Chapter XIX: Part II: Children's Leaflets (1)

DESIGNED TO OPEN THE EYES OF THE YOUNG.

Most of these leaflets were published as companions to the Teachers' Leaflets and Lessons,--the teachers' lessons written in one vein and the children's in another. Even though the subject-matter may be largely duplicated in the two, it seems worth while to keep these separate as showing a simple method of presentation and as suggesting a means of procedure to those who would reach small children.

THE CHILD'S REALM.

BY L. H. BAILEY.

A little child sat on the sloping strand
Gazing at the flow and the free,
Thrusting its feet in the golden sand,
Playing with the waves and the sea.

I snatch'd a weed that toss'd on the flood
And parted its tangled skeins;
I trac'd the course of the fertile blood
That lay in its meshèd veins;

I told how the stars are garner'd in space,
How the moon on its course is roll'd,
How the earth is hung in its ceaseless place
As it whirls in its orbit old:--

The little child paus'd with its busy hands
And gaz'd for a moment at me,
Then dropp'd again to its golden sands
And play'd with the waves and the sea.

LEAFLET LI.

A SNOW STORM.[68]

BY ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.

(Compare Leaflet VII.)

A chill no coat however stout,
Of homespun stuff could quite shut out,
* * * * *
The coming of the snow storm told.

--WHITTIER.

[68] Junior Naturalist Monthly, December, 1903.

"Surely, it is going to snow," says Grandfather, as he puts an armful of wood into the old box beside the fire; and a happy feeling comes over you, and you like Grandfather a little better because he has promised you a snow storm. "What a wise old Grandfather he is!" you think. He always seems to know what is going to happen out-of-doors and you wonder how he learned it all. Perhaps I can tell you why Grandfather is so wise. When he was a boy he lived on a farm and was in the outdoor world summer and winter. There he learned to know Nature day by day. This is why he can consult her now as to wind and weather, and why he nearly always understands what she tells him. He is a good observer.

If you hope ever to be as weather-wise as Grandfather, you must begin right away to see and to think. The next time you hear him say, "It is going to snow," put on your fur cap and mittens and go out-of-doors. Is the air clear, crisp, and cold--the kind you like to be out in? Or is it a keen cold that makes you long for the fire-place? Can you see the sun? If so, how does it look? In what direction is the wind? How cold does the thermometer tell you it is?

All the time that you are learning these things the storm will be coming nearer. Then on your dark coat sleeve something soft and white and glistening falls--a snowflake. You touch the bright thing and it disappears. Where did it come from and whither did it go? Others follow faster and faster, jostling each other as they whirl through the air. Look at them closely. Are the crystals large and flowery or small and clear? Put your head back and let them come down on your face. Is their touch soft or do they hurt as they fall?

Perhaps by this time you are very cold and think that supper must be nearly ready. You go into the house, and you find the gray kitten snoozing comfortably on the hearthrug. You snuggle down beside her "to warm your frozen bones a bit," and still the storm and outdoor world are near; for is it not splendid music that the wind is making as it roars down the old chimney or sways the tall pine trees?

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY.

Answer as many of the following questions as you can from your own observations:

1. How did the sky look before it began to snow? During the storm? After the storm? It is always a good thing to look up at the sky.

2. In what direction did the old weather-cock tell you the wind was blowing as the storm came on? Did the wind change during the storm? If so, did the snow change in any way?

3. Look at snow crystals through a tripod lens if you have one. How many points do they have?

4. After supper go to the window, raise the shade, and look out on the stormy night. Tell Uncle John all that you see.

5. On your way to school the next day after a snow storm, have the following in mind to write to us about:

(a) The tracks in the snow. How many do you find? Did Rover make them? the gray kitten? a snow bird? an old crow? a rabbit? a squirrel?

(b) The way the trees and small plants receive the snow. Some hold it, others cast it off: why?

(c) Notice the snow drifts. Where are they highest? Why does the snow pile up in some places and not in others? Is the drift deepest close to buildings or a little way from them? Are the drifts deepest close to the trees, or is there a space between the tree and the drift?

LEAFLET LII.

A PLANT AT SCHOOL.[69]

BY L. H. BAILEY.

[69] Junior Naturalist Monthly, February, 1903.

I dropped a seed into the earth. It grew, and the plant was mine.

It was a wonderful thing, this plant of mine. I did not know its name, and the plant did not bloom. All I know is that I planted something apparently as lifeless as a grain of sand and that there came forth a green and living thing unlike the seed, unlike the soil in which it stood, unlike the air into which it grew. No one could tell me why it grew, nor how. It had secrets all its own, secrets that baffle the wisest men; yet this plant was my friend. It faded when I withheld the light, it wilted when I neglected to give it water, it flourished when I supplied its simple needs. One week I went away on a vacation, and when I returned the plant was dead; and I missed it.

