Little children can not be expected themselves to prepare out of a log by means of the axe and the jack plane the required material for their work. They must get the wood ready prepared from a saw mill; 3/8 of an inch thick.

Two hundred square feet will do for a beginning. The boards should be, as far as possible, of assorted width, from 6 to 20 inches wide.

The material to be used should be at the same time cross-grained and not too hard. The best kind of wood for this purpose is the American Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip-tree). It goes in the common timber trade in London under the name American white wood. But as in the English language the name of white wood is given to different kind of wood, it will be best to keep to the Latin name.

If it should prove to be impossible to get the American white wood, then some of the following sorts can be used: American lime-tree (Tilia Americana); Black poplar (Populus nigra); Sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus); Scarlet maple (Acer rubrum); Yew (Taxus baccata).

A few square feet of Weymouth pine (Pinus strobus), 1/2 inch thick, should also be ordered for the purpose of whittling and gouging.

It is a great blunder not to supply the very best kind of material for the little children. If the wood is too hard, they will get discouraged, and if it is too fragile, they will develop a destructive manner.

During the four first Standards the pupils will have quite enough to do in learning the geometrical figures, all the different exercises, and the use of the tools, so I do not at this stage require that they should go deeper into the study of the different kinds of wood suitable for Sloyd work. The acquisition of that knowledge comes in at Standard V and should then go hand in hand with lessons in botany, given of course by the Sloyd teacher.