Chapter XXII: Part II: Children's Leaflets (4)

I know of a brother and a sister who found enough soil to fill some egg-shells. The shells had small drainage holes in the bottom. In time the plants grew and became too large for the egg-shells. Then the children went in search of more soil. They found enough to fill a few tomato cans. These cans also had drainage holes in the bottom. In each can they set a plant. They then put the cans into a soap box. Then they packed excelsior into all the vacant places in the soapbox. The excelsior helped to hold the moisture. The box stood on a back veranda where the plants had plenty of sunshine. So long as they were comfortable they did their best, which is as much as they could have done if they had been in expensive vases in the grounds of the White House at Washington.

CONSIDER YOUR SCHOOL GROUNDS.

On the last page of this leaflet are two pictures of a school-house. The first shows how it looked when it had not a friend. The second shows what the friendship of the teacher and the children could do for it. In both cases the building remains the same. Look at one picture and then at the other. See, if you can, what one thing has been done to make the difference--a difference as great as that between a tramp and a gentleman. A few shrubs have been planted by the friends, but the greatest thing they did was to clean up. They took away everything that looked untidy and shabby.

At this time of the year you see many beautiful crocuses, tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths. Nothing children can plant will give so much for the labor as these bulbs. Why not have some on the school grounds? When school begins next September, write me for directions how to grow them.

_Could you not do as much for your school grounds?_]

LEAFLET LXXVI.

THE GARDENS AND THE SCHOOL GROUNDS.[97]

BY JOHN W. SPENCER.

[97] Junior Naturalist Monthly, June, 1903.

MY DEAR BOYS AND GIRLS:

Of course you believe that Columbus discovered America, even though you were not with him. If you had been on the deck of his ship when San Salvador raised its head on the rim of the sea, you would be talking about it every day of your life. As it is, your knowledge comes to you through books, and you think you are fortunate if you are able to answer questions correctly on examination. This leads me to remark that there is much more interest in things that we have helped to "make happen" than in things that we read about and that were "made to happen" by some one else.

There is a chance for each of you boys and girls, in a way, to become a Columbus. It is true that, not counting the north and south poles, all the continents are discovered, but there is much pleasure and "fun" in discovering facts. I am now speaking from experience. I think that James Buchanan was President when I learned, in such a way that I could explain to others, the principles of a suction-pump. Some of the suggestions led me to make a squirt gun from a bit of elder stalk. Sometimes when I made a demonstration the water would fly in the faces of my audience. I started a squirt gun factory, but the teacher stopped the enterprise because it made too much litter in the school-room.

I have a suggestion that will start you on a voyage of discovery. When you have gone as far as you can I wish you would write me, telling what you have learned. Writers of agricultural books sometimes use the expression, "There is fertility in tillage." Is that true?

By fertility is meant the power of the soil to furnish plant-food. Fertile soil is "rich" soil. By tillage is meant frequent stirring of the soil. For example, Billy Boy and his chum each have a flower garden side by side of equal size. Each boy sows seeds from the same bag. The same sunshine and the same rains give vigor to each flower-bed alike. Billy Boy spades the soil deep and makes it fine. His chum stirs the top and leaves clods on the surface. With the end of a sharp stick Billy makes a straight drill for the seed. On the bottom of the drill the soil is fine like meal, and the seed is sown with great care and is covered with the finest soil. If the seed is small he makes the soil covering very thin. The last thing he does is to firm the soil by patting it with either his hand or the flat part of a hoe, and he does it in an affectionate way as if he were patting a dog. His chum makes the drill for the seed in a hasty way, leaving in the bottom little clods of earth as large as hickory nuts. He sows the seed as if he were glad to get rid of it, and he covers it as if he wanted it out of sight as soon as possible.

Which of the two boys gave the better tillage to the soil? During the summer you will see how others care for their plants and you will see instances of good tillage and poor tillage. You must observe and write me which of the two had the better success in having the seed come up. The difference between the two ways does not end in sowing and germination of seed, but continues all summer until the end of the season. Billy Boy will care for the soil by combing it with a rake several times a week, with the same care and affection with which the lover of a horse will groom the animal each morning. The chum will think the plants are all like goats, and ought to live with almost any chance. Billy Boy will have no weeds among his plants and his chum will have them in great numbers. The chum may say that weeds shade the plants and thereby protect them from drought. I have known grown-up farmers to say that. Is it true? Go on a voyage of discovery and find out.

I hope your garden may be of the Billy Boy kind, receiving plenty of tillage. You will have no trouble to find any number of the other kind of gardens growing to weeds and receiving no tillage. It will please me very much if you will write me, giving as many reasons as you can why tillage makes the soil more fertile (or "rich") and able to produce better plants and flowers. Each letter will be carefully read.

AN EXPERIMENT.