Although my little plant had died so soon, it had taught me a lesson; and the lesson was that it is worth while to have a plant. I wish that every Junior Naturalist would have a plant. It matters little what the plant is. Just drop the seed, keep the earth warm and moist, watch the plant "come up," see it grow. Measure its height at a given time every day. Keep a record of how many times you water it. Make a note of every new leaf that appears. See whether it leans towards the light. If it dies, tell why. Four weeks from the time when you plant the seed, send Uncle John your notes.

A sheet of foolscap paper contains about twenty-eight lines, one line for the notes of each day, and space enough at the top to write your name, date of sowing, kind of seed, and nature of the soil. Open the sheet and on each line at the left side write all the dates for four weeks ahead; then fill in these lines across the two pages day by day as the plant grows. For the first few days there will not be much to write, but you can say whether you watered the earth or not, and where you kept the pot or box. It will be good practice to get into the habit of taking notes. I suppose that the record of the first few days will run something as follows:

MYRON JOHNSON, name of school, age ----. ----, Teacher.

_Feb. 2._ Monday. Planted six cabbage seeds in loose soil from the
chip yard. I put the earth in a small old tin cup, and pressed it
down firmly. I made it just nicely moist, not wet. I planted the
seeds about equal distances apart and about one-fourth inch deep,
and pressed the earth over them.

_Feb. 2._ Did not water to-day, for the soil seemed to be moist enough.

_Feb. 3._ Watered at 10:30 A. M. Teacher told me to be careful not to make the soil too wet.

_Feb. 4._ Watered at noon.

_Feb. 5._ Put the cup nearer the stove so that the seeds would come up more quickly.

_Feb. 6._ The earth is cracking in two or three places. Watered at noon.

_Feb. 7._ Went to the schoolhouse and found some of the plants coming up.

_Feb. 9._ Four of the plants are up. (Here tell how they look, or make a few marks to show.)

When your month's record is all complete, send the sheet, or a copy of it, to Uncle John, and this will be your club dues. See how many things you can find out in these four weeks.

Before the four weeks are past write to Uncle John and he will tell you what next to do. By that time your plants will need transplanting, and he will tell you how to do it. Perhaps you can set some of the plants outdoors later on and see them grow all summer; whether you can or not will depend on the kinds of plants that you grow. If you want to grow asters or cabbages next summer, you can start some of them in February and March.

Quick-germinating seeds, fit for starting in the schoolroom, are wheat, oats, buckwheat, corn, bean, pumpkin and squash, radish, cabbage, turnip. Perhaps some of these require a warmer place than others in which to germinate. If you find out which they are, let Uncle John know.

You can grow the plants in egg-shells, wooden boxes (as cigar boxes), tin cans, flower pots. If you use tin cans it is well to punch two or three holes in the bottom so that the extra water will drain out. Set the can or box in a saucer, plate, or dripping-pan so that the water will not soil the desk or table. It is best not to put it in a sunny window until after the plants are up, for the soil is likely to "bake" or to become hard on top; or if you do put it in such a place, throw a newspaper over it to prevent the earth from drying out.

SUGGESTIONS FOR PLANT STUDY.[70]

[70] Alice G. McCloskey, Junior Naturalist Monthly, January, 1904.

Last year hundreds of children sent us records of their plants. This kind of work is most satisfactory to Uncle John. Following is a record which we received in March, from a girl in the fourth grade:

Feb. 16--Monday. I planted seven cabbage seeds in an eggshell. I did not water it.

Feb. 17--Did not see anything.

Feb. 18--Saw a little brown thing.

Feb. 19--Saw a little seed lying on top.

Feb. 20--Saw little sprout.

Feb. 21--Holiday.

Feb. 22--Holiday.

Feb. 23--Holiday.

Feb. 24--Saw two little sprouts.

Feb. 25--The egg-shell was full of sprouts.

Feb. 26--The plant was coming up and the earth was very wet, so I did not water it.

Feb. 27--Saw six sprouts.

Feb. 28--Holiday.

March 1--Holiday.

March 2--Turned the plant around, so it would look toward the light.

March 2--That afternoon I planted the cabbage in a tin can with tissue paper around it, because the cabbage outgrew the eggshell some time ago.

March 3--I put the plant out of the window.

March 4--I did not look at it.

March 5--One of the sprouts began to droop.

March 6--I dug the dirt up around it. Then it was put in the air out of the window.

March 7--Holiday.

March 8--Holiday.

March 9--I put it out of the window.

March 10--It was put out of the window. It was brought in at the close of school.

March 11--Dug the dirt out from the plant and patted it down.

March 12--Watered.

March 13--Put out of the window.

March 14--Holiday.

March 15--Holiday.

March 16--Watered and put out of the window. HELEN.

Was not this a good record for a little girl to make? I wish that she had told something about the soil in which she planted the seeds. This is always important. In winter you may have some difficulty in getting soil, but in the village a florist will let you have some, and in the country you may be able to get it in the cellar of a grocery store or from your own cellar. Perhaps you can find some in the potato bin. When there is a "thaw," get some soil, even if it is very wet; you can dry it near the stove. Perhaps your schoolhouse will be too cold over Sunday in mid-winter to allow you to grow plants. If so, plant the seeds at home.

