Albion High School - Chevron Yearbook (Albion, NY)

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Ol !Illl l THE CHEVRON I l O scientific principles in the task of feeding and clothing the peoples of the world. With the appearance of these two beings, agriculture is rapidly be- coming a science worthy of taking its place in the world. -Leon Packer. A WONDERFUL EXAMPLE OF DEVELOPMENT There would be no tadpoles if there were no frogs, There would be no frogs if there were no tadpoles. On April the seventh, one of the boys brought to the biology room three masses of frogs' eggs which he had found in a swamp that is beyond the Allen road. They have furnished much interest in the Biology room. If these masses were inspected carefully, one would notice that they looked like a mass of tapioca filled with black dots the size of a pin-head. Each black dot was a fertilized egg and we could see that the upper surface was velvety black and the bottom was creamy white. The egg masses were placed in a glass aquarium which we filled with water and on account of the warmth of the room, they hatched much earlier than they would have hatched in the woods. By the eleventh of April the tiny tad- poles were clinging to the jelly-like mass and feeding on the egg yolks within their own bodies. On the fourteenth they were all swimming and clinging to the green plants which were placed in the acquarium. The tadpoles were about one-fourth of an inch long, and they had external gills. Soon they began to eat the ground-worm fish food which we crushed very fine to enable it to be-taken into their tiny mouths. In three days they lost their external gills and gained internal gills. During the Easter vacation Harold Bruilly fed the tadpoles for us. When we came back they were about one-half an inch long and they have steadily grown till now, May 19th, they are about one inch long. They have plump, oval-shaped bodies and tails about twice as long as their bodies. The white, curled-up intestines show through the nearly transparent skin of the abdomen like a coiled thread. How cute they look as they swim to the surface, flop over on their backs and suck the food into their mouths! The tadpoles lash the water with their tails which propel them swiftly through the water. They have comparatively large eyes and we can see their nostrils. When we look closely at their sides, we can see the red internal gills. These tadpoles now perform all of the vital functions except reproduction. To illus- trate: The tadpoles swim about the aquarium fmotionlg they know food, and if the aquariuln is jarred, they swim away from the glass fsensationlg when food is put in the aquarium, they arrive quickly and dispose of it ffood-takingl. We know that the other functions digestion, absorption, circulation, assimila- tion, respiration, and excretion are taking place within their bodies. Like the balance in the universe, our aquarium is balanced. The green plants furnish food and oxygen for the tadpoles and the tadpoles excrete carbon dioxide and nitrogenous waste which the plants use. Thus both are mutually benefitted and life is made possible. Several grade-teachers and the pupils have taken tadpoles from the aquarium and are enjoying watching their development. Three cans full of tad- poles have been taken back to the woods because they grew so large that there was not enough room in the aquarium. In the open only two or three frogs out of every egg mass grow to maturity. So far, not one of the tadpoles in our aquarium has died. There, it is the Page Twenty-five