Perhaps you can answer the questions by watching your garden or some one's else garden; but you can answer them better if you will grow a few "hills" of corn. In the fall I shall have many questions to ask you about corn, and I want you to be able to answer by telling me what you have seen with your own eyes. Those of you who are Junior Naturalists have done well with your dues this year, but we must always do better next year than we did last; so I want you to know many things about Indian corn when you come back to school in the fall. Your teacher has also been asked to study corn, and I am going to study it myself. I am a farmer and I have grown corn all my life. Once I thought that I knew all about it; but frequently some one asks me a question about it that I cannot answer.

Now, I hope that you can plant at least ten "hills" of corn, or, if you do not plant it in "hills," you may make two rows, each of them five or ten feet long. I want you to plant part of these hills (or one of the rows) in good rich soil. Perhaps your father will let you plant them in the best part of the garden along with the cabbages or other crops; or, perhaps, your mother will let you plant them at the back part of the flower garden. Then I want you to keep down the weeds and break or cultivate the ground often with a hoe or rake so that the soil is always loose. Then I want you to plant the other part of the corn in a poor or dry piece of ground, where the weeds grow. This part you need not cultivate. I think that before the summer is half over you will learn a very great lesson by looking at these two pieces of corn. Some of you will say that you know beforehand what will happen; but I want you to grow the corn nevertheless.

By fall I hope you will be able to write me whether you can tell a rich soil when you see it, and also why you think it is rich. I want everyone of the Junior Gardeners to tell me that much when school opens.

* * * * *

_To the Teacher:_

We must depend upon your courtesy to help in reporting what has been done by you and your pupils in improvement of school grounds. In addition to this we hope it may be your pleasure to ask all the children who are able to write to tell us in detail, at some language period, what they have done. We are never able to get reports of all this good work. Many teachers feel that nothing but heroic deeds in the planting of school grounds are worthy of mention. This is a mistake. Some grounds may be more improved by attention to simple tidiness than by expensive planting, and they are equally worthy of mention.

The attendance at some schools is small and the pupils are young. Small efforts from them are relatively great when compared with what is done by schools with ample facilities. We know a teacher who began her first teaching in the fall of 1902. The pupils were eight in number and most of them were small. The school was in the country. The interior of the building was shabby. The teacher was courageous and resolute. With her small handful of not over-competent pupils, she had school "exercises" and the children sold tickets. By this means enough paper was bought to cover the walls, and the teacher and the children put the paper on. Then they made other sales, for which they received as commission three pictures creditably framed. They were hung on the walls of the school-house. By this time, the tide of civic improvement in that community began to turn towards the improving of the school building and grounds. We are eagerly awaiting reports to know what was done on Arbor Day. Under such conditions, it was no small thing that the teacher and children accomplished.

LEAFLET LXXVII.

SOMETHING FOR YOUNG FARMERS.[98]

BY JOHN W. SPENCER.

[98] Supplement to Junior Naturalist Monthly, April, 1902.

MY DEAR NEPHEWS AND NIECES:

I wish to make farmers of you all. I will try to tell you how to have farms all your own--farms on which you can plant seeds and see the plants grow. Once a little girl in Buffalo, who is one of my Junior Naturalists, asked me whether I would call at her home and see the harvest from seeds she planted on one of her farms the spring before. The principal of the school went with me, for he knew all about the little girl's success, and seemed proud of what she had accomplished. What do you think it was she had raised? It was something that filled her lap and was good to eat. It was a fine pumpkin. It weighed twenty-two pounds. I wish I could have a photograph of her holding the pumpkin, her face glowing with pride and satisfaction.

You are surely able to do as much as this little girl did. Perhaps you would prefer some other crop to pumpkins, in which case you have many kinds of seeds from which to choose.

Last spring, in school, this little girl with other boys and girls began planting and caring for egg-shell farms. It costs no money and but little trouble to own several such farms. The greatest pleasure and profit is to be found in having them in school, for then you have the opportunity of seeing how others manage their farms, and there is a spur in doing what others are doing. When you have read all about my plan I wish you would ask your teacher whether you cannot have some egg-shell farms in your grade. When your plants are large enough to put permanently in the open ground, you can plant them in a garden or window-box at your home. If it is not convenient to have egg-shell farms at school, ask your parents if you cannot have some at home.

Please give me your ears and your attention while I tell you how to get your farms.

In April you have eggs at some one of the three meals of the day, and the empty shells can be easily obtained. The end of the shell to be broken is the sharp or "peaked" end. Break away about a quarter or a third of it and pour out the white and the yolk that is inside. This empty shell is to hold the soil of your farm, and you can have as many farms as may be convenient to care for. On each egg-shell you may write your name, for the same reason that people have door plates on the doors of their houses or signs on their places of business. Some very methodical boys and girls write also the names of the kind of seeds sown, and the dates of planting and sprouting. Do not forget to put a hole through the bottom of each one of your farms for drainage. I wish I could be with you when you get your soil; we would go out to the pastures and the woods for a supply. I should be able to tell you much about different soils, and how they have been made. It is an interesting story that I must tell you when we are past the hurry of spring's work. If we could go afield we should find the best soil for your egg-shell farms about the roots of rotted stumps or in rotted leaves. It is necessary that the soil shall not bake hard because of frequent waterings, shall not dry out quickly, and shall have plenty of plant-food. I fancy the most convenient plan will be for all of you who wish soil to form a syndicate by contributing a cent each and go to a florist and buy your soil. Tell the florist you wish it for your use and the probabilities are that he will be so much interested in your plants that you will get more for the same amount of money than I could if I were to go for you.