When you have planted your seeds, unless you take them up every day, you cannot see how the little plants are behaving down under the soil. I want to tell you how you can know some things that the plants are doing without disturbing them.

Choose an ordinary glass (Fig. 299), roll up a piece of blotting paper so that it is a trifle smaller than the glass, and place it inside. Between the blotting paper and the glass, put a few radish seeds or any kind of seed such as you planted in the soil. Keep the blotting paper moist and watch what happens. In four or five days the plants should be "up." Here are some things to think about as you watch them:

1. Note any change in the seeds when they have been moist for a few hours.

2. What happens to the outer coat of the seed?

3. In what direction does the little root grow? The stem?

4. Notice the woolly growth on the root? Does this growth extend to the tip of the root?

5. When the little plant has begun to grow, turn it around so that the root is horizontal. Does it remain in that position?

6. How soon do the leaves appear?

It may interest some of the Junior Naturalists to see the effect of much water on seeds. Suppose you experiment a little along this line. Choose three glasses. In one put seeds into water, in another put them into very wet or muddy soil, and in the third plant the seeds in moist soil, such as seeds are ordinarily planted in. Tell us the results of the three experiments.

A THIRD-GRADE RECORD.

Following is a facsimile reproduction of a spontaneous and unpruned record made by a child in the third grade. The child grew beans in a tumbler against blotting paper, as shown in Fig. 299. I hope that this will illustrate to both teacher and children the value of simple note-taking.

LEAFLET LIII.

AN APPLE TWIG AND AN APPLE.[71]

BY L. H. BAILEY.

(Compare Leaflet XXXI.)

[71] Junior Naturalist Monthly, January, 1903.

Yesterday I went over into the old apple orchard. It was a clear November day. The trees were bare. The wind had carried the leaves into heaps in the hollows and along the fences. Here and there a cold-blue wild aster still bloomed. A chipmunk chittered into a stone pile.

I noticed many frost-bitten apples still clinging to the limbs. There were decayed ones on the ground. There were several small piles of fruit that the owner had neglected, lying under the trees, and they were now worthless. I thought that there had been much loss of fruit, and I wondered why. If the fruit-grower had not made a profit from the trees, perhaps the reason was partly his own fault. Not all the apples still clinging to the tree were frost-bitten and decayed. I saw many very small apples, no larger than the end of my finger, standing stiff on their stems. Plainly these were apples that had died when they were young. I wondered why.

I took a branch home and photographed it. You have the engraving in Fig. 301. Note that there are three dead young apples at the tip of one branch. Each apple came from a single flower. These flowers grew in a cluster. There were three other flowers in this cluster, for I could see the scars where they fell off.

But why did these three fruits die? The whole branch on which they grew looked to be only half alive. I believe that it did not have vigor enough to cause the fruit to grow and ripen. If this were not the cause, then some insect or disease killed the young apples, for apples, as well as people, may have disease.

Beneath the three dead apples, is still another dead one. Notice how shrivelled and dried it is, and how the snows and rains have beaten away the little leaves from its tip. The three uppermost apples grew in 1902; but this apple grew in some previous year. If I could show you the branch itself, I could make you see in just what year this little apple was borne, and just what this branch has tried to do every year since. This branch has tried its best to bear apples, but the fruit-grower has not given it food enough, or has not kept the enemies and diseases away.

The lesson that I got from my walk was this: if the apples were not good and abundant it was not the fault of the trees, for they had done their part.

In the cellar at home we have apples. I like to go into the cellar at night with a lantern and pick apples from this box and that--plump and big and round--and eat them where I stand. They are crisp and cool, and the flesh snaps when I bite it and the juice is as fresh as the water from a spring. There are many kinds of them, each kind known by its own name, and some are red and some are green, some are round and some are long, some are good and some are poor.

Over and over, these apples in the cellar have been sorted, until only the good ones are supposed to remain. Yet now and then I find a decayed heart or a hollow place. The last one I picked up was fair and handsome on the outside, but a black place and a little "sawdust" in the blossom end made me suspicious of it. I cut it open. Here is what I found (Fig. 306). Someone else had found the apple before I had. Last summer a little moth had laid an egg on the growing apple, a worm had come from the egg and had eaten and eaten into the apple, burrowing through the core, until at last it was full grown, as shown in the picture. Now it is preparing to escape. It has eaten a hole through the side of the apple, but has plugged up the hole until it is fully ready to leave. When it leaves it will crawl into a crack or crevice somewhere, and next spring change into a pupa and finally come forth a small, dun-gray moth. This moth will lay the eggs and then die; and thus will be completed the eventful life of the codlin-moth, from egg to worm and pupa and moth. But in doing all this the insect has spoiled the apple. The insect acts as if the apple belonged to him; but I think the apple belongs to me. I wonder which is correct?

Some of these apples are sound and solid on the inside, but they have hard blackish spots on the outside (Fig. 307). This is a disease--the apple-scab. This scab is caused by minute plants and these plants also claim the apple as their own. There are ways by means of which the apple-grower is able to destroy the codlin-moth and the apple-scab; and thereby he secures fair and sound apples.

