d; the pests of a
neighbouring orchard; a stone-heap or quarry; ants' nests or earthworms'
holes; the weeds of the school yard; buds; the vegetable or animal life
of a pond; sounds of spring; tracks in the snow; a spider's web.

Such excursions may be accomplished at the expenditure of very little
time. Many of them will take the pupils no farther than the boundaries
of the school yard.

Of course the locality will influence the character of the excursion, as
it will that of the whole of the work done in Nature Study, but in any
place the thoughtful teacher may find material for open-air work at his
very door.

Much outside work can be done without interfering with the regular
programme. The teacher may arrange a systematic list of questions and
problems for the pupils to solve from their own observations, and these
observations may be made by the pupils at play hours, or while coming or
going from school, or on Saturdays. The following will serve as an
example of the treatment that may be followed:

~Pests of Apple Trees.~--Look on the twigs of your apple trees for little
scales. Bring an infected branch to school. Note whether
unhealthy-looking or dead branches are infected. Examine scales with a
lens. Loosen one, turn it over, and examine with a lens the under side.

For eggs, look closely at the twigs in June. Do you see white specks
moving? If so examine them with a lens.

Are there any small, prematurely ripe apples on the ground in the
orchard? Cut into one of these and look for a "worm". Look for apples
with worm holes in the side. Are there worms in these apples? What is in
them? Note the dirty marks that the larva has left. Keep several apples
in a close box and watch for the "worms" to come out. Examine the bark
of apple trees for pupae in the fall.

FREQUENCY OF EXCURSIONS

As to the frequency of excursions, the teacher will be the best judge.
It is desirable that they occur naturally in the course of the Nature
Study work as the need for them arises. One short trip each week with a
single object in view is much more satisfactory than a whole afternoon
each term spent in aimless wandering about the woods.

EXCURSIONS TO A DISTANCE

Long-distance excursions will of necessity be infrequent. If the woods
are far away, one such trip in May or June would prove valuable to
enable the pupils to become acquainted with wild flowers, and another in
October to gather tree seeds, autumn leaves, pupae, and ot