The next difficulty will be to keep your farms right side up. That is easily accomplished by putting some sand or sawdust in a shallow box and making a dent where you wish each farm to stand. If you have your farms in the school-room, Tom, Dick, and Harry can have all their farms in the same box. There will be no trouble in separating them if the owner's name is written on each one.

Next comes the planting of seeds and the problem of the amount of earth to put over them. Big seeds require more covering than little seeds. Seeds like peas, beans, and corn may be thrust into the middle of your farm. Small seeds, like those of the petunia, which are almost like dust, require only the gentlest sprinkling of soil. Seeds as large as those of the aster and the balsam should be covered with a layer of earth as thick as a lead pencil. I advise you to plant twice as many seeds as you wish to have grow. Many accidents may happen and if all grow, the surplus plants can be replanted later or thrown away. The earth covering should be sprinkled or sifted over the seeds, and then it must be patted or pressed down firmly. By this means the particles of soil are snuggled close together, and the seed and the soil hold moisture much better than when the particles lie loose and far apart.

The next thing to do after planting is to sprinkle water over your farms. Do this as gently as possible, for with all your care some seeds may be uncovered. Look over the ground carefully, and those you find exposed poke into the earth with the point of a pencil or a stick.

The soil of your farms must be kept moist at all times. This is a point that will require your continued attention. When your Uncle John attended school, many years ago, there was a passage in his reader that taught him that "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." The attention required to keep plants suitably watered does not fall much short of eternal vigilance. This need not scare you. If you care for your farms you will find it a pleasure to wait on your plants.

If you have your egg-shell farms in the school-room, there will be no opportunity to water your plants Saturday or Sunday, when school is not in session. I think if you make your farms soaking wet Friday at the close of school, and then set them back from the window out of the direct rays of the sun, no harm will come from dryness before Monday morning.

You must watch to see whether all members of the same family do the same thing precisely alike. After sowing your seeds and watering your farms you will go to them many times to see whether anything has happened. You will not be able to see anything or hear anything, and you will conclude that nothing is going on in the soil.

In this you will be mistaken, for some active changes are taking place. They are of a kind that you can neither see nor hear. In days to come, when you are men and women, you will be able to appreciate the fact that some of the most important events come about silently and some of the least important come with a racket.

The first leaves that appear on most plants are called the seed-leaves. If your plants are comfortable, but a few days will pass before true leaves develop. You will find the latter very different from the seed-leaves. Before the first or seed-leaves appear it is not important that your farms have the strong sunlight. In fact I always put my egg-shell farms in the shade while the seeds are germinating, but at the first peep of a leaf or stem I put them in the full sunshine.

Most of you will no doubt have your farms on the window ledge. Among the first things you will observe is a way all the leaves have of looking out of doors. If you turn your farms around so the leaves are looking in the room, the time will not be long before all of them will be faced out of doors again. Once on a time one of my Junior Naturalists told me that plants take to sunshine as a duck does to water. A duck is never so comfortable as when in water; and I am certain that sunshine is important to the comfort of most plants. Some of my nephews and nieces will understand why light is so necessary to plants, for I have spoken of this before.

I hope you will this moment decide to have some egg-shell farms, and sow some seed immediately after getting your soil. Later, when the plants are large enough to plant in the open ground, we will talk of what is best to do with them. In Leaflet LII you will find a picture of an egg-shell farm.

LEAFLET LXXVIII.

BULBS.[99]

BY JOHN W. SPENCER.

[99] Nature-Study Quarterly, October, 1899.

A BULB GARDEN.

"It's rather dark in the earth to-day,"
Said one little bulb to his brother;
"But I thought that I felt a sunbeam ray--
We must strive and grow till we find the way?"
And they nestled close to each other.
Then they struggled and toiled by day and by night
Till two little snowdrops in green and white,
Rose out of the darkness and into the light,
And softly kissed one another.--_Boston Journal._

To succeed with the cultivation of flowers, the first thing to have in mind is to make the plant comfortable. This condition should be not only the first thought, but also the last thought. If you can do this successfully, the plant will do the rest of the work and your results will be abundant.

What plant comfort is, is a question more easily suggested than answered, for it is a very large subject--about as large as the surface of the earth. As a venture we will say that there are as many different kinds of plants as there are people. It is at least safe to say that plants have as many different notions as to their conditions of life as have the people of the different nations and tribes of the world.