Insects and diseases and men are all fighting to own the apple.

TEN THINGS TO LEARN FROM AN APPLE.

When you write your dues to Uncle John on the apple, answer as many of the following questions as you can. You can get the answers from an apple itself. He does not want you to ask anyone for the answers:

1. How much of the apple is occupied by the core?

2. How many parts or compartments are there in the core?

3. How many seeds are there in each part?

4. Which way do the seeds point?

5. Are the seeds attached or joined to any part of the core? Explain.

6. What do you see in the blossom end of the apple?

7. What do you see in the opposite end?

8. Is there any connection between the blossom end and the core?

9. Find a wormy apple and see if you can make out where the worm left the apple. Perhaps you can make a drawing. To do this, cut the apple in two. Press the cut surface on a piece of paper. When the apple is removed you can trace out the marks.

10. When you hold an apple in your hand, see which way it looks to be bigger--lengthwise or crosswise. Then cut it in two lengthwise, measure it each way, and see which diameter is the greater.

LEAFLET LIV.

TWIGS IN LATE WINTER.[72]

BY ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.

[72] Junior Naturalist Monthly, February, 1904.

Along a country road, through a drifted field, over a rail fence, and into the woods I went, gathering twigs here and there as I passed. A February thaw had come and these first messengers of spring, reaching out from shrub and tree, were beginning to show signs of life. Many young people do not believe that spring is near until they hear a robin or a bluebird. The bare little twigs tell us first. Look at them as you go on your way to school. Are they the same color in February that they were in the short December days?

When I reached home with my bundle of twigs, it was "fun" to sit by the window and study the strange little things. They were so different one from another, and so interesting in every way, that I decided to ask our boys and girls to gather some winter twigs and tell us about them. Select your twigs from the butternut, willow, hickory, horsechestnut, apple, plum, plane-tree, maple, or any other tree that you come across. Here are some suggestions that will help you in your study:

1. How many colors do you find in one twig? Count the tints and shades. I found eight colors on a small maple branch (Fig. 309).

2. Notice the differences in several twigs as they lie on the table. What makes them look so different: size, shape, color, arrangement of buds, the size or shape of the buds?

3. On how many twigs are the buds opposite each other? Note the opposite buds on the horsechestnut (Fig. 310). On how many are they alternate? Are the buds opposite on the butternut (Fig. 311)?

4. Which twigs bear the buds singly?

5. When you find two or more buds growing together on a stem, is there any difference in the size of the buds?

6. On how many of the twigs can you see a scar left by the leaf when it dropped off (Fig. 310 and Fig. 311 _a, a_)? Compare the leaf scars on different twigs. Notice the strange scar on the butternut (Fig. 311). It looks like the face of an old sheep.

7. Do you see any cocoons on your twig?

8. You all know the rings on an apple twig that tell how much it grew each year. Do you find rings on other twigs? Do you see them on any of these pictures?

9. What do you suppose makes these rings? Do you think there was once a large terminal bud where these rings are?

LEAFLET LV.

PRUNING.[73]

BY ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.

(Compare Leaflet XLVI.)

[73] Extended from Junior Naturalist Monthly, February, 1901.

First snow, then sleet, and then a down-pour of rain--it stormed all day. At night-fall it grew colder. The wind blew fiercely. The twigs and branches fell on the white crust which covered the earth. Nature was pruning the trees.

Have you ever seen your father go into the orchard and prune his trees? Why did he do it? Compare the work done by nature and that which your father does. Which seems to be the more careful pruner?

Let us experiment a little. It will please Uncle John. He always wants his boys and girls to find out things for themselves. Select a branch of lilac or some other shrub. Mark it so that you will always know it. Count the buds on the branch. Watch them through the spring and the summer. Note the number that become branches. You will then know that nature prunes the trees.

If you think a minute, you will see that pruning is necessary in the plant world. Suppose a branch has thirty buds, and that every bud should produce thirty branches, each of which in turn should produce thirty more,--do you think there would be any room left in the world for boys and girls? Would a tree be able to hold so many branches?

You certainly have noticed decayed holes in trees. Did you ever wonder why they were there? I suppose that most persons never wonder about it at all; or if they do give it any passing thought, they say it is only "natural" for trees to have rotten spots. But these rotten spots mean that once the tree was injured. Perhaps the injury was the work of a careless or thoughtless man who pruned the tree. Very few persons seem really to know how to remove the limbs of a tree so that the wound will heal readily.

As you go and come, observe how the trees have been pruned. Do you see long "stubs" left, where limbs have been cut? Yes; and that is the wrong way to cut them. They should be cut close to the main branch or trunk, for then the wounds will heal over better (Fig. 312). If we abused our cows and horses, as we sometimes abuse our shade trees, what would become of the animals?

Did you ever see trees that were mutilated to allow of the stringing of telephone and telegraph wires?

Who owns the shade trees along a street or public highway?

