THE REDSTART

Size: Smaller than a sparrow.

General color: Black above, including the throat, with six orange

BOYS AND GIRLS

THE EDITOR

Summer is almost here and with it comes vacation. I like to think of the rosy-cheeked girls and freckled-faced boys in the country who will be free to work and play out of doors through the long, long summer days. To help father in the fields or to help mother in the home will give work enough, but there will probably be time to spend many hours with chipmunk or squirrel or gay robin redbreast, or in finding some new wood or wayside plant that you have never seen before. In times of leisure you can add much to your nature knowledge and boys and girls should not neglect this.

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The world needs persons who have knowledge of nature because all agriculture is founded on this knowledge. There is always a demand for the successful farmer and there is also a demand for the man in the city who is awake to his surroundings. This is why we want boys and girls in the public schools to study natural forces and objects. If you become farm folk in the future you will then have preparation to become successful farmers. If you go to the city to live you will find that your training in the study of nature will help you in any line of work.

A boy or girl who wants to live well should train the senses. To see, to hear, to feel, to taste, to smell all are important. As you grow older you will know that many persons have failed to make the most of one or more of these gifts. If any one of the senses is neglected while we are young we can never have the use of its full power. I am going to ask you, therefore, to learn all that you can through sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. There are hundreds of ways in which you will do this all by yourselves. I am going to suggest some things to think about along this line, that come to me as I write.

SOME THINGS TO SEE

1. The dawn of the new day: what it reveals in the sky, in the fields, in the distant trees, in the life in and about the farm. 2. Sunset time. How many different colors will you see during the spring and summer

evenings? How does one sunset differ from another? Look out into the nights, some starry and some moonlit. 3. Note all the different greens that can be seen in a landscape: the greens of trees; the different crops; a far-away bit of water. Note the touches of rich color that brighten the landscape, all the reds and the yellows. 4. Try to see some bird that is smaller than a sparrow. Many boys and girls never see the very small birds. 5. Look closely to find all the parts of some one flower: a lily of the valley, a tiger lily, a wild rose, or a bluebell. 6. Try to see blossoms on at least one tree. Often young persons do not realize that trees blossom. 7. If you have red poppies growing in your garden, arrange some with ripened wheat and see what beautiful color you will have. 8. Notice the best-kept grounds in your neighborhood, and notice the most attractive house inside and out. 9. Look in villages near, or in your own community, for the most attractive garden. 10. Learn to see at a glance when mother or father needs you. When you truly see this your heart will answer the need.

SOME THINGS TO HEAR

1. Listen to the early morning sounds. Sound gives to some persons as much joy as does sight. 2. Try to distinguish the different bird notes. 3. Listen to the music of the crickets and katydids, and to the sounds of other insects by day and night. 4. Learn to recognize the sounds made by the pines, the rain on the roof, the hail near the close of the summer shower. 5. Listen for the sound of the church bell which may come to you from the village near. 6. Notice how restful and pleasant it is to hear persons speak in low, soft tones. Try to speak in this way when talking to others.

SOME THINGS TO FEEL

1. The warm, sweet winds of spring. 2. The touch of a gentle rain on your face. 3. The cool, soft moss in the deep wood. 4. The joy that all clean things give: cleanliness of person; of clothing; of everything in the house or barn. 5. The confidence of your dog when he puts his nose into your hand. 6. The response of the farm animals to your affection.

SOME THINGS TO TASTE

1. Good bread and butter. Some persons do not know when butter is good and wonder why the butter they make is not in demand. Learn to tell the difference. 2. Girls should find out how the best bread is made. Do not be satisfied until you know that you can make it. 3. Learn to distinguish quality in apples and other fruit; in vegetables. 4. Learn the value of cool, refreshing, pure water.

SOME THINGS TO SMELL

1. The pine woods. The distant buckwheat field. The lilac hedge. Garden flowers at night. 2. A clean barn. 3. Clean rooms at home. Good cooking. 4. Be sure that all unpleasant odors, indoors and out, are removed as soon as possible. Help to keep all parts of the house and farm buildings clean so that you will be able to get the benefit of the agreeable odors.

Dear Mr. Tuttle:

A CHILD'S LETTER

Covert, N. Y., January 18, 1912

We received the Cornell Leaflets some time ago and we were all very glad to get them. We enjoy studying and reading them very much. I am greatly interested in the raising and care of poultry. My father and I have a large flock of pure-bred White Leghorn pullets. They are just beginning to lay now. I enjoy caring for chickens especially when they are laying a good amount of eggs.

You asked if we were planning to have a Corn Day celebration. I am glad to say that we are planning to. We expect to recite pieces and we thought it would be nice to pop corn and if we could we wanted to get some farmer to tell us about the raising and cultivating of corn.

want to trim our schoolroom and make it look nice.

My father works a large farm. We have a large flock of Brown Leghorn hens, several small pigs, and several head of sheep. We keep four cows and we also have four horses. I enjoy farm work and chores very much. I am glad that I live in the country where I can get black raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries in the summer time when the sun is so hot, but the fruit tastes very good when cold weather comes. There is a large woods on the land that my father works. In the spring I like to go and gather flowers and along in May and June and July there are lots of white and red lilies to gather, also Leopard Tongue; some people call them yellow lilies. I think the squirrel cornflowers are pretty also. I like to study about the different kinds of birds. There are a great many different kinds of birds. There are a great many different kinds to learn about. I liked the story about the junco bird in the last Cornell Leaflets that we received.

LETTER TO BOYS AND GIRLS

Dear Girls and Boys:

HIS letter is the last one that I shall write to you this spring. I desire first of all that it shall tell you of the joy I have found in my touch with you. How my heart warms to read the letters that come to me signed, "I am your true friend," or "A girl of the open country," or "A boy who loves the country"! As I read these letters I am more and more sure that you all do love the country and that you realize the opportunity which is yours to live free, wholesome, happy, useful lives.

One of the things I wish to ask of you is that you will not be disappointed if I do not personally answer your letters. If it were possible to follow my desires, each one should receive an answer at once. But I cannot do this, for there are so many of you. However, in each Leaflet there will be a letter that will answer all of yours. In these letters I shall try to tell you those things that perhaps may interest you, and to help you to feel how sincerely I wish for your good fortune and how eager I am for your confidence and friendship. Now let us consider some important things to think about and to work out between now and next fall.

As I write, Farmers' Week here at the college is about to begin. Of course, when you read this letter it will be long past, nevertheless I think you will be interested. You remember that we asked to have some prize corn sent to us for an exhibit, and in January we also asked each school superintendent to have some school in his district send us an exhibit of Nature-Study work. The display is a remarkably fine one and I wish all of you might see it, especially those who contributed something. Perhaps you have guessed that the reason why I have told you about all this is that I want you to begin now to think about two exhibitions for next year Corn Day in the schools and Farmers' Week at the college. This is the time to make plans to take part in them.

We are considering holding Corn Day in November instead of in January, because November is closer to the corn harvest time. What do you think of this plan? If you want some corn to exhibit, grow it. (See page 243.) If you are going to make a collection of plants or leaves or seeds or flowers or twigs for Farmers' Week, be constantly on the lookout for the finest specimens. If you are going to keep chickens or cultivate a home garden this summer, such as was suggested in the last letter, decide to keep a neat, accurate, and complete account of all you do and of your results. A record of this kind is as valuable to exhibit as is corn or a collection.