If you were to have a birthday party and should invite as your guests the children from the four corners of the earth, and by magic could bring them to you in a jiffy, the boys and girls from Greenland would come enfolded in seal-skin, and those from Hawaii would bring only their bathing suits. You would have a busy time keeping them comfortable, for when you opened the door to cool off the little Greenlanders, the little Kanakas would complain of too much draft; and at the table the former would ask if you happened to have some tallow candles for dessert, and the latter would ask for bread-fruit and bananas.

Many of our flowering plants have been brought together from such remote quarters as that. We have bulbs from Holland, and pansies from England, and phlox from the dry atmosphere of Texas.

There is as much difference in the conditions necessary for comfort in these different plants as there is in the requirements of the little Eskimos and little Polynesians. To some extent, plants can change their manner of living, but in the main they are happiest when they can have their own way, just as you and I are.

We cannot bring about the foggy, damp weather of Holland and England when we want it; neither can we bring the dry atmosphere of Texas--air so dry that meat will cure hard in the hottest weather without tainting. It so happens, however, that from one Fourth of July to the next we have many kinds of weather, and if one could not find conditions suited to almost any kind of plant it would be strange. If we cannot make the weather accommodate itself to the best comfort of the plant, we must set the plant so as to accommodate itself to the weather.

Pansies from foggy England and bulbs from the lowlands of Holland should be planted to bloom in the cool days of spring, and the phlox from Texas will prosper in the heat and drought of July and August.

With this idea well fixed in your mind, you will easily see that when you know the country from which a plant has come, a knowledge of the physical geography of that country will be helpful in knowing how to make the plant happy and prosperous.

We must also make the plant comfortable in the soil. There is great difference in what plants require to make them comfortable. Some, like thistles or mullein or ragweed, will thrive on almost any soil and are no more exacting as to food than a goat or a mule; but other plants are as notional as children reared in the lap of luxury. As a rule, flowering plants belong to the "lap-of-luxury" class.

Soil covers the land as thin skin covers an apple or as a thin coat of butter covers bread, and it holds more or less plant-food. When men erect school buildings and afterwards grade the ground they usually turn a part of the soil upside down. There is also considerable rubbish of the builders left scattered about, such as brick-bats, chips of stone, and the like, that go to make the place an uncomfortable one for notional plants. For this reason I wish particularly to call your attention to the manner in which you should prepare the ground on which you intend to plant. The first thing to do is to spade the ground thoroughly to the depth of at least ten inches. All stones as large as a big boy's fist should be thrown out, and all lumps given a bat with the back of the spade to break them into fine particles. This is to be a flower-bed and should be soft like your own bed. It would be better to make it up more than once. After the first spading it would be well to cover the bed with a coat of stable fertilizer to a depth of six to eight inches, which will give additional plant-food; and in spading the second time, this fertilizer will become thoroughly mixed with the soil. The surface should next be raked smooth, and your flower-bed will then be ready for planting.

We all admire the bright bulb flowers that are among the first to blossom in the spring. These mostly come from Holland, or at least attain their perfection there. We have just spoken of the importance of planting flowers at such a time that they may live their career when our climate is most like that from which they come. In the case of bulbs, spring and early summer is the most favorable time for them in this country, and fall is the proper time for planting.

The exact time in the fall to plant, how to plant, what bulbs to plant, when to put a winter overcoat on the bed, and other details, I will leave for Mr. Hunn to tell in the following Leaflet. He has had many years' experience in the management of flowers, and I advise you to read carefully what he says.

LEAFLET LXXIX.

A TALK ABOUT BULBS BY THE GARDENER.[100]

BY C. E. HUNN.

[100] Nature-Study Quarterly, October, 1899.

Perhaps you would like to hear from the gardener. Your Uncle John has told you something about preparing a bed for your plants. His advice is very good; but the bulbs we are to talk about are like those notional children whom he mentions and they do not want tallow candles for any part of their meal.

You should know that bulbs do not want to come into direct contact with the stable fertilizer. They want the fertilizer below them where the feeding roots may nibble at it when the bulb is hard at work developing the leaves and flower. You know that all the leaves and the flowers were made the year before, and the bulb simply holds them until the new roots have formed. No kind of treatment will make a bulb produce more flowers than were formed in the year it grew (last year); but the better the treatment the larger and finer the flowers will be.

If I wanted to make a bulb bed, I should choose, if possible, a sandy soil and throw out the top soil to the depth of six inches. Then I should put into the bottom of the bed about two inches of well rotted manure and spade it into the soil. Then I should throw back half of the top soil, level it off nicely, set the bulbs firmly on this bed, and then cover them with the remainder of the soil; in this way you will have the bulbs from three to four inches below the surface. It is dark down there and in the fall months the top of the ground is cooler than at the depth of five or six inches and the top of the bulb will not want to grow, while the bottom, which is always in a hurry, will send out roots, to push out the leaves and flowers the next spring.

When the weather is cold enough to freeze a hard crust on the soil, the bed should have its winter overcoat. This may be straw, hay, cornstalks, or leaves spread over the bed to the depth of six inches if the material is coarse; but if you use leaves, three inches will be enough, because the leaves lie close together and may smother out the frost that is in the ground and let the bulbs start. What we want is to keep them asleep until spring, because if they start too early the hard freezes of March and early April will spoil their beauty if the leaves or flowers are near or above the surface. Early in April the covering may be removed gradually and should all be off the beds before the leaves show above the ground.