LEAFLET LVI.

THE HEPATICA.[74]

BY ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.

(Compare Leaflet XL.)

[74] Junior Naturalist Monthly, March, 1903.

Something new and pleasant happened in my life this year. In February, while the wood was snow-covered and the roadsides piled high with drifts, I saw hepaticas in bloom.

Oh, no! I did not find them out of doors. I had all the fun of watching them from my warm chimney-corner. Then when winds blew fiercely I often went to the window where they grew and buried my head in the sweet blossoms. What do you suppose they told me? If some winter day you feel their soft touch on your face, and smell their woodsy fragrance, you will hear the message.

Perhaps you want to know how the hepaticas found their way into my window-box. Last fall as I walked through a leafy wood I gathered a few plants, roots and all, that I had known and loved in spring and summer days. Among them were hepaticas. These I laid away in the cellar until the first of February. Then I planted them in a corner of the window-box that I had left for them.

Since the little woods plants have come to live with me I have learned to know them well. Perhaps the most important lesson they have taught me is this: The blossoms may be the least interesting part of a plant. Will you find out what hepaticas have to tell as the seasons pass?

Even before you hear the first robin, go into the woods, find one of the hepaticas, and mark it for your own. You will know it by the old brown leaves. Then watch it day by day. The following questions will help you to learn its life story:

1. Where do hepaticas grow, in sunny or shady places? During which seasons do they get the most sunlight?

2. Watch the first sign of life in the plant. Do the new leaves or the flowers come first?

3. Look at the hepatica blossom a long time. How many different parts can you see in it? Whether you know the names of these parts now does not matter. I want you to see them.

4. Notice the three small, green, leaf-like parts that are around the flower bud. As the flower opens see whether they are a part of it, or whether they are a little way from it on the stem.

5. Observe the stem closely. Is it short or long? Hairy or smooth?

6. As the new leaves appear find out whether they are fuzzy on the inside as well as on the outside. Notice how they are rolled up and watch them unroll.

7. In how many different colors do you find hepaticas?

8. Do some smell sweeter than others? If so, does color seem to have anything to do with it?

9. Look at a hepatica plant at night or very late in the afternoon. Also watch it early in the morning and in cloudy weather. Then look at it in bright sunshine. Do you see any change in the flowers? I think you will discover something of much interest.

10. Seed-time among hepaticas is very interesting. Notice what becomes of the three small, leaf-like parts that were underneath the flower. How many seeds are there?

11. How long do you think the leaves of hepatica remain on the plant? Do you suppose they remain green all winter?

12. What becomes of the hepatica plant after it blossoms? Did you ever see one in summer? Describe.

LEAFLET LVII.

JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT.[75]

BY ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.

(Compare Leaflet XLI.)

[75] Junior Naturalist Monthly, April, 1903.

They call him Jack-in-the-Pulpit, he stands up so stiff and so queer
On the edge of the swamp, and waits for the flower-folk to come and
hear
The text and the sermon, and all the grave things that he has to say;
But the blossoms they laugh and they dance, they are wilder than ever
to-day;
And as nobody stops to listen, so never a word has he said;
But there in his pulpit he stands, and holds his umbrella over his
head,
And we have not a doubt in our minds, Jack, you are wisely listening,
To the organ-chant of the winds, Jack, and the tunes that the sweet
birds sing!

LUCY LARCOM.

"It is Indian turnip," said I.

"No," said Grandmother, "it's memory root. If you taste it once you will never forget it." And what Grandmother said to me so long ago, I say to every boy and girl, "If you taste it once you will never forget it."

But of all the names for this strange little wood plant, I like Jack-in-the-pulpit best. Though never a word has it said in our lifelong acquaintance, it has been a helpful little "country preacher" to me. As we go into the woods this year, let us make up our minds that we will know more than we ever have known before of its interesting life.

Where do you find the Jack-in-the-pulpit? In what kind of soil does it grow? How does it first come up?

What is the shape of the root? One is enough for the whole class to study and it should be planted again. We do not want the Jack-in-the-pulpit to disappear from our woods.

Does the little hood fold over at first?

The hood or "umbrella" is not the flower. You will find the flowers on the little central stalk that you call "Jack." See whether the blossoms are alike. Look at the blossoms on several plants. Place a stick by the side of one of these plants so that you will know it later in the year when the Jack-in-the-pulpit has disappeared.

Notice whether there are insects in the lower part of the flower stalk. If so, can they get out?

When the blossom has gone, look for the seeds. What color are they in June? In August?

Have you any house plant that you think is related to Jack-in-the-pulpit?

LEAFLET LVIII.

THE DANDELION.[76]

BY ALICE G. McCLOSKEY and L. H. BAILEY.

[76] Supplement to Junior Naturalist Monthly, May, 1904.

