Dainty milkweed babies, wrapped in cradles green,
Rocked by Mother Nature, fed by hands unseen,
Brown coats have the darlings, slips of milky white,
And wings, but that's a secret, they're folded out of sight.
TWIGS AND BUDS
The study of buds is a part of tree study and may be taken as observation work in the class-room. This somewhat detailed study should follow the general lessons on tree study.
The materials for the lessons may be collected by the pupils at the time of the field lesson and kept fresh in a jar of water until required for use.
LESSON ON TWIGS
Materials.—A twig of horse-chestnut about six inches long, for each pupil.
A twig of the same tree with the leaves still on it.
Observations.—The twigs are distributed and the teacher asks the pupils to examine them and to describe all marks and projections that can be found on the twig.
Answers are required from the pupils separately. The pupil's answer in each case should be sufficiently clear for all the class to recognize the feature that the answer is intended to describe. A few brief questions will guide the answerer in making his description more definite, but the description should be the result of the pupil's observation and expressed in his own words.
The meaning or use of each feature should be discussed, when possible, immediately after it has been described.