Perhaps many of you cannot find a sandy place for your beds; if not, make your beds as has been told you, leaving the stones in the bottom of the bed for drainage. Then, when you are ready to set the bulb, place a large handful of sand where your bulb is to go and set your bulb on it; this will keep the water from standing around the bulb. Very good results may be obtained on heavy soil by this method.

What kind of bulbs shall we put into these beds? Choose hyacinths, tulips, narcissus, or daffodils, with snowdrops or crocuses of various colors around the edge.

If you use hyacinths you can have the national colors, red, white, and blue, or many shades of either color, as shown in the diagrams (Fig. 369). Of tulips you can have stars or ribbons of yellow, white, or crimson, or in fact almost any color except true blue. In narcissus, yellow, sulfur, and white are the colors. The little crocuses come in yellow, blue, white, and striped colors, and are in bloom and gone before the large flowers take your attention. Many other bulbs are fine for spring flowering; but as most of them are more difficult to grow and many of them rather expensive, I do not think we will discuss them now.

Suppose we want a bed of red, white, and blue hyacinths (Fig. 369), and make it six feet in diameter: how many bulbs would you want? Now, hyacinths should be planted six inches apart each way, and the outside row should be at least three inches from the edge of the bed. You see you will want a little over one hundred bulbs, which, if one person had to buy them, would cost him a considerable sum; but if fifty or more boys and girls would club together it would be easy for everyone.

If you want a bed of tulips, they should be planted four or five inches apart instead of six inches. So you will need more bulbs; but they are cheaper than hyacinths. The narcissus bulbs, being still smaller than tulips, may be planted three inches apart; and the little crocuses, the first flowers of spring, should touch one another, as should also the snowdrops.

Perhaps many of you do not wish to wait until spring for your bulbs to flower, in which case we must try to persuade them to bloom through the winter, say at Christmas. Nearly all bulbs are good-natured, and may be coaxed to do things that nature never asks them to do; so if we go at it right we shall find it very easy to make them think their time to bloom has come, even if the ground is covered with snow and the ice is thick on the ponds. Hyacinths, narcissus, and crocus can all be made to flower in the winter by starting this way. Get the bulbs so as to be able to pot them by the middle or last of October, or if earlier all the better. The soil should be rich, sandy loam if possible; if not, the best you can get, to which add about one-fourth the bulk of sand and mix thoroughly. If ordinary flower pots are to be used, put in the bottom a few pieces of broken pots, charcoal, or small stones for drainage; then fill the pot with dirt so that when the bulbs are set on the dirt the top of the bulb is even with the rim of the pot. Fill around it with soil, leaving just the tip of the bulb showing above the dirt. If the soil is heavy, a good plan is to sprinkle a small handful of sand under the bulb to carry off the water, the same as is done in the beds outdoors. If you do not have pots you may use boxes. Starch boxes are a good size to use as they are not heavy to handle; and I have seen excellent flowers on bulbs planted in old tomato cans. If boxes or cans are used, care must be taken to have holes in the bottoms to let the water run out. A large-size hyacinth bulb will do well in a five-inch pot. The same size pot will do for three or four narcissuses or eight to twelve crocuses.

After the bulbs are planted in the pots or other receptacles, they should be placed in a cool place, either in a cold pit or cellar or on the shady side of a building, or, better yet, plunged or buried up to the rim of the pot in a shady border. This is done to force the roots to grow while the top stands still; as only the bulbs with good roots will give good flowers. When the weather gets cold enough so that a crust is frozen on the soil, the pots should be covered with a little straw, and as the weather gets colder more straw must be used. From six to eight weeks after planting, the bulbs should have made roots enough to grow the plant, and the pots may be taken up and placed in a cool room for a week or so; after which, if the plants have started into growth, they may be taken into a warmer room where they can have plenty of light. They will grow very rapidly now and will want lots of water; after the flowers begin to show, the pots may stand in a saucer of water all the time. When just coming into bloom the plants may have full sunlight part of the time to help bring out the color of the flowers. Fig. 370 shows a pot of tulips.

I want to tell you of two bulbs that do not need so much fussing with to get them to bloom for Christmas. One of them is called freesia (Fig. 371) and if I could have but one kind of bulb to flower in the winter, I should choose this. The little bulbs are not half as large as crocus bulbs and you will be astonished at the large leaves and flowers such a bulb can produce. The bulbs are about the cheapest of all winter bulbs and they grow without putting them away to make roots, as the tops do not seem as impatient to start as those of most other bulbs, but wait until there are roots to help them along. The flowers are borne on a slender stem and look very graceful, either on the plant or in bouquets. They are also very fragrant, and a pot with five or six bulbs will perfume a large room. All they need is good light soil, sunlight, water, and warmth to make glad the heart of anyone who plants them.