The first warmth of spring brought the dandelions out of the banks and knolls. They were the first proofs that winter was really going, and we began to listen for the blackbirds and swallows. We loved the bright flowers, for they were so many reflections of the warming sun. They soon became more familiar, and invaded the yards. Then they overran the lawns, and we began to despise them. We hated them because we had made up our minds not to have them, not because they were unlovable. In spite of every effort, we could not get rid of them. Then if we must have them, we decided to love them. Where once were weeds are now golden coins scattered in the sun, and bees revelling in color; and we are happy! L. H. BAILEY.

SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY.

I. Ask your teacher to let you go out of doors for ten minutes to look at dandelions. In your note books write answers to the following questions:

1. At what time of day are you looking for the dandelions? Is the
sun shining, or is the sky overcast? Make up your mind to notice
whether dandelions behave the same at all hours of the day and in
all kinds of weather.

2. How many dandelions can you count as you stand on the
school-ground? The little yellow heads can be seen a long distance.

3. Where do they prefer to grow,--on the hillsides, along the
roadsides, in the marshes, or in your garden?

II. Gather a basket full of blossoming dandelions, roots and all, take them to school, and ask the teacher to let you have a dandelion lesson. Here are some suggestions that will help you:

1. Each pupil should have a plant, root and all. Describe the
plant. Is it tall or short? How many leaves are there? How many
blossoms?

2. Hold the plant up so that you can see it well. How many
distinct colors do you find? How many tints and shades of these
colors?

3. Look carefully at the blossom. How many parts has it? How much
can you find out about the way in which the yellow head is made up?

III. Mark a dandelion plant in your garden. Watch it every day. Keep a record of all that happens in its life. Later in the year send Uncle John a little history or account of the plant you have watched.

DANDELION.

Dear common flower, that grow'st beside the way,
Fringing the dusty road with harmless gold,
First pledge of blithesome May,
Which children pluck, and, full of pride uphold,
High-hearted buccaneers, o'erjoyed that they
An Eldorado in the grass have found,
Which not the earth's ample round
May match in wealth, thou art more dear to me
Than all the prouder summer-blooms may be.

--LOWELL.

LEAFLET LIX.

MAPLE TREES IN AUTUMN.[77]

BY ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.

(Compare Leaflets XLVII and XLVIII.)

The hills are bright with maples yet,
But down the level land
The beech leaves rustle in the wind,
As dry and brown as sand.
The clouds in bars of rusty red
Along the hill-tops glow,
And in the still sharp air the frost
Is like a dream of snow.--ALICE CARY.

[77] Junior Naturalist Monthly, November, 1903.

The hills are bright with maples about the time Jack Frost appears, and many people say that he makes the leaves turn red and yellow. Wise folk tell us, however, that Jack Frost is not the artist; that leaves change to autumn tints when their work is completed.

Boys and girls may not know that leaves "work;" yet all through the long summer days when you have been playing in the shade of some old maple, the leaves over your head have been very busy. Uncle John says that each leaf is a "starch factory," and this is true. Starch is necessary for plant food and it is manufactured in the leaves. The green leaves and stems are the machinery, which is run by sunlight. Look at a large branch of maple and see how the leaves are arranged to catch every sunbeam. The more light the green parts of the tree get, the more plant food can be made and the sturdier and handsomer the tree.

But the story of the way in which the plant food is made is a long one and not easy for young people to understand. This can come later when you have become familiar with the many interesting things that you learn by watching the tree and by studying with the microscope.

If I should to go into your school-room and should ask how many boys and girls know a sugar maple, I suppose every hand would be raised. But if I should ask: "When does the sugar maple blossom?" "What do the blossoms look like?" "When do the winged seeds fall?" I wonder how many could give me satisfactory answers to my questions!

Choose some fine old maple for study. The one that stands near the door will be best, since you can see it every day. Write in a note book all that you can find out about it as the weeks go by.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FALL STUDY.

1. Notice how the leaves turn to the sunlight.

2. Try to find two leaves exactly alike in color, form, size, length of stem, etc. If you succeed send them to Uncle John.

3. How many different tints can you find in a single leaf?

4. As you look at two sugar maple trees, do they seem to be colored alike?

5. Are all sugar maples that you know the same shape?

6. How are the leaves arranged on the branch?

7. Can you find any winged seeds near the tree? If so, plant one in a box of earth and see whether it will grow.

8. If you find any plants growing beneath the maple tree, describe them or tell what they are.

9. Do you know any other kinds of maples? How do you distinguish them?

LEAFLET LX.

A CORN STALK.[78]

BY ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.

(Compare Leaflets XLII and XLIII.)

[78] Junior Naturalist Monthly, May, 1903.

"Tom," said I to a young friend who stood by the window tossing a ten-cent piece into the air, "what plant is used for part of the design on that coin?"

The boy did not answer right away. I do not believe he had ever looked at it closely; yet this is one of the prettiest of our silver pieces. After a few minutes he said, "It is corn, isn't it?"

Hearing a note of surprise in his voice, I told him something about corn-raising in this country. We then decided that it is a good thing to represent corn on one of the United States coins, since it is a source of much of our wealth.