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0IllIllI I THE CHEVRON l l 0 THE SCIENCE OF AGRICULTURE A few years ago the term Scientific Agriculture was greatly ridiculed. In those days he who would apply scientific principles to farming was laughed to scorn. Hard, practical experience, not theory and experiment, was held to be the requirement of successful farming. But today a new science of agriculture is being evolved. Men realize that agriculture deals not only with inanimate objects, but with life and living things, and must therefore deal with many sciences. Among these may be named chemistry, physics, biology, mathematics, and economics. A knowledge of these subjects is essential to success in any agricultural pursuit or calling of the present day. A knowledge of the science of chemistry is necessary in order to under- stand and apply the principles of plant nutrition. The trained agriculturist must understand how the chemicals which he uses to fertilize his soil, may, through a series of chemical changes, become food for plants, and he must know how to hasten and guide these processes. He must understand how organic matter in the soil likewise undergoes chemical changes until it also becomes food for plants, and he must know and provide the conditions under which this takes place. He must know something of the chemistry of the spray mixtures which he uses to control insects and plant diseases. He must be familiar with certain tests, such as the soil acidity test, and the Babcock test for butter fat, which are purely and simply chemical reactions. The scientific farmer must apply physical principles at every turn. He must use internal combustion engines, which are highly complicated devices by which the properties of levers, of mass, of expanding gases, and of elec- tricity are made to serve him. He must harness electricity with its many properties, and make it work for him. He must understand pulley ratios, power application, friction, and a thousand other things wholly physical in nature. In the field of biology, he must be guided by the laws of heredity in the breeding of his stockg he must utilize the laws of plant growth in raising his crops and he must abide by the laws of animal nutrition in feeding his live- stock, and he must understand life history and habits in combating crop and livestock enemies. It need not be emphasized that the scientific farmer has need of mathe- matical training. Money transactions, estimations of distance, area, and con- tents, farm engineering problems, farm cost accounting, and numerous other jobs of like nature require a practical working knowledge of mathematics. Last, but perhaps, in this modern age, most important of all, the scientific farmer must understand and be guided by the laws of economics. In the midst of problems of over-production, distribution, tariff, farm boards, high pressure advertising, competition from foreign fields, cooperatives, production cycles, combinations and mergers, and intricate marketing problems for practically every farm product, his hope lies in a knowledge of the economic laws by which these things operate. Only with such knowledge, may he ad- just his business to changing conditions and survive. Two new beings are being evolved in this scientific age. The first is the trained agricultural worker who concerns himself with the discovery of scien- tific principles and the application of them to practical farming. The second is the scientifically trained farmer, who sets himself to make use of these Page Twenty-four

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Ol lIill l THE CHEVRON l l 0 survival of the iittestg but here, they had no struggle. We fed them all, and the weak and strong alike now live. If this were done in the open, there would not be a strong race of frogs but weaklings. This shows, I hope, that God has arranged our world to be the best possible even though it may seem hard to us to think that in nature the weak have to give way to the strong. Now our tadpoles move, eat and breathe like a tish but soon the tails will be absorbed, legs will be formed, lungs will take place of gills and our little water animals will be land animals-frogs. Perhaps this shows the way all animals came to live on land. Ruth Hazelbaker Norman Forman ROBIN'S TROUBLES Well, Cock Robin, where shall we build this year? We had at nice home last year, next to the Jays. But I dcn't want to live there this year because they drove me nearly crazy with their squalling and scoldingsj' complained Nancy Robin. Ho hum! I think I'll look around. How about that tree there? You don't like it? Why not? Oh! You want to be some place where the children can get a good education. How about building over there on the high school fire escape? What do I think about it? All I want to do, Nancy dear, is to please you, chirped the happy-go-lucky cock. You do have the best ideas some times. That's just the place. Come on! Let's make a nice nest. So the nest building went on. Soon four pretty blue eggs were laid. But Nancy wasn't content. Oh, Cock Robin, why did we ever build here? Those children scare me and I am afraid they'll hurt the eggs. We ought to have built up on the next floor, quivered poor Nancy, On the next floor! Heaven protect us! Why up on that floor, those Biology fiends would be cutting us to see if we had heart, lungs and liver. Maybe they would preserve us in alcohol as they did the frogs and fish! No, these Sophomores are the nicest children in school and they like to watch us! blustered the proud Cock. Soon four little birds were peeping and crying for food. One day, as Nancy came home, she heard one of the children talking. Oh! Mercy me! Where did you learn such foul and terrible slang, Junior? I picked it up from that fellow there. He was talking about one of the teachers that kicked him out of class. I think they're dandy words, don't chu? I should say not, gasped the horrified Nancy. I didn't know they talked so. Oh! How glad I'll be when you are grown up and away from here. I fear for your future with this evil influence. Cock Robin, what can we do? These babies are picking up terrible words from the school children and I had such high hopes for my children. Oh dearie me! Oh dearie me! What shall I do? she cried as she flapped her wings in dismay. We'll hope for the best. Maybe that boy will be expelled. Don't worry, dear, I'll tell the children not to listen. And so the days went by until the little birds were able to use their wings. Then Nancy said to Cock Robin, Come on! The children are old enough to fly. Let us go away from this evil place. I prefer the Jays to these hoodlums! As they were flying away, Nancy looked back and pronounced the blackest curse of birddom on the school. I hope all your graduates have hang nails. she hissed. -Marian Reid. Page Twenty-six