Rural School Leaflet. 975 



Last year some of the young persons did not read the above announce- 

 ment carefully and sent individual orders for seeds. The orders must he 

 sent through the teacher of the school. It will not be possible for the 

 seed company to supply 3'ou with penny packets unless your orders 

 come all at one time through the teacher. 



Be sure to plant something, if only radish seeds, an onion, a potato, a 

 fe7V pumpkin seeds. 



And now a word about the contests of last year, the results of which 

 are published in this issue of the Leaflet. Sometimes contests do not 

 prove a good thing for boys and girls. The contestants may become 

 so ambitious to win the prizes that they feel jealous of their neighbors 

 who may be more successful ; sometimes they even hope that their neigh- 

 bors will fail in order that they themselves may win. The boys and girls 

 who belong to us are not going to harbor any of the little petty feelings 

 that will prevent their growing into strong and forceful folk. Every 

 time you enter a contest you should enter with the spirit that this is 

 an opportunity for you to test your ability as compared with that of 

 other boys and girls. You should feel interested in what your neighbors 

 can do and glad when they are successful. You should help them if 

 possible. No matter how they may feel toward you, you should have the 

 most generous spirit possible toward them. 



As a result of the contests some very excellent work has been re- 

 ceived at the LTniversity. It was sometimes difficult to select one report 

 that was really superior to the others. The reports were very care- 

 fully judged. 



In addition to the names of the successful contestants we are publishing 

 some of the best essays sent to us with the reports. You will see that 

 the boys and girls who took the first prizes did not send the best essays, 

 but the prizes were given for the reports of work. We feel that the pub- 

 lished compositions will have an interest for all boys and girls. 



Be sure to have a garden this year and be sure to tell us about it. 

 We do not care whether your garden is large or small ; we want you to get 

 into the habit of growing something every springtime and of taking a 

 real interest in what you grow. 



Remember that you are all naturalists and that you will, therefore, 

 take a daily interest in all the outdoor things. Each and every one is 

 going to love the rain as well as the sunshine. You are going to care 

 more to be out doors than in, whatever the v/eather may be. You will 

 learn the names of many of the trees, of the wild flowers, and of the birds 

 about your home and school. You will listen for sounds. You will write 

 to us whenever you think we can help you to become better naturalists. 