The other bulb I should select is the oriental narcissus or Chinese sacred lily. This grows in water without any soil whatever. Just take a bowl or glass dish about three times the size of the bulb; put some pretty stones in the bottom; set in the bulb and build up around it with stones so as to hold it stiff when the leaves have grown; tuck two or three small pieces of charcoal among the stones to keep the water sweet; then fill up the dish with water and add a little every few days, as it evaporates. Set the dish in a warm, light place. In about six weeks the fragrant, fine white flowers will fill the room with perfume and you will have the pleasure of watching the roots start and grow, the top throw up long green leaves, and the flower clusters develop and open their flowers. Hyacinths may also be grown in water, but not as easily as this narcissus, or in such inexpensive dishes.

The picture (Fig. 372) of a bulb box was taken last winter from a box of mixed bulbs grown at Cornell. The calla in the center and the Kenilworth ivy trailing over the front were planted in the box in September, and pots of geraniums and other plants set on the dirt to fill the space. When the bulbs that were in pots were ready to be started they were taken out of the pots and set in the dirt in the box, where they grew and flowered; the tall stems are paper white narcissus, the best variety for winter. On each side there is a hyacinth just starting and in front a little freesia in bloom. When these bulbs were done flowering, small pots of blooming plants were set on the box and a charming window box was obtained with many different things in it through the winter.

WHERE TO PLANT BULBS; AND OTHER ADVICE FOR THE OUTDOOR GARDEN.

A large part of the beauty of the flower-bed lies in its position. A flower-bed in the middle of the lawn is usually out of place. It has no "setting," as the artists say. It lacks background. It is merely an incidental thing dropped into the sward. It is out of place. A flower-bed should belong to some part of the general planting of the grounds, or it should be a part of the border or boundary surrounding the place. The center of any grounds should be left open, or free from heavy planting. A few trees may be planted in the center, if one desires shade; but all the masses of foliage and flowers should be somewhere near the sides or else near the foundations of the house or near other definite boundary lines. In such places the flower-bed is supported by other herbage. It has relation to something else. It forms a part of a general picture; and every good yard should be a picture.

Along the borders the beds are usually more easily cared for than they are in the center of the lawn. In the latter place they are in danger of being trampled over, and the roots of the grass run underneath the bed and absorb the food and moisture which the flowers need. The beauty of a formal bed in the center of the lawn is destroyed if some of the plants are injured or do not develop. Symmetry is part of its merit. If, however, the bed is along the border, a few vacant places in the bed do not attract great attention. In school grounds it is well to have the beds somewhat near together or continuous, in order that the labor of taking care of them may be less.

It is always well to plant profusely. Much of the beauty of a flower-bed lies in an abundance of color. One must consider, also, that some of the roots, seeds, or bulbs may fail. Some of them may not grow in the first place, and others may be injured by weather or by accidents. It is well to provide for all these contingencies.

One of the best plants to use for the school bulb garden is the crocus, because the bulbs are cheap and very hardy. The mixed bulbs, comprising all the common colors, can be had for forty or fifty cents per hundred at retail, and if one should buy them in considerable quantities, they could be had for less than this. A thousand bulbs of mixed crocuses should be got for three dollars or a little more, and these would make a great display along the fence or walks of any school garden. One of the ways to grow crocuses is to plant the bulbs in the grass, not cutting out the grass where they are planted. That is, they grow right in the sod. By the time the lawn needs to be mown in the spring, the flowers are gone and the crocuses can be cut with the grass. The crocuses will not last so long in a mown sod as they will in beds which are especially prepared for them, but they will ordinarily give good results for two or three years if the land is good; and they are so cheap that they can be renewed from time to time.

Other good, hardy bulbs for fall planting out-of-doors, aside from lilies, are hyacinth, snowdrop, snowflake, tulip, narcissus of various kinds (including daffodils and jonquils), grape hyacinth, squill. All these are early spring bloomers and will delight the children's eyes.

LEAFLET LXXX.

HORSES.[101]

BY ALICE G. McCLOSKEY and I. P. ROBERTS.

[101] Junior Naturalist Monthly, December, 1904.

A few minutes ago I went into the stable to see Peg and Nan, the two bay horses. On the outside of each stall I found a door-plate, with _Nan_ written in large, black letters on one, _Peg_ on the other. I visited each old friend in turn.

They are quite different in disposition, these two horses. Nan is gentle, affectionate, patient; Peg is spirited, unfriendly, restless. I am very fond of them both and as yet have not been able to decide which I enjoy the more, quiet Nan or spirited Peg.

All horses are interesting to me. As I take my daily walk, I like to look at the different ones I meet along the way. There is the baker's horse and the butcher's; the doctor's horse, sleek and active; the heavy gray horses that haul loads of coal up the hill all through the winter weather; "Old Speckle," the postman's horse; and the friendly bay I so often see feeding in the meadow.

