in his work; since, in almost every case, the blossoms of the forest trees accompany or precede the leaves. But the study of the leaves themselves is one that never fails to interest the young. They, together with many careless older persons, have seen the leaves come forth, year by year, without giving the subject any special thought; and they feel the charm that comes from bringing into activity a set of unused faculties. Fortunately, even in our cities, there are plenty of horse-chestnut trees to illustrate this part of our subject. Notice how completely Nature has provided for the safety of this tree. Open the swollen buds. Observe how carefully the leaves are packed in a soft material, resembling cotton; while over all is spread the thick, resinous substance which has repelled the attacks of cold and moisture during the winter months. The branch brings another lesson. Just below the swelling buds, see the curious scar, somewhat resembling a horse-shoe, with half a dozen raised points, with which we might fancy the shoe nailed to the tree. These are the marks of last year's leaves; showing where they stood, with their strong nerves pressed against the stem. Examine a branch from the hickory. A specimen brought from the country, a year ago, dry and hard, will serve, if there is not a living tree at hand. Here we read the same story. Again, provision has been made against extremes of temperature, rarely seen in trees and shrubs brought from countries where winter is unknown. As in the horse-chestnut, each bud stands above the scar of a fallen leaf. This sheltered the bud formed at its base the year before, and died when its work was done. Thus, even from the dead branch, we may learn where each leaf stood the year before; and show how the place of each was fixed according to a law that never varies in the same species, a law which astronomers have shown to govern the distances of the planetary worlds. We never need lack specimens to illustrate the forms of leaves, for everywhere shade trees abound, and almost every house has its collection of plants. Here the student should be taught to notice how the leaves of the same genus vary, thus affording the means of recognizing the different species, even after the blossoms have fallen. This is well illustrated by the maple, a tree which, beautiful in its form, and rapid in its growth, deserves to receive a higher rank among shade trees than has generally been accorded to it. The leaf of the White Maple is delicate and deeply cut. Unlike the other maples, it scarcely changes its hue in autumn, except at the extremities of the long and pendulous branches, where a few leaves acquire the color of bronzed green. The Rock Maple, with its drooping clusters of delicate blossoms, has its leaves less deeply cut than the former, and in this respect more nearly resembles the Red Maple, which well deserves its name, wearing its crimson livery of flowers in spring and foliage in autumn. Before the Norway Maple clothes itself with its broad, thin leaves, it sends forth its bright-yellow blossoms, which always seem worthy to be plucked from some tender herb, instead of being gathered from a lofty tree. While the Pseudo-Platanus hangs amid its thick, strongly-veined leaves, its long, pendulous clusters of blossoms, to be followed by the drooping bunches of seeds, which cling to the tree until spring comes again, unless plundered by the squirrels for their winter's store. But we need not limit the study of plants to their mature forms. On every side may be seen countless tiny plants springing from the seed. Every patch of ground produces its supply. For several seasons I furnished my classes with young apple-trees, spring ing from seeds, carelessly swept between the planks which served for a walk before the school house door. And a friend, last year, planted seeds in chalk boxes placed on the sills of the windows in the school-room, where the growth of the young plants could be watched from day to day. All are probably familiar with the cotton gardens which children sometimes plant in glasses of water. These furnish an excellent method of observing the pushing forth of stem and root. I am accustomed to gather yearly (for use the following season) the seeds of the maple, especially those of the Pseudo Platanus, in order to show the plant coiled within the seed. These seeds are large; and, as their seed-coats contain no albumen, they furnish a plant which can be seen without having recourse to artificial aid. I have already acknowledged a fondness for the maple; and this is well deserved; for it bears bravely many a levy made upon it. From under its branches, clinging to the soil of the gutters, pressed close to the fences, wherever it can find a chance to spring up, many a seedling tree is borne away to illustrate the day's lesson. It is not necessary to live in the country in order to obtain specimens of germinating beans, peas, etc. These will always be forthcoming upon a hint from the teacher; while the markets exhibit as good a supply of fleshy roots, tubers, etc., as can be found in a farmer's garden. Such are some of the lessons that can be learned even by those who live in cities. But for the favored dwellers of the country a broader field is opened. Here, a few flowers are so widely scattered, that we need but stoop to pluck them at our feet. Others have their favorite haunts, and must be duly sought for, if we would possess them. But when we have once learned their lurking place, we may be sure to find them, season after season, in the same meadows and fields and woods, unless some ruthless hand, or the onward march of civilization, has dispossessed the original occupants of the soil. Violets waft their sweet odor from every hill-side; and near them droops the pale anemone, delicately marked with purple. Clumps of wild columbine seek the shelter of huge rocks, which a |