A good seed tester may be made with a five-cent cake-tin. Place in the bottom a fold of cotton wadding or thick woolen cloth, and over this a sheet of blotting paper marked off in equal squares, which are numbered. On the squares place the seeds to be tested, numbering the ear of corn or the packet of seeds to correspond with the square, and keeping in a notebook a record of the marks and of the growth of the seeds. Moisten the cloth and the blotting paper thoroughly and keep them moist during the test. Cover with another tin or a bit of board — since seeds sprout best in the dark-and keep in a warm place. A shallow wooden box in which about two inches of damp sand or sawdust is placed beneath the numbered squares also makes a good tester.

Seeds in a tester may be closely studied, as the cover may be lifted every day and observation taken. Pupils should be required to note the quality of the seeds to be tested, whether they are large or small, plump or shriveled, and whether the quality makes any difference in the vigor of the germ. Some gardeners sift their seeds and plant only large ones; after noting the results of their test, pupils might discuss whether or not it is worth while to take so much trouble.

A box or flat containing soil may be used for a test of deep and shallow planting, in rows side by side, of such small seeds as radish, turnip, and cabbage, noting whether the germs in the deeply planted seeds seem to have lost any vigor in the struggle to reach the surface. Comparisons. may be made, also, of the effect on the germ of leaving the soil loose above the seed or of firming it down around the seed with care. Pupils should observe the effect of too little or too much moisture, and of changes of temperature.

Beets, turnips, onions, and potatoes may be brought to the schoolroom and sprouted in boxes of sand or in jars of water, and observations made of the amount of food stored by the plant for the sake of future growth. Discussions may be held as to whether or not harm is done to these vegetables by allowing them to become dried and withered before planting; whether it would be best to choose seed corn from a stalk bearing one extraordinarily fine ear or from one bearing four or five good average ears; whether potatoes from which sprouts have been removed are still as good for planting as before; whether it would pay to watch the potato hills when digging and choose seed from stems that were especially prolific of good-sized and well-shaped tubers, rather than to take the finest seed at random from the bin.

The study of trees in winter in orchard and wood

Not only is winter the best season during which to get acquainted with the names and appearance of the different kinds of trees in the fields

and woods-when they are divested of their obscuring dress of leaves and when the characteristic marks of trunks, twigs, and winter buds are plain to view-but much may be learned at this season about the cultivation and care of the trees of the grove and garden.

The farmer who would derive an income from orchards of apples, pears, peaches, plums, or cherries will never neglect to care for them in winter. He will search his plum and cherry trees for black knot and other fungous growths and will see that these diseases are destroyed while dormant. He will examine the bark to see if scale insects are infesting it; then, when the time for spraying comes, he knows just where the work should be most thoroughly done. In autumn he will have planted cover crops or spread mulches beneath the trees in order to keep the frost from biting too deeply into the earth above their feeding roots. He takes care that the bark is not gnawed from the tree trunks by the hungry rabbits and rats and mice. If he wishes his young trees to make a vigorous growth of wood the next summer, he will prune them in winter, and the number and distribution of the buds on the branches will often decide for him as to what should be removed. After a "killing frost " he examines the buds to see if the promise of fruit has been destroyed; if it has been he will plan for a between-row crop in order to save the land from being unproductive.

Study of the care of domestic animals and poultry in winter

This is a study having many sides and it should be one of unfailing interest. It gives the sort of knowledge that should become almost a "second nature" to its possessor. The farm boy or girl who has a love for animals will find a perennial pleasure in learning how to make them more comfortable and happy, and as a consequence more profitable to their owners. Numberless discussions may arise from observations made by members or through suggestions from reading: for example, that one neighbor has plenty of eggs in winter when the price is highest, while another neighbor's flock, apparently as well cared for, produces few eggs or none; that one flock of sheep increases without mishap, while another loses many lambs through the owner's lack of knowledge of the proper care and feeding of the ewes in winter; that this dairy herd must make up to its owner in summer for the loss occasioned by its unproductiveness in winter, while that one, by a wiser use of balanced rations and other proper care, is profitable the year round; that a horse which lives in a dry and well-lighted stable, whose coat is curried and brushed regularly, and whose food is calculated and balanced, is a happier animal and can work better for his master than another horse which receives less intelligent

care.

Study of the winter birds in their relation to agriculture

Birds are few in number, but their very rarity makes them more interesting as a study, and in general the birds that brave the winter are more confiding and familiar during that season than at any other. A "free lunch" placed where they may enjoy it safely will, if regularly offered, attract nearly every resident species during the course of the winter.

Bits of suet or unsalted meaty bones, which may be obtained from the scrap meats of the butcher, should be tied or wired to the underside of a branch or nailed to the trunk of a tree as a special invitation to the woodpeckers, chickadees, brown creepers, and nuthatches, who, being acrobats, are able to feed comfortably in positions impossible to the sparrows, jays, and crows, who might otherwise leave their table bare. Experience has proved that feeding the birds does not cause them to relax their labor of clearing trees of the eggs and the larvæ of harmful insects, which food they seem to prefer, taking the suet and meats as a sort of dessert.

For the seed-eating birds, a shelf placed for the purpose on some sunny porch or window sill, beyond the reach of cats, is a good place to scatter crumbs from the table, small grains, or the swept-up chaff and seeds that have rattled from the hay fed to the horses or cattle.

The fortunate owners of evergreen windbreaks and shade trees should be observant of them when the cold is especially severe. At such places and at such a time the rarer visitants from the North appear: red crossbills or their brothers of the white-barred wings may come for a day or two and rifle every cone of its seeds; or the pine grosbeak may take a share. of the feast; the wee kinglets, particularly the golden-crown, may be seen searching the needles and the small twigs for eggs or for aphids or other small insects. A few seeds scattered under or near the trees will make these favorite haunts of the northern birds even more attractive.

SPRING WORK

Gardening

Almost innumerable are the lessons, experiments, and tasks that Mother Nature makes ready in the springtime to busy the minds and bodies. of all who are so fortunate as to live in the country. More than ever at this season,

"The world is so full of a number of things,

I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings."

Everything is wakening to new life and action—many things so useful to man that all the world must have them in order to live, and some things so harmful that, unless they are intelligently fought and conquered,