Of all these wayside acquaintances, I like best the one I meet in the meadow. Perhaps I associate him with the meadow-lark's song, the fresh, green grass, and the gay little dandelions that were about when I first crossed his path; or, perhaps our friendship progressed more rapidly than city streets ever will permit. He seems to know when I am approaching and raises his head in welcome. I always pet him and talk to him a bit, and we both know that two friends have met.

There are many things about horses that everyone ought to know. If we were to ask Junior Naturalists how coach horses differ from roadsters and how roadsters differ from draft horses, how many would be able to tell us?

Perhaps you will ask, "What is a draft horse?" The draft horse has short legs, a heavy body, a short, thick neck, broad deep chest and shoulders, strong hocks and moderately large feet. It may be that your father owns a draft horse. Ask him whether it is a Percheron, a Clydesdale, or an English Shire. These are the most familiar breeds of draft horses. The Percherons came from France and at first they were gray. Now they are often black or dark brown. The Shires, commonly bay, brown or sorrel, came from England; and the Clydesdales, similar in appearance to the Shires but smaller and more active, came from Scotland.

All boys and girls know coach horses. As you stand by the school-room window, you may see one pass. They have long arched necks and fine heads. Their bodies are rounded and well proportioned.

Roadsters, trotters, and saddle horses are usually not so large as coachers. Their necks are inclined to be longer and their chests narrower than in the coach horse; however, their muscles and tendons are strong.

Now you must not think that just because a horse is drawing a load he is a draft horse; nor because a horse is hitched to a coach he is a coach horse; nor because he is driven on the road he is a roadster. These three names,--draft horses, coach horses, roadsters,--represent types or classes. They mean kinds of horses that are supposed to be best adapted for drawing, or for coaches and carriages, or for fast driving, providing the horse has no other work to do. But the horses that you usually see are just mere common horses of no particular type, and are used for a great variety of purposes. They are "nondescripts," which means "undescribed" or "unclassified." You would not think of putting a true draft horse, like the animal in Fig. 375, on a light carriage; nor of hitching a coacher like that in Fig. 377 to a coal wagon. Do you think there is any real roadster, or coach horse, or draft horse in your neighborhood? If not, perhaps you can tell, as the horses pass you, whether they are nearest like one type or another. Try it.

If you will observe horses closely you will find that some are large, heavy, and strong, and that they are seldom made to move rapidly, while others may be nearly as tall but they are slim, and carry their heads high and their necks arched. You should also notice that the heavy draft horse does not lift his feet high nor walk with a proud and lofty tread, while the coach horse lifts his feet high, carries his head high, and moves very proudly.

There are several breeds of draft or heavy horses. Fig. 375 shows a fine Clydesdale horse imported from Scotland. Notice how nicely he is marked. The horseman would say that he has four "white stockings" and plenty of "feather" on his fetlock; strange, is it not, that this long hair should be called feather?

If you should see a large, smooth gray horse similar to the Clyde, without the "white stockings" or the "feather," you may conclude that he is a Percheron horse. As we have said before, the Percheron breed of horses came from France. It is not always gray in color. It is slightly smaller than the Clydesdale.

After you have learned that a draft horse should be large and strong, study the picture of the coach horse (Fig. 377). Compare him with the draft horse. The coach horse is not a fast trotter nor even a fast roadster, but he is usually very beautiful, strong, and stylish.

Now I shall ask you to compare the neck shown in Fig. 380 with that shown in Fig. 381. Which do you think is the more beautiful? The horse with the long, slim neck is a noted trotter. If the neck and head were large, would it help or hinder the trotter? Compare the neck of the trotter with that of the draft horse and see whether you can explain why one is heavy and the other light. Can you explain to your parents why the draft horse should weigh more than the coach horse?

Do you admire the head and neck shown in Fig. 380? Wherein does it differ from the others? This type is called "ewe-neck." Can you tell why? Tell me whether you think this horse would be a safe driver.

What do you think of the head and neck of the Arabian horse (Fig-378)? You like it, do you? Why? Can you imagine what kind of horse belongs to that head and neck? Describe it.

Probably the Arabian horse would be too spirited for you so I shall show you a Shetland pony. (Fig. 379.) Where is Shetland? Why are horses so small in the country where this little fellow came from? How does he differ from the other horses shown in the Leaflet? Note _all_ of the differences.

In Fig. 376 you will see the picture of a Welsh pony, and she has a ponyette, a baby only a few days old. Which is the larger, the Shetland pony or the Welsh pony? Which one would you prefer if the baby were left out? Could you raise a calf until it became a grown cow and then trade it for a pony? Just a plain little pony can be bought for the price of a good cow. It is part of a good education to know how to raise and handle cows and horses.

With this Leaflet in your hand, you should go to the stable, or, better still, out on the street, and see whether you can find as good horses and ponies as the pictures represent. As you study horses try to answer the following questions:

1. Where is the horse's knee joint? Which way does the knee bend?

2. Where is the hock joint? Which way does it bend?

3. Can a horse sleep when standing?

4. How are the legs placed when a horse lies down?

5. How does a horse get up,--front legs first or hind legs first? How does a cow get up?

6. When a horse starts, after standing, what foot does he put forward first,--the left or the right? Fore or back? What foot moves next?

