298 Junior Naturalist Monthly. 



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 vou. 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 spruig was that you become alfalfa pros- 

 pectors and later tell us what you found. 



John W. Spencer. 



LESSON II.— GOOD BYE SUNFLOWER. 



The wind-flower and the violet 



They perished long ago, 



And the briar-rose and the orchis died amid the summer glow; 



But on the hill the golden-rod, and the aster in the wood, 



And the yellow simflower by the brook 



In Autumn beauty stood. — William Cullen Bryant. 



In seed-time I like to walk in my garden. There the sturdy plants 

 that during the long summer have made the most of sunshine and 

 rain, are ready to show me what they have done. I always look at 

 each one carefully. I always wonder and wonder as I look. 



Yesterday, along brown paths of tan bark, I walked among my 

 old-fashioned plants. Many kinds, zinnias, asters and the like, were 

 still blooming brightly. "Not yet, not yet!" they said as I passed. 

 Seed-time for them was still to come. 



But in one corner with " down-drooping face" stood my old friend, 

 the sunflower. I lifted up the heavy head and saw — I shall not tell 

 you what, lest you lose the pleasure of finding out for yourself. The 

 seed-time of the sunflower is a wonderful thing. Some October day 

 will you look closely at one and tell me what you see? Will you also 

 look at the soil in which the plant grew? What color is it and how 

 does it feel when you hold it in your hands? Every naturalist 

 should notice the soil in which thrifty plants are growing. 



And this is not all. We want you to take the sunflower head into 

 the school room and ask other Junior Naturalists to help you count 

 the seeds. How many do you find? Save every seed, for later in 

 the year you will need them in making some interesting experiments. 

 It will be well to ask the teacher to take care of the seeds until you 

 are ready to use them. 