But aside from its value, Indian corn should interest us because it is a wonderful plant. Boys and girls do not know much more about it than does any old black crow. You have watched the farmer plant corn and you like to eat it. Jim Crow has watched the farmer plant corn and he likes to eat it, too. The time has come, however, when you can get ahead of him if you care to; and to get ahead of crows on the corn question is worth the while. Let me tell you how to do it.

1. Secure a kernel of corn, cut it in halves, and note the food inside it. This food was stored in the seed by the parent plant. Uncle John would say that it is the "lunch" that the mother puts up for her children. What must happen before the food can be used by the little plant?

2. Place some moist soil in a tumbler, and put a kernel of corn in it near the side so that you can watch it grow. How soon does the root appear? The leaves? How many leaves come up at one time?

3. Ask your father to give you a small piece of ground in the garden. Plant a few kernels of corn so that you will have some plants of your own to study this summer. Other people's plants are never so interesting as our own.

4. As your corn plants push their way up into the light and air, watch them every day. Notice how the new leaves are protected by the next older ones.

5. Is the stem hollow or solid? In which way would it be stronger?

6. Notice the joints. Are they the same distance apart throughout the length of the stem? Does the distance between the joints always remain the same? Measure them some day; then in a week measure them again.

7. Where does the stalk break most easily?

8. Where does the leaf clasp the stalk?

9. Notice how strong the leaf is. In what direction do the ribs extend? If these long narrow leaves were not strong what would happen to them as they wave back and forth in the wind?

10. Have you ever noticed the ruffled edges of the leaves? As you bend them you will see that the edges do not tear.

11. There are two kinds of blossoms on a corn plant. The ear bears one kind, the tassel the other. If you were to cut all the tassels from the plants in your garden, the kernels would not grow on the ears. Later on you will learn why.

12. Watch the ear closely as it grows.

13. Follow a thread of silk to the place where it is attached. Notice whether there is one silk for each kernel.

14. When the corn is in the milk stage it is preparing to store up food for the young plants. How does it taste at this time?

15. Look closely at the base of the corn stalk and you will see roots extending obliquely into the soil. These are the brace roots. Of what use do you think they are to the corn stalk?

LEAFLET LXI.

IN THE CORN FIELDS.[79]

BY ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.

(Compare Leaflets XLII and XLIII.)

[79] Junior Naturalist Monthly, October, 1903.

"Caw caw!" said Jim Crow as he flew over our heads. "Was he jeering at us?" we wondered, the children and I. Perhaps he was inquisitive to know what business we had in the open country and in the fields of corn. Perhaps he was not concerned with us at all. Very likely crows are less concerned with us than we think they are.

Jim Crow flew on out of sight, but we stayed among the ripening corn. The ears were filling out. The ends of the silk were turning brown. We saw many things that we had planned to look for in vacation: the tall stem, the brace roots, the long strong leaves and the way the ribs extend in them, the ruffled edges of the leaves, the two kinds of blossoms, and where each silken thread is attached. The whole story was before us.

But this is the harvest time and we are ready to learn a new lesson from the corn fields. As we watch them now let us answer the following questions:

1. How is the corn cut?

2. How many ears do you find on a stalk?

3. Are the ears on the same side of the stalk or on opposite sides?

4. Take into the school room as many kinds of corn as you can find and describe each as follows:

a--The shape and color of the kernel.
b--Number of rows of kernels.
c--The number of kernels in each row.

5. Perhaps the girls will pop some corn and bring it to the Junior Naturalist Club meeting. Let them try to pop field corn. Cut kernels in two of field corn and pop-corn, and report whether they differ. Why does pop-corn pop?

6. Make a list of the foods for which corn is used.

7. Why are pumpkins planted among corn?

8. Why not make for your school room some decorations from ears of corn?

LEAFLET LXII.

THE ALFALFA PLANT.[80]

BY L. H. BAILEY and JOHN W. SPENCER.

(Compare Leaflet XXXIV.)

[80] Junior Naturalist Monthly, October, 1904.

All the things that the farmer sells are produced by plants and animals. The animals live on the plants. It is important that we know what some of these plants are.

Some plants are grown for human food. Such are potato, wheat, apple, lettuce. Some are grown only to feed to animals. Such are grasses and clover,--plants that are made into hay.

Hay is the most important crop in New York State. In fact, New York leads all the States in the value of the hay and forage. This value is more than 66 millions of dollars.

Hay is important in New York also because there are so many dairy cattle in the State. There are more than one and one-half millions of dairy cattle in New York. In the value of the milk and butter and cheese, New York also leads all other States. There are also great numbers of beef cattle, horses, mules, and sheep. All these millions of animals must be supplied with hay in our long cold winters.

Hay is made in New York State from grasses and clover. Suppose we could find some plant that would yield twice as much hay as clover yields, and yet be as nutritious,--you can readily see how valuable such a plant would be to the State. It would be better than a gift of millions of dollars. Such a plant is alfalfa.