7. When a horse trots, do the two feet on one side move together? Or do lefts and rights move together?

8. What does a driver mean when he says that a horse "forges" or "over-reaches?"

9. Name the things that a horse commonly eats. What is a good feed for a day,--how much of each thing, and when given?

INDEX.

["Fig." means that the page referred to contains the figure only,
no text reference.]

PAGE.

Agassiz, glacial hypothesis 105
making of surveys and maps 202, 203

Agriculture, its place in schools 45-47

Agricultural education, what it is 45-53

Air 87, 123, 124

Alfalfa 40, 354, 355, 357-360, 489-493

Alluvial fans 132

Annual rings 321, 327, 328, 329, 330, 335, 474

Ants 62, 64, (Fig.) 224, 243-251, 274, 508, 513

Ant-lions 250

Aphids 62, 68, 248-251, 539

Aphis-lion 249, 539, 540, 543

Apple, buds 328, 329
fruit 467-472
grafting of 374, 375
shape of tree 304
twigs 317-325

Apple-scab 470, (Fig.) 471

Apricot 328, 375, 377

Aquaria 59, 60, 141-156, 165, 166

Arborvitae 345, 346, 347

Asters 379-383

Azalea 331

Back-swimmers, see "Bugs."

Bagworms 61

Balsams 383

Barngrass 362

Bass, black 162

Basswood leaf-roller, see "Moths."

Beans 291, 460-466, 563, 564

Begonias 372, 373

Bees, wings of (Fig.) 224
bumble 65, 68, 351, 352
carpenter 61
honey 62, 64, 65, 353

Beet 257, 415, 416
sugar 405

Beetles 210, 223, 224, 507
engraver 61
plum curculio 68

Beetles, potato 62, 63, 68
predaceous diving 151
snapping (Fig.) 223
tiger 61
water scavenger 152
whirligig 135
wood-boring (Fig.) 223

Bibliography of nature-study 76-79

Biennial 416

Birds, leaflets on 253-290, 503, 504, 515, 516
suggestions for study 70, 71
See special birds.

Black bass, see "Bass."

Blackberry 305, 370, 375

Blackbird, redwing 263

Black-fly, see "Flies."

Bluebells 362

Bluebird 238, 261

Black-nosed dace, see "Dace."

Bordeaux mixture 381, 382, 389

Breeding cage 228

Brook, The, insects of 135-140
suggestions for study 125
work of 126-134

Brownie-bugs, see "Bugs."

Budding 376, 377

Buds
apple 317-325
apricot 328
azalea 331
butternut 474
dormant 318, 314-320, 329
elm 330
flower 319, 328, 330
hepatica 392
hickory 329, (Fig.) 330
horse-chestnut (Fig.) 474
leaf 319, 328, 330
maple 329, 473
peach 328
pear 328
pussy-willow 330
terminal 318, 474
winter 72, 331, 332, 327-336, 473, 474

Bugs, 223
brownie (Fig.) 223
back-swimmers 136, 152, 153
giant water 137, 153
June 288

Bugs, lady 210, 250
stink 223
water boatmen 136, 152
water scorpions 152, 153
water-striders 137

Bulbs 567, 577-580, 581-583
see special bulbs.

Burdock 362

Butterflies 58, 59, 61, 62, 224, 238, 544
cabbage 208, 209, 210, (Fig.) 224, 540
common blue 248
milkweed 208, 209
monarch 63, 544
viceroy 63

Butternut (Fig.) 474

Cabbage butterfly, see "Butterflies."

Caddice-worm 61, 136, 155

Cambium 375

Cankerworms 68

Carnations (Fig.) 370, 372

Carrot 257

Caterpillars 58, 62, 501
apple-tree tent 59, 69, 227-235
of cecropia moth 167, 168
cabbage 63, 68, 208, 209, 210
of codlin-moth 470
of common blue butterfly 248
of fall web-worm 61
of promethea moth 168, 169
"woolly-bear" 210, 238, 539, (Fig.) 541

Catfish 150, 161

Cat-tails 364

Cecropia moth, see "Moths."

Cereals, food value of 409-414

Chara (Fig.) 148, 149

Charcoal 144

Cherry, grafting of 377

Chestnut, grafting of 374

Chickadee 279-281, 285, 503, 504

Chickens 70, 522-524, 525, 526, 527

Child's Realm, The (poem) 451

Chinese lily, see "Narcissus."

Chipmunk 69

Choke-cherries 362

Chrysalids 58, 59
of apple-tree tent caterpillar 233
cabbage butterfly 209, 540

Chrysalids, codlin-moth 470
milkweed butterfly 208

Cicada 66, 210, (Fig.) 223, 529-535
dog-day harvest fly 534, 535
seventeen-year locust 529-535

Cion 374

Clam 150

Clarkias 383

Clay 117, 118