falls—largely because the foliage ripens more gradually and persists longer in such seasons. It is probable that the autumn tints are of no utility to the plant. Autumn colors are not caused by frost. Because of the long, dry falls and the great variety of plants, the autumnal color of the American landscape is phenomenal.
Ecology.—The study of the relationships of plants and animals to each other and to seasons and environments is known as ecology (still written œcology in the dictionaries). It considers the habits, habitats, and modes of life of living things—the places in which they grow, how they migrate or are disseminated, means of collecting food, their times and seasons of flowering, producing young, and the like.
Suggestions.—One of the best of all subjects for school instruction
in botany is the study of plant societies. It adds definiteness
and zest to excursions. 7. Let each excursion be confined to one
or two societies. Visit one day a swamp, another day a forest,
another a pasture or meadow, another a roadside, another a weedy
field, another a cliff or ravine. Visit shores whenever possible.
Each pupil should be assigned a bit of ground—say 10 or 20 ft.
square—for special study. He should make a list showing (1)
how many kinds of plants it contains, (2) the relative abundance
of each. The lists secured in different regions should be compared.
It does not matter greatly if the pupil does not know all
the plants. He may count the kinds without knowing the names.
It is a good plan for the pupil to make a dried specimen of each
kind for reference. The pupil should endeavor to discover why
the plants grow as they do. Note what kinds of plants grow next
each other; and which are undergrowth and which overgrowth;
and which are erect and which wide-spreading. Challenge every plant society.