Now that you know something about alfalfa in a general way, I want you to know how the plant looks and how it grows. It is not yet very well known even among farmers, but its cultivation is increasing every year. You will probably know where there are fields of it. Sometimes it grows along roadsides as a weed. Last spring Uncle John offered to send a small packet of alfalfa seeds to any Junior Naturalist who wrote for it. He sent about 5,000 packets. But if you do not know the plant or cannot find it, _write at once to Uncle John and he will send you some by mail from the University farm_.

Let us see how many school children in New York State will know what alfalfa is between now and Thanksgiving time. When writing to Uncle John about alfalfa, try to answer as many of the following questions as possible from your own observation:

1. Does the plant remind you of any other plant that you ever saw? Of what?

2. How does it grow,--straight up or spreading out on the ground?

3. How many stalks come from one root?

4. What are the leaves like? Mark out the shape with a pencil.

5. What are the flowers like? Do you know any other flowers of similar shape? What is the color?

6. If possible, dig around a plant and describe how the root looks. Does it branch into many fibres, as grass roots or corn roots do?

UNCLE JOHN'S LETTER ABOUT THE ALFALFA GARDENS.

_My Dear Boys and Girls:_

Do you know much about the alfalfa plant? Do you remember that last spring we promised to send a packet of seed to each of you who asked for it? Did you send your name asking that you be served? We received the names of several thousand children asking for seed and I am wondering whether you are one of them. If so, did you sow the seed? Will you write me a letter telling me what became of it?

I am very fond of children's letters. Each year I receive more than thirty thousand of them. I sometimes wonder whether there is another man who is honored by so many letters from young people, for I count it an honor to be so remembered.

As large as that number is, I cannot spare one letter. I always want a few more. All your letters are read and I take great pains to answer all questions. If, by any oversight, you have been missed I am sorry. I know what it costs a boy or girl to write a letter. I never open one without feeling that the writer is a friend of mine, otherwise he would not have expended so much hard work to write it.

School has now begun and of course you are very busy, and so is your teacher. One of the best opportunities to write letters is in school. Please ask your teacher whether you may not write me during your language period. You may say that she may make authors of all of you if she can, but I will do all I can to help you become good letter writers. Ask her whether a letter to me may not be a substitute for a composition.

In your letter you may tell me your experience with alfalfa. Tell me your failures as well as your successes. Even though you received your seeds and did not sow them, tell me that. I shall never find fault with you for telling me the truth. If you sowed the seed and the plants did not do well, tell me that also. The plants may look very small and uninteresting to you this year, but next year they may surprise you.

In some parts of the United States the alfalfa crop is of great value and the loss of it would bring distress to many farmers. I am wondering whether the crop, as raised in all parts of our country, is not worth more money than all the gold found in the Klondike, taking the two year by year. I do not know how that may be. I am wondering. Men by the thousand have gone to the gold mines and endured many hardships and later returned with less money than those who had remained at home and took care of their alfalfa.

It may be that a mine of wealth lies very near you, and to get it you may have to ask alfalfa to find it and bring it to you. Gold cannot be found in all places in a gold country and alfalfa may not feel comfortable and grow in all parts of a good farming country. What we asked of you last spring was that you become alfalfa prospectors and later tell us what you found.

JOHN W. SPENCER.

LEAFLET LXIII.

THE RED SQUIRREL.[81]

BY ALICE G. McCLOSKEY.

(Compare Leaflet XLIX.)

_The squirrel came running down a slanting bough, and as he stopped twirling a nut, called out rather impudently, "Look here! just get a snug-fitting fur coat and a pair of fur gloves like mine and you may laugh at a northeast storm."_--THOREAU.

[81] Junior Naturalist Monthly, November, 1903.

For a cheery companion give me the red squirrel! I enter the woods and there the little fellow is, ready to welcome me. "What a fine day it is for gathering nuts!" he seems to say, and straightway, as I listen to his merry chatter, I think it is a fine day for any sport that includes him and the brown November woods.

Young naturalists may think it is a difficult thing to become acquainted with red squirrels, but you will often find them willing to be sociable if you show them a little kindness. I have many times watched two or three squirrels playing about a friend as she sat in her garden. They seemed to find her nearly as interesting as the old pine tree near by. They are inquisitive animals.

"How did you tame them?" I asked.

"I fed them occasionally," she replied. "At first I put some nuts on the grass several feet away from me. Then I gradually placed a tempting meal nearer and nearer until the little fellows seemed to lose all fear of me."

If we care to, you and I, we can learn a great deal about red squirrels before another year has passed. If you live on a farm you should know the habits of all the wild creatures about you. You can then be just to them, and decide whether or not you can afford to let them continue to be tenants on your farm. You will find that all of them have interesting lives.

THE RED SQUIRREL.

A. B. C.

Just a tawny glimmer,
A dash of red and gray,--
Is it a flitting shadow,
Or a sunbeam gone astray?

It glances up a tree trunk,
And from some branch, I know
A little spy in ambush
Is measuring his foe.

I hear his mocking chuckle;
In wrath he waxes bold,
And stays his pressing business
To scold and scold and scold.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE RED SQUIRREL.