The prairies farther west were a
camping ground for them as well as for the deer and buffalo. There are
no important physical features of the great valley that are not touched
more or less in detail by the stories. It is the work of the geography
of this year to enlarge and complete the pictures suggested by the
stories, to multiply details, to compare and arrange and to associate
with these the facts of our present political and commercial geography.
The relation between history and geography is so intimate that it
requires some pedagogical skill to determine which of the two should
take the lead. But we have already adjudged the history to be by far
the more important of the two. Its subject-matter is of greater
intrinsic interest to children, and as it already stands in the
commanding center of the school course, we are disposed to bring the
geography lessons into close dependence upon it.
In these grades _natural science_ or nature study form a necessary
complement to the circle of historical and geographical topics treated.
Many interesting natural-science subjects, suggested by history and
geography, can not be dealt with satisfactorily in those studies; for
example, the tobacco plant, the cactus, the deer, the hot springs, the
squirrel, the mariner's compass.
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