Rural School Leaflet 1085 



LETTER TO GIRLS AND BOYS 

 Dear Girls and Boys: 



This morning I have taken a long walk so that I may be full of a fresh 

 joy in the out-of-doors as I write this letter to the readers of the Cornell 

 Rural School Leaflet. It is a beautiful day in midwinter with a hint of 

 spring to come. The air is full of the sound of running water and of the 

 distant call of crows. The fields and orchards are resting. The world 

 of the open country seems the finest possession that a person can have. 



This is my last letter to you this school year, the fourth year that you 

 and I have known each other through our letters. These years have been 

 good ones, and I hope that there are many more like them to come. We 

 are always sorry when the March leaflet is complete because there is not 

 another until the next November, but this time we have given you so much 

 to think about and do that I am sure the time will seem short. 



Read all of the articles carefully, and keep the leaflet where you can 

 take it up now and then and reread parts of it. I wonder how many 

 girls and boys have kept all of the leaflets that they have received in the 

 last four years, and how many look them over once in a while. The 

 surprise in this niunber is the picture of the Baltimore oriole. Each year 

 in the March leaflet we have sent you the picture of a bird drawn by 

 Louis Agassiz Fuertes, who is one of the most noted bird painters in the 

 world. The pictures are worth keeping carefully and some of you, no 

 doubt, have the three that have been sent in previous years — the red- 

 winged blackbird, the goldfinch, and the bluebird. 



There are some suggestions for garden work beginning on page 1056. 

 Springtime is garden time, and I thought as I crossed the fields this 

 morning what a joy it is to take a bit of the surface of the earth and 

 produce fruits or flowers or vegetables on it. Every year I have a garden, 

 and, from the letters that come to me, I know that many of you girls and 

 boys have gardens too. Each year I try to make my garden better than 

 the one of the year previous, and I do not need to urge you to do the 

 same. On pages 1073 and 1074 there are seed order blanks. We recom- 

 mend the two-cent packet of seed rather than the one-cent ])acket because 

 the fomier contains enough seed to make planting worth while. The 

 amount of ground that a packet will sow is given in each case, and you can 

 easily estimate how many packets you will need. 



At the school there are things to be done in improving the grounds, 

 and I want }'ou all to read the article on page 1076 and make progress in this 

 work during this year. 



On page 1094 there are a number of suggestions for work between now 

 and next fall. Each one of you should find there something to do that will 

 give you new knowledge and capacity. There are other things